Russia

MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/: Guests from more than 60 countries are expected to attend the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), Presidential Aide and the EEF’s Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov said on Friday.

MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/: The Russian government is working on a bill that would regulate entry, exit and residence of foreigners, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

He said at a Security Council meeting on migration policy that some issues in this area are systemic in nature and an integrated approach is needed to address them.

"So, a new comprehensive bill is being prepared, which should regulate the conditions for the entry, exit and stay of foreigners in our country," he said.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 24. /TASS/: Fires in the five-kilometer zone from populated areas in the Ryazan Region are of particular concern, it is necessary to eliminate the hotbeds as quickly as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a meeting on combating forest fires in the country's regions.

"In the Ryazan region, unfortunately, due to strong winds, fires continue to spread, and their hotbeds in several areas are within five kilometers from populated areas. This is of particular concern," the head of state stressed.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 24. /TASS/: The total area charred by wildfires in Russia is nearly two-thirds less than last year’s expanse, but the situation is still difficult, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Russian-installed head of the Ukrainian town of Mykhailivka in the Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday, an official in the region’s Russian-backed administration said.

Writing on Telegram, Zaporizhzhia region administration member Vladimir Rogov said that Mykhailivka head Ivan Sushko had been critically injured when a bomb placed under his car exploded, and died shortly afterward in hospital.

Mykhailivka has a population of 11,000.

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Russia has launched missiles at a railroad station in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a Ukraine-focused meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.

"This is our life every day. This is how Russia got prepared for this U.N. session," Zelenskiy said over video link. There were deaths and injuries in the missile strikes, Zelenskiy said, warning that the death toll could rise.

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday that prison authorities had transferred him to a punishment cell for the second time this month at the facility where he is being held on charges he says are trumped up.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic inside Russia, is serving an 11-1/2 year sentence after being found guilty of parole violations and fraud and contempt of court charges. He says all charges against him were fabricated as a pretext to smother dissent and thwart his political ambitions.

24 August 2022; MEMO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday condemned Israeli missile strikes on Syria, Reuters reported.

Lavrov was speaking at a joint news conference alongside his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad.

Russia is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his government.

"We strongly condemned the dangerous practice of Israeli strikes on Syrian territory," Lavrov said.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: Russia thinks highly of Syria’s support for the special military operation in Ukraine as well as of Damascus recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said opening talks with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: The agreements on Syria that were reached at the Tehran summit in the Astana format on July 19, 2022 are being fully implemented, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.