Russia

MOSCOW, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia has declared 34 French diplomats "personae non gratae" in a tit-for-tat move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Moscow made the decision after summoning French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy earlier in the day to protest against France's "provocative" and "unjustified" decision to expel 41 Russian diplomats, the statement said.

France's move will seriously damage Russian-French relations and constructive bilateral cooperation, said the ministry.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: The Uralvagonzavod defense manufacturer (part of the state tech corporation Rostec) held a ceremony of dispatching a new batch of the latest T-90M ‘Proryv’ main battle tanks to Russian troops, the enterprise’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"Uralvagonzavod held a special ceremony of dispatching a train with T-90M ‘Proryv’ tanks to the Russian Defense Ministry," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: The North Atlantic Alliance has for many years taken into account the territories of Finland and Sweden in its military plans for eastward expansion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the educational marathon conference New Horizons organized by the Russian Znanie (Knowledge) society on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 4,122 over the past day to 18,268,958, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Tuesday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.02%.

As many as 2,772 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, up 146% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients increased in 75 regions, while in 6 regions the figure decreased. A day earlier, 1,127 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the Western countries, including the United States, which is conducting a hybrid war against Russia, have become hostile states. He was speaking at the educational marathon conference New Horizons organized by the Russian Znanie (Knowledge) society.

MOSCOW, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow would respond if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would deploy military infrastructure on the territories of Finland or Sweden.

"The expansion of military infrastructure into these territories would certainly trigger our response, which would depend on the kind of threats this would pose for us," the Kremlin cited the president as saying at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Moscow.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: The crews of Tu-142 aircraft of the Pacific Fleet’s naval aviation practiced anti-submarine warfare tasks during drills over the Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific Ocean, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.

"The Pacific Fleet conducted training flights to practice cohesion of the crews of Tu-142 long-range anti-submarine warfare aircraft and their anti-submarine operations over the Sea of Okhotsk," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Russia will comply with the "high mark" of NATO, which might include a mentioning of the "direct threat," allegedly posed by Moscow’s activities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters Monday.

"We will pose a direct threat for them to comply with this high mark," the diplomat said, answering a question about Moscow’s reactions to NATO’s plans to outline Moscow as a "direct threat."

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: The leaders of the countries within the Collective Security Treaty Organization will discuss deeper military cooperation and biosecurity during the summit to mark the organization’s 30th anniversary, which is taking place in Moscow on Monday, according to the materials prepared for the event by the Kremlin.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: The Russian Defense Ministry said an agreement was reached on Monday to evacuate wounded Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal steel plant and a humanitarian corridor was opened for that end.

"As a result of talks with representatives of the Ukrainian troops that have been blocked at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, an agreement was reached on May 16 to evacuate the wounded," the ministry said.