Russia

MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has annulled a 2015 decree banning flights by Russian airlines to Egyptian resorts. The relevant document was posted on Thursday on the official web portal of legal information.

MOSCOW, July 8 (Reuters) - Authorities in Belarus said on Thursday they had blocked the website of a newspaper that has been critical of veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko and the editor's wife said her husband had been taken away for questioning.

The newspaper, Nasha Niva, one of Belarus's oldest, covered protests against Lukashenko last summer and was an important source of information for opposition supporters.

It said on Thursday that security forces had raided its office and detained its editor-in-chief, Yahor Martsinovich.

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/: Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers escorted by Su-30M2 fighters performed a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

"Two Tu-22M3 long-range bombers performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Black Sea," the ministry said in a statement.

In their flight, the Russian bombers were escorted by Su-30M2 fighters of the Southern Military District’s Air Force and Air Defense Army, the statement says.

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/: The coronavirus situation is rather serious in almost all regions of Russia, says Alexander Gorelov, Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor). 

"Currently, the situation is rather serious in almost all regions of the Russian Federation," he said.

Gorelov explained that his conclusions are based on the coronavirus spread index, which is currently above 1.

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/: Bad weather, technical failure or a pilot error are the likely causes of the An-26 passenger plane crash on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said at a meeting of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin with the government on Wednesday.

"A technical commission has been set up to investigate the incident. Unfavorable weather conditions, technical failure and pilot error are being considered as the three main causes of the crash," the transport minister said.

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/: Estonian Consul in St. Petersburg Mart Lyatte must leave Russia within 48 hours, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday in a quote on the ministry’s website.

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/: Moscow and Washington are in contact on cybersecurity issues following the June summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"Certain contacts have taken place based on the agreements reached in Geneva," he said. Peskov pointed out that "the launch of a mechanism for cybersecurity consultations was announced" after the Putin-Biden summit.

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/: Russia-China relations have reached their highest ever level and will continue to develop further, ex-Russian Prime Minister, Chairman of the ruling United Russia Party and Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said at an online summit of the Chinese Communist Party and other countries’ parties on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/: Moscow will not oppose the United States’ joining the Ukrainian settlement if Washington stops imposing its approaches, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said an in interview with the International Affairs journal.

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/: The investigation is looking into three versions of the An-26 plane crash in Kamchatka, which includes bad weather and pilot error, the Investigative Committee told journalists.

"The investigation is currently working on the following versions — bad weather, technical malfunction, and pilot error," the Committee said.

According to the investigation, there were 22 passengers and 6 crew members aboard the crashed plane.

"According to the preliminary information, airplane debris was discovered north of Palana airport," the agency said.