Russia

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: A Russian fighter jet Su-30 has escorted an American reconnaissance drone MQ-9A Reaper, Russia’s National Defense Control Center told reporters.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: Russia strongly condemns the terrorist attack committed by the Kiev regime against a Russian civilian ship in the Kerch Strait, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry’s website.

"We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on a civilian ship which not only put the lives of its crew in danger, but also posed the threat of a massive environmental disaster," she said.

MOSCOW, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday suggested Moscow would launch more strikes against Ukrainian ports in response to Kyiv's attacks on Russian ships in the Black Sea, and threatened to hand Ukraine "an ecological catastrophe".

Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, a body chaired by President Vladimir Putin, spoke after Ukrainian sea drone attacks on a Russian warship in the port of Novorossiysk, and against a tanker near Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

04 August 2023; MEMO: Russia does not believe a US promise that Washington will help ensure Moscow can freely export food if it returns to the Black Sea grain deal, state news agency, RIA, quoted the Kremlin as saying on Friday, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/: The Ukrainian military has lost over 43,000 troops and about 5,000 items of military hardware, including 26 combat aircraft and 25 Leopard tanks since it launched its counteroffensive, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

"The Ukrainian army’s losses in combat operations already exceeded 43,000 personnel in June-July since the Kiev regime launched its so-called offensive," the spokesman said.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 29. /TASS/:  Russia received about 30 peace initiatives for a settlement in Ukraine through official and unofficial channels, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the sidelines of the second Russia-Africa summit.

"We are grateful to everyone. There were many such initiatives. It seems to me that a month ago there were already about 30 [initiatives] that were made by public figures through state channels or even in some private way," the diplomat noted.

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/: Those countries that the West is "courting" in its efforts to promote the peace formula put forward by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky need to understand that the future of millions of Russians is at stake, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/: Russia is not waiting for yet more promises, but for the fulfillment of the original Russia-related provisions of the Black Sea grain deal for unblocking Russian agricultural exports, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law imposing a 10% tax on excess profits for large companies. The document was published on the official website of legal information.

The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2024, and the tax must be paid by January 28, 2024. It will be allocated to the federal budget and will be one-time. The tax is expected to generate 300 bln rubles ($3.12 bln) in revenue.

MELEKHOVO, Russia (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is preparing to hear the verdict Friday in his latest trial on extremism charges.

The prosecution has demanded a 20-year prison sentence, and the politician himself said he expects to receive a lengthy term. If the court finds Navalny guilty, it would be his fifth criminal conviction, all of which his supporters see as a deliberate Kremlin strategy to silence its most ardent opponent.