Russia

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/: The terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines was organized one way or another by the US and the UK, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that these countries were involved in what happened.

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/: The accusations against Russia presented in the report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine are groundless and do not withstand any criticism, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/: Russian interests in the South Caucasus can’t be ignored, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Historically, geographically, geopolitically it is impossible to lose Russia in the sense of completely ignoring its interests in the South Caucasus," the minister said, when asked whether Armenia could drift away from Russia. "But such hopes are being nurtured by some leaders in Yerevan, and they say it directly."

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/: More than 325,000 contractors have joined the Russian army this year, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting on manning the armed forces.

"We continue to work on supplementing the armed forces with contract servicemen and control combat and morale-bolstering activities," he said.

"From January 1 September 26 this year, more than 325,000 men have been enlisted," Medvedev pointed out.

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/: Finland has ruined its neutral status and reputation and joined the "anti-Russian project of the United States," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with Tunisia’s visiting Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar.

"I am surprised at the speed with which Finland has ruined its neutral status and its reputation and joined the United States’ anti-Russian project," he said.

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/: Tehran’s full-scale involvement in BRICS’ activities was the focus of a telephone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday.

"Ebrahim Raisi gave thanks for supporting Iran’s application for BRICS membership. The sides discussed steps to ensure Iran’s smooth integration into the association’s full-format activities taking into account Russia’s presidency in 2024," it said.

The phone call was initiated by the Iranian side.

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/: The administration of US President Joe Biden should give a thorough response to each and every point of journalist Seymour Hersh's investigation into the Nord Stream explosions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"Hersh's investigation is bigger than Watergate (Watergate scandal - TASS). American presidents have never gone so far. The Biden administration is obliged to give a thorough response on all points," the diplomat pointed out on her Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, about the activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday after their telephone call.

MOSCOW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday it was closely monitoring what it called a "potentially dangerous" situation in Kosovo, where ethnic Serb gunmen stormed a village at the weekend, battling police and barricading themselves into a monastery.

Russia does not recognise Kosovo, which has a majority ethnic Albanian population, as an independent country and traditionally supports Serbia, with which it has close religious and cultural ties.

MOSCOW, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, was shown on Russian state television on Tuesday attending a defence leaders' meeting remotely, a day after Ukrainian special forces said they had killed him.

In video and photographs released by the defence ministry, Sokolov was shown as one of several fleet commanders on video apparently joining an in-person meeting of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other army chiefs, although not speaking. It was not clear when the video was filmed.