Russia

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/: Officials in the Zaporozhye Region have suspended the reactors at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in an effort to prevent provocations by Ukrainian forces, the region’s interim governor Yevgeny Balitsky said on Krym-24 television on Monday.

He said Ukrainian forces had started to dump water from the reservoirs.

"The water level [in the Kahovka reservoir] has risen to 17.08 [meters]. We understand it’s a manipulation. The nuclear reactors have been suspended. The fifth reactor is in hot standby," Balitsky said.

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Monday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

It was reported earlier on Monday that Mirziyoyev had left for Moscow, at the invitation of the Russian president, to take part in the celebrations dedicated to the 78th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/: The leaders of the CIS countries, who arrived in Moscow for Victory Day, will join Russian President Vladimir Putin to watch the parade from the stands on Red Square, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Rossiya-1 television on Monday.

The heads of state will then lay flowers and have an informal breakfast together, he said on the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin."

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: The Russian military suppressed and destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea last night, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.

"Air defenses detected 22 Ukrainian attack unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea last night. All the drones were suppressed by electronic warfare and destroyed by missile systems," he said.

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: The Kiev regime has confirmed that the administration of US President Joe Biden is a sponsor of terrorism, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Sunday.

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: A state of emergency due to wildfires was introduced across the entire Kurgan Region beginning on May 7, the Telegram channel of the regional government reported on Sunday.

"Beginning on May 7, a state of emergency was declared in the entire Kurgan Region. The relevant decree was signed by the governor," its statement said.

May 7 (Reuters) - Russia stages its annual Victory Day parade on Red Square on Tuesday amid particularly tight security after a series of drone attacks, including on the Kremlin citadel, symbolic heart of the Russian state, that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine.

Victory Day is a key anniversary for President Vladimir Putin, who often evokes the spirit and sacrifice that helped the Soviet Union defeat Nazi Germany in 1945 to kindle Russians' sense of patriotism, especially since launching what he calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

May 7 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group appeared on Sunday to ditch plans to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine after receiving promises overnight that they would get all the arms needed to capture the devastated city.

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/ :  About 20 people, including children, were injured as a result of a carousel breakdown in Orenburg, the regional police said.

"The police have received a report about the accident in which about 20 people, including underage children, were hurt," the news release reads.

There have been no reports of fatalities as a result of the accident. The injured have been taken to the medics.

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said that the Akhmat commando force is ready to move into Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut).