Russia

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/: Supplies of depleted-uranium shells to Kiev will force Moscow to ponder how it can respond, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"This leads us to seriously think about the further course of developments and about how we can respond to this," Shoigu said in an excerpt of an interview for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 television that journalist Pavel Zarubin posted on his Telegram channel.

March 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday condemned British plans to send tank ammunition that contains depleted uranium to Ukraine, saying Moscow would be forced to respond accordingly.

Speaking in London on Monday, Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie said some of the ammunition for the Challenger 2 battle tanks that Britain is sending to Ukraine includes armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium.

March 21 (Reuters) - Two Russian strategic bomber planes flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday in a statement released as Japan's prime minister was beginning a visit to Ukraine.

The Tupolev Tu-95MS planes are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and Moscow regularly flies them over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific as a show of strength.

March 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement in Ukraine, but that the West and Kyiv were not yet ready.

In a joint statement issued at the end of Xi's state visit to Moscow, the two men cautioned against any steps that might push the Ukraine conflict into an "uncontrollable phase", adding pointedly that there could be no winners in a nuclear war.

March 20 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled over the Baltic Sea on Monday after two U.S. strategic bombers flew in the direction of the Russian border, but that it returned to base after they moved away.

The development followed the March 14 crash of a U.S. drone into the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian jets in what was the first known direct military encounter between Russia and the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. /TASS/: A fallen drone without identifying signs has been found in Tula region, the regional security committee said on Sunday.

"On March 19, a fallen unmanned aerial vehicle without identification signs was found in a field far from dwelling houses between the settlements of Petrovskoye and Malovel in the Odoyevsky district," it said, adding that there is no threat to people and infrastructure.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin has requested providing the legal assessment of German Justice Minister’s statements on arrest of Russian citizens on German territory, the press service of the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: Russia does not use hypersonic weapons in fact now, though it has them, same as other cutting-edge systems, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel published by journalist Pavel Zarubin on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: Moscow intends to set up its own leasing company on Africa’s territory, Russia’s First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Osmakov said on Sunday.

"A specialized Russian leasing company will most probably be created in Africa. We are currently choosing the location for this leasing company as the African market has its specifics," he said.

"Gazprombank Leasing will most probably by the backbone company," Osmakov added.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: Russia’s Investigative Committee thoroughly records all Kiev’s crimes, with those files to potentially provide a basis for tribunal in the future, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Sunday.

"We know that the Investigative Committee is involved in this work. All crimes committed by the Kiev regime are thoroughly recorded. <…> The files will obviously be able to provide a basis for such a tribunal," he said when asked how the Kremlin takes the idea of a tribunal on Kiev’s regime.