Russia

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The US embassy in Moscow said on Friday it has been notified by the Russian authorities that the ban on hiring Russian employees has been temporarily postponed.

"The Russian government has informed U.S. Embassy Moscow of its intent to postpone the prohibition of U.S. Mission Russia’s employment of foreign nationals. Consequently, through July 16, U.S. Embassy Moscow will temporarily resume routine U.S. citizen services, including passport services, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, and limited notarial services," it said on its website.

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The Israeli army over the past few days has liquidated several hundred operatives of the movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel's 12th television channel quoted an anonymous security service official as saying.

According to the source, Thursday's strikes alone liquidated 20 high-ranking Hamas members. All in all, hundreds of Hamas members were neutralized in recent days. The Israeli army, according to the source, wiped out most of the Hamas facilities that made rockets and paralyzed the radicals' strategically crucial tunnel infrastructure in Gaza.

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 9,462 in the past 24 hours. This is the highest number since March 20, as follows from the data published by the anti-coronavirus crisis center on Friday.

The relative growth rate stands at 0.19%. According to the crisis center, 4,922,901 people in Russia have been infected by now.

The lowest daily growth rates were recorded in the Nenets Autonomous Region (0%), the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.02%) and Tuva (0.03%).

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The situation with the coronavirus infection in Moscow remains tense, and periodic increase or decrease of incidence figures are possible, Moscow Deputy Mayor for Social Development Anastasia Rakova said Friday.

"Of course, the coronavirus has not disappeared. The coronavirus situation in the city remains rather tense. The incidence numbers do no please us. But we must understand that the coronavirus will not go anywhere tomorrow, and that such periodic increases or decreases of incidence are possible," she said.

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The Kremlin has no plans to interfere in the situation around Chairman of Ukraine’s Political Council of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk but wants to be sure that it is not about a political witch-hunt, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

13 May 2021; MEMO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed Thursday that Israel needs to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reported.

In a phone call, the two top diplomats reiterated that Israel should stop the bloodshed, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 83 Palestinians and injured 487 others, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

(Reuters) --- President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would respond to what he called Ukraine's 'cleansing' of the political space, a day after a Ukrainian court placed a prominent pro-Russian politician under house arrest.

The Ukrainian court put Viktor Medvedchuk, who promotes closer ties with Moscow and says Putin is godfather to his daughter, under house arrest in connection to allegations of treason he faces.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, May 13. /TASS/: Requirements for civilian gun ownership need to be tightened, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with cabinet members on Thursday.

He was confident that the Investigative Committee would thoroughly investigate the circumstances of a tragic incident in the city of Kazan, where nine people were killed and 23 suffered wounds in a school shooting.

SEVASTOPOL, May 13. /TASS/: The Russian Black Sea Fleet is set to get seven combat ships and craft in 2021, Black Sea Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Igor Osipov said on Thursday.

"New warships constantly arrive. This year, we are planning to accept seven combat ships and boats for service in the Fleet," the commander said.

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has announced the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) of the Republic of Maldives.

"FDA granted Sputnik V an emergency use authorization. Thus Sputnik V has been registered in 65 countries with total population of over 3.2 billion people," the Fund said in a statement on Thursday.