Russia

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russia is ready to help the US in case trials of manned spacecraft are delayed, head of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday.

"We are ready to help American partners in case trials of their new manned spacecraft are delayed. We agree with NASA's proposal to use both US (after their qualification) and Russian spacecraft for delivering mixed international crews to the ISS [International Space Station] in the future," Rogozin wrote on his official Twitter account.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is marking the fifth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by visiting the Black Sea peninsula.

Putin on Monday attended the launch of new power plants in Crimea, part of Moscow’s efforts to upgrade the region’s infrastructure. Ukraine has cut off energy supplies to the peninsula and blocked shipments of Crimea-bound cargo via its territory after Moscow annexed the region in 2014.

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Sunday he is due to hold a meeting with US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams on March 19 in Rome.

"The talks will take place on March 19. This is a scheduled contact, this is not a spontaneous meeting," the high-ranking diplomat said.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. A new multifunctional laboratory module Nauka (Science), which is expected to be launched to the International Space Station in 2020, will be transported from Moscow’s Khrunichev space research center to the RSC Energia for pre-flight tests in August, Dmitry Rogozin, chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, wrote on his official Twitter account on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. The refusal of the United States to let through buses for evacuation of refugees from the Rubakan camp prolongs the suffering of Syrians who are held at the camp against their will, head of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides Viktor Kupchishin told reporters on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. The Northern design bureau has started developing the construction documentation for modernized frigates of Project 22350M capable of carrying up to 48 Kalibr cruise missiles, a source in the defense and production sector told TASS on Sunday.

"The Northern design bureau has completed designing frigates of Project 22350M and is now developing working design documentation for these vessels in line with the customer’s tactical and technical order," the source said.

MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Around 1.7 million Syrian refugees registered in foreign countries are hoping to return to their homeland, the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring said Saturday.

"It is estimated that 1,712,264 Syrians in nine countries expressed their desire to return back to their homeland. Since September 30, 2015, in total 389,735 Syrians have returned to their homes from abroad," the center said in a daily bulletin published by the Russian Defense Ministry.

MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday that it would respond to the European Union (EU)'s decision to impose new sanctions over the Kerch Strait incident, which shows disrespect for the country's right to protect its state border.

"This is an irresponsible way, which only encourages Kiev to continue the policy of provocations that poses a threat to the security of Russia and other states of the Black Sea region, including members of the European Union itself," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message to New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, offering condolences over a deadly terrorist attack in the city of Christchurch, where shooters targeted worshippers at two mosques, the Kremlin press service said.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. About 100 servicemen of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who will serve in China’s second regiment of S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems have started their training in Russia to learn to operate these weapons, a source in military and diplomatic circles told TASS on Friday.

"About 100 PLA servicemen who will serve on vehicles of the second S-400 regiment set have started their training at one of training centers of the Russian Defense Ministry," the source said. The training will be completed in late May, he specified.