Russia

Feb 9 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin waved a sarcastic farewell on Thursday to foreign businesses which have left Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, saying their departure would benefit Russian companies.

Speaking to senior officials at a meeting broadcast on state television, Putin said those companies had suffered major losses as a result of exiting a large and lucrative market.

"Today many of them (Western brands), under pressure from their governments, are leaving our market. All the best to them," he said, briefly waving his hand in a farewell gesture.

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday the world should know the truth about who sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines and that those responsible should be punished after an investigative journalist said U.S. divers blew them up at the behest of the White House.

A sharp drop in pressure on both pipelines was registered on Sept. 26 and seismologists detected explosions, triggering a wave of speculation about sabotage to one of Russia's most important energy corridors.

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia's Wagner mercenary group has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Thursday.

"The recruitment of prisoners by the Wagner private military company has completely stopped," Prigozhin said in a response to a request for comment from a Russian media outlet published on social media.

"We are fulfilling all our obligations to those who work for us now," he said.

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia successfully launched the Progress MS-22 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said.

The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:15 a.m. Moscow time (0615 GMT), Roscosmos said in a press release.

The spacecraft separated from the third stage of the rocket, and its antennas and solar panels opened normally. The ship is scheduled to dock to the ISS on Saturday.

MOSCOW (AP) — A gas explosion in an apartment building in the south-central Russian city of Novosibirsk Thursday morning killed at least five people, including a 2-year-old child, the regional health ministry said.

Regional Gov. Andrey Travnikov said nine people had been taken to the hospital, with two in intensive care.

Ten people, including two children, who may have been inside when the explosion occurred at 7:43 a.m. remain unaccounted-for, authorities said.

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/:  Russian forces struck 74 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and equipment in over 120 areas in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In the past 24 hours, operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 74 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military hardware in 123 areas," the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/: The recent earthquake in Turkey did not provoke serious threats to the implementation of joint infrastructure projects of Moscow and Ankara, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters on Wednesday.

"The construction of the Akkuyu NPP is now underway. Our representatives provide real-time information about the construction. So far, we proceed from the fact that there are no serious threats to the implementation of the agreed infrastructure projects," the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (NNN-TASS) – The Russian Foreign Ministry, yesterday, denounced Washington for hyping the situation regarding China’s civilian unmanned airship.

“We believe that the explanation given by the Chinese side regarding the entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into U.S. airspace, due to force majeure, is quite sufficient and understandable,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said in a statement.

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday the United States had questions to answer over its role in explosions on the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.

Commenting on a report published earlier on Wednesday that said the United States was involved in the explosions, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the White House to comment on the "facts" that had been presented.

GROZNY, February 7. /TASS/: Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine may end before late this year, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said an in interview with the North Caucasian republic’s National Policy, Foreign Relations, Press and Information Minister Akhmed Dudyaev.