Russia

MOSCOW, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Russia said on Sunday it would not make any concessions under U.S. pressure at talks this week on the Ukraine crisis and its demands for Western security guarantees, and that there was a risk they might end quickly.

The hard line from Moscow underscored the fragile prospects for negotiations that Washington hopes will avert the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the tensest point in U.S.-Russia relations since the Cold War ended three decades ago.

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan’s health ministry said Sunday that 164 people have been killed in protests that have rocked the country over the past week.

The figures reported on the state news channel Khabar-24 are a significant rise from previous tallies. It is not clear if the deaths refer only to civilians or if law-enforcement deaths are included. Kazakh authorities said earlier Sunday that 16 police or national guard had been killed. Authorities previously gave the civilian death toll as 26.

MOSCOW, January 8. /TASS/: President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in a lengthy telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, spoke in detail about the situation in the country, noting the shift towards stabilization, the Kremlin press service announced on Saturday.

MOSCOW, January 8. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 16,568 per day to 10,634,603, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus told reporters on Saturday.

In relative terms, the increase in the number of cases was 0.16%.

In particular, 3,072 cases were detected in Moscow per day, 1,376 in St. Petersburg, 1,246 in the Moscow region, 380 in the Sverdlovsk region, 370 in the Krasnodar region, 321 in the Chelyabinsk region, and 318 in Rostov.

MOSCOW, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Russia responded angrily on Saturday to a comment by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Kazakhstan might have a hard time getting rid of Russian troops, saying he should reflect instead on U.S. military meddling around the world.

Blinken on Friday challenged Russia's justification for sending forces into Kazakhstan after days of violent unrest in the Central Asian country.

"One lesson of recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave," Blinken said. 

MOSCOW (AP) — The former head of Kazakhstan’s counterintelligence and anti-terror agency has been arrested on charges of attempted government overthrow in the wake of violent protests that the president has blamed on foreign-backed terrorists.

The arrest of Karim Masimov was announced Saturday by the National Security Committee, which Kasimov headed until he was removed this week by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/: Twelve military-transport aircraft Il-76 and An-124 carrying servicemen of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent and equipment flew from the Chkalovsky airfield in the Moscow region to Kazakhstan, an official with the Defense Ministry told reporters on Friday.

"Twelve Russian military transport aircraft Il-76 and An-124 flew from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow to promptly deliver servicemen and airborne forces equipment to the airfields of Almaty and Zhetygen of the republic of Kazakhstan," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 death toll rose by 787 over the past day to 314,604, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Friday.

For the first time since September 27, 2021, the daily death toll was less than 800.

The relative mortality rate reached 2.96%, according to the crisis center.

In particular, 72 deaths were registered in Moscow, 61 in St. Petersburg, 38 in the Moscow Region, 34 in the Krasnoyarsk Region, 28 in the Chelyabinsk Region and 26 in the Altai Region.

MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/: Nine Il-76 aircraft of Russian Aerospace Forces with airborne troops and equipment landed at the Almaty airfield, the Russian Defense Ministry reported to journalists.

"Nine Russian military transport aircraft Il-76 with servicemen and equipment landed at the airfield of Almaty in the Republic of Kazakhstan," the ministry said.

On clarifying the situation, the units from the Russian peacekeeping contingent began to carry out their assigned tasks, the ministry added.

MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/: Some US representatives do not understand what is happening in Kazakhstan and pass it off as the official position of Washington, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The diplomat commented on the statements of the White House press secretary Jen Psaki that the United States has questions about the legality of the request of the authorities of Kazakhstan to use the forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the country.