Europe

MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/: Moscow has called on the UK’s Foreign Office to stop engaging in provocations. This is how the Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to a recent statement of the British colleagues about plans Moscow is allegedly making regarding Ukraine.

MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/: The Russian side at the Geneva talks furnished the United States with explanations concerning all the outstanding questions on security guarantees and continues to wait for a written response to its initiatives, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 cases surged by 63,205 in the last 24 hours to 11,108,191, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Sunday.

In relative terms, the COVID-19 incidence climbed by 0.57%.

As many as 6,211 COVID-19 patients were rushed to hospitals over the past day, which is 37.3% fewer than the previous day. At the same time, the number of hospitalizations rose in 12 regions, according to the crisis center.

DOENTSK, January 23. /TASS/: Ukraine has deployed Uragan multiple missile launcher systems northwest of the city of Slavyansk, a spokesman for the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Sunday.

"Under the pretext of drills, the command of the united forces’ operation (Kiev’s military operation in Donbass - TASS) deployed the third artillery division of the 27th artillery brigade armed with 220mm Uragan multiple missile launcher systems to the settlements of Krasnopolye and Adamovka," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying.

LUGANSK, January 23. /TASS/: Ukraine’s security forces have kidnapped a serviceman of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, the LPR’s People’s Militia Spokesman Ivan Filiponenko said on Sunday.

"On January 22, a serviceman of the LPR’s People’s Militia was abducted by a sabotage group of the Ukrainian armed forces, while patrolling a section of the Svetlodarskaya bulge (a strategically important section near the Svetlodarsk village)," the LuganskInformCenter quoted Filiponenko as saying.

DUBLIN, Jan 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ireland lifted almost all COVID-19 restrictions placed for about two years from Saturday after the country has weathered a storm of the Omicron variant that led to a major surge in infections, Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced.

Ireland is placed among the countries with the highest rate of COVID-19 infections in Europe and now also the continent’s highest uptake of booster vaccines, which made possible the number of seriously ill people remained below the previous peak.

BERLIN, Jan 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany’s navy chief stepped down on Saturday after drawing criticism for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

“I have asked Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect,” Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement.

“The minister has accepted my request.”

GENEVA, Jan 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Covax aims to break the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022 by ensuring a steady supply of vaccines at last for the world’s poorest countries — and swiftly getting them into arms.

The global scheme, aimed at procuring donor-funded jabs for the 91 weakest economies, delivered its one billionth dose last weekend — a major milestone that came far later than anticipated after a year of setbacks.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there was a "deal to be done" on the Northern Ireland protocol that protects peace and works for all sides, ahead of a meeting with European Union Vice President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Monday.

Sefcovic told European lawmakers on Thursday that the bloc wanted to resolve the impasse with Britain over Northern Ireland's trading arrangements by the end of February before campaigning begins for elections in the province. 

KYIV, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev derided British allegations that he could be installed as leader of a Kremlin puppet government in Kyiv, and told Reuters in an interview that he was considering legal action.

Britain's foreign ministry said on Sunday that Moscow was considering Murayev as a potential candidate to lead Ukraine if Russia launched an invasion, and said Russian intelligence officers were in contact with several other former Ukrainian politicians about planning an attack.