Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the military’s performance during massive naval drills that have involved the entire Russian Pacific Fleet — a show of force amid the tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the exercise that began Friday involves 167 warships, including 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and 25,000 troops.

MOSCOW (AP) — A top Kremlin foe was convicted Monday on charges of treason and denigrating the Russian military and sentenced him to 25 years in prison after a trial that marked the latest move in a relentless crackdown on the opposition amid the fighting in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/: Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has been dismissed from the position of Russia’s envoy to the Council of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow on Saturday night to attend the Easter service.

The service is conducted by Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 7,094 over the day, while the number of deaths rose by 38, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

One day earlier, 7,445 coronavirus cases and 37 deaths were reported in the country, bringing the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 22,765,337 and 397,828, respectively. The number of people recovering from coronavirus increased by 6,841 during the day, compared with 8,731 the previous day, and reached 22,151,154 in total.

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/: The Russian Armed Forces hit the command posts of the 125th and 102nd Territorial Defense Brigades in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Zaporozhye Region, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov told a briefing on the special military operation in Ukraine on Sunday.

"The command posts of the 125th and 102nd territorial defense brigades were hit in the areas of the settlements of Yampolovka in the Donetsk People's Republic and Zaliznichnoye in the Zaporozhye region," he said.

13 Apr 2023; MEMO: Russia, on Thursday, accused the UN of distorting facts about the implementation of the Black Sea grain deal, Anadolu News Agency reports.

NALCHIK, April 13. /TASS/: Anglo-Saxons and their accomplices are inciting mass protests and terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Thursday.

"Today, in order to provoke extremist behavior in the North Caucasus, they are spreading calls for mass riots, illegal actions and terrorist acts," Patrushev said, speaking in Nalchik at a security meeting in the North Caucasian Federal District.

MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) - Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition politician, is grappling with severe stomach pain in jail that could be some sort of slow acting poison, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.

An ambulance was called for Navalny overnight on Friday to Saturday to the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, where he is being held. Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, told Reuters.

Russia’s top security agency on Thursday accused a Ukrainian man of involvement in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger at a St. Petersburg cafe.

Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the war in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed on April 2 as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. Over 50 people were injured.