Russia

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: Humanitarian corridors in Mariupol and Volnovakha will open again on Sunday morning, Deputy Head of the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said.

"In the morning, the humanitarian corridors will open again both in Mariupol and Volnovakha. We still hope that those Ukrainian commanders who are in charge of defending populated localities will command their subordinates to unblock the exit from the populated localities so that civilians would be able to leave these populated localities," he told journalists.

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 79,863 over the past day to 16,941,656, a new low since January 26, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

The number of new cases is below 80,000 for the first time since January 26. In relative terms, the number of cases increased by 0.47%.

As many as 8,242 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, 11.3% fewer than in the previous day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 57 regions, while in 26 other regions the figure increased.

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: Russia has demanded Western countries reiterate and observe their commitments under the conventions on diplomatic and consular relations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"Naturally, we have demanded [Western] countries accredit our embassies, observe their commitments under the corresponding conventions on diplomatic and consular relations. Naturally, we demand they reiterate their commitments and, what is most important, strictly observe them," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.

March 6 (Reuters) - An attempt to evacuate residents from the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol collapsed for a second day on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said, blaming an insufficiently clear agreement between the two sides.

"Amid devastating scenes of human suffering in Mariupol, a second attempt today to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people out of the city came to a halt," the ICRC said in a statement.

March 6 (Reuters) - Russian media cited an unnamed source on Sunday as saying that Ukraine was close to building a plutonium-based "dirty bomb" nuclear weapon, although the source cited no evidence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with the aim to "demilitarise" and "denazify" its pro-Western neighbour and prevent Kyiv from joining NATO.

The West, dismissing that rationale as a pretext, has responded with harsh sanctions on Moscow and heavy military and other aid to Kyiv.

March 5 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry called on European Union and NATO countries on Saturday to "stop pumping weapons" to Ukraine, the Russian RIA news agency said.

It said Moscow was particularly worried that portable anti-aerial Stinger missiles could end up in the hands of terrorists, posing a threat to airlines.

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/: Russia stands for continued strengthening of interaction within the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a post-Soviet security bloc, to counter new challenges and threats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday at a news conference following talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart Ruslan Kazakbaev.

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/: The MC-21 passenger jet is competitive and is on a par with Western counterparts by many parameters, for example, the wide body and convenient seats, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday at the meeting with women from the air staff of Russian air carriers.

The MC-21 is not inferior in terms of performance characteristics to Western airplanes but the airline will not be able to quickly change to it, pilot of Aeroflot Yulia Vasilevskaya noted during the meeting.

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/: Up to 14,000 civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk republics have been killed since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

"What I am going to say may sound harsh. Yet the situation forces me to say aloud what has just occurred to me. As you may have heard, stray dogs these days begin to attack people in various regions. Some get injured. There have even been lethal cases," Putin said.

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 86,769 over the past day to 16,861,793, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Saturday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.52%.

As many as 9,295 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 5.6% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 51 regions, while in 32 other regions the figure increased. The situation remained unchanged in two regions. A day earlier, 9,849 people were rushed to hospitals.