Russia

MOSCOW, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Russian energy giant Gazprom confirmed a complete suspension of gas supply to the Finland's state-owned gas company Gasum starting Saturday due to its non-payment in rubles.

As of the end of Friday, Gazprom Export has not received any payment in rubles from Gasum for gas supplied in April in accordance with a Russian presidential decree in March, the company said in a statement.

Russian gas supplied from April 1 must be paid in rubles, of which the counterparties were informed in a timely manner, Gazprom said.

20 May 2022; MEMO: The assassination of Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, is "a disaster that shook the world", Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has said, adding that only a few people heard the news of her death "without being deeply affected".

Moscow, May 20 (AFP/APP): Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that Moscow would create new military bases in western Russia in response to the expansion of NATO.

“By the end of the year, 12 military units and divisions will be established in the Western Military District,” Shoigu said at a meeting in televised remarks.

The army expects to receive more than two thousand units of military equipment and weapons, Shoigu added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24, sending shockwaves across the world.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: The Normandy Format was created to implement the Minsk agreements, after the termination of the Minsk deal, the question arises as to why the Normandy Quartet is needed at all, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, commenting on statements made by Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Andrey Melnik about the expediency of reviving the so-called Normandy Format to establish peace in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Nearly all web applications (98%) can be subject to cyberattacks, with data leaks revealed in 91% of apps, according to a Positive Technologies study released at the Positive Hack Days practical cybersecurity forum on Friday.

"According to a Positive Technologies study, criminals had a possibility to stage attacks on users in 98% of web apps under study. And unauthorized access and data leaks have been exposed in 84 and 91% of apps," it said.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 5,089 over the past day to 18,283,706, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Friday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.03%.

As many as 2,081 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 1.7% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in 38 regions, while in 40 regions the figure increased. The situation remained unchanged in seven regions. A day earlier, 2,117 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: The US researched Ebola and smallpox viruses in Ukraine, says Irina Yarovaya, Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Investigation of US Biological Laboratories in Ukraine.

"Today, we presented an analysis of which pathogens the US was particularly interested in in Ukraine," she told reporters Friday. "Aside from the pathogens that are territorially bound to Ukraine, [the laboratories] researched viruses and pathogens that are endemically very far from Ukraine, such as Ebola and smallpox."

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: During a recent panel, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu revealed how many military units will be formed in the Western Military District in response to NATO's buildup near Russia's borders.

"Twelve military units and subunits will be formed in the Western Military District by the end of the year," Shoigu said, noting that tensions continue to mount in the area of responsibility of the Western Military District, which is also due to the possible admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Russian and Belarusian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, will hold talks in Russia’s Sochi on Monday, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"Putin’s meeting with Lukashenko in Sochi is scheduled for Monday," he said, adding that it will be a bilateral contact the two presidents agreed during the jubilee summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet Russia-led security bloc, in Moscow on May 16.

May 20 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that moves by Finland and Sweden to join NATO were part of an increase in military threats near Russia's western borders, and it was taking "adequate countermeasures".

In a speech, Shoigu also said the United States had stepped up strategic bomber flights in recent years, sent warships to the Baltic Sea and intensified training exercises in the region with its NATO partners.