Russia

SEVASTOPOL, April 19. /TASS/: The Black Sea Fleet’s marine corps stationed in Crimea and the Krasnodar Region embarked military hardware and personnel on the Fleet’s large amphibious assault ships in a final combat readiness check after the winter training period, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/: The number of cyber crimes in Moscow rose by almost 40% since the beginning of the year, the city prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

"More than 14,600 crimes involving information and communication technologies were recorded in Moscow in the first quarter of the year, up 38% compared to the same period last year," the statement reads.

According to the prosecution authorities, most cyber criminals seek to steal money from other people’s bank accounts.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/: Russia has registered 8,589 new confirmed COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, bringing the total count to 4,710,690 cases, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Monday.

According to the crisis center, the relative increase of new infections is at the level of 0.18%.

The lowest daily growth rates were seen in the Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Regions (0% each), the Republics of Altai and Tuva (0.01% each) and in the Magadan Region and Jewish Autonomous Region (0.02% each).

(Reuters) --- The Kremlin on Monday said Russia would continue to respond in kind if further sanctions were imposed, after new U.S. measures last week targeting sovereign debt and blacklisting Russian companies prompted Moscow to retaliate.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "The principle of reciprocity is an absolute constant. These (retaliatory) decisions will keep being taken if similar practice continues."

MOSCOW, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia says U.S. influence is evident in the Czech Republic's decision to expel 18 Russian diplomats from Prague.

Czech authorities took the step to please the United States following recent American sanctions on Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday in a statement.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Saturday that the country was expelling 18 staffers from the Russian embassy in Prague for the alleged involvement of the Russian special services in two ammunition depot explosions in 2014.

MOSCOW, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it is expelling 20 staffers of the Czech embassy in Moscow in response to the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic.

The ministry said in a statement that it summoned the Czech ambassador to Russia Vitezslav Pivonka and strongly protested against the unfriendly act of Czech authorities.

Pivonka was informed that these 20 people from the Czech embassy must leave Russia by the end of Monday.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is in the third week of a hunger strike, will be admitted to a hospital in another prison, the Russian state penitentiary service said Monday, after the politician’s doctor said he could be near death.

The prison service, FSIN, also said that Navalny had agreed to take vitamin therapy, but an ally of the 44-year-old Kremlin critic cast doubt on that and the hospital transfer, saying his lawyers should confirm both.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the growing COVID-19 incidence and the death toll in recent weeks as an alarming trend, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Russia Melita Vujnovic told TASS on Sunday.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: Russia will carry out a technical inspection of the International Space Station and will make a decision on withdrawing from the project since 2025, and will inform its foreign partners.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: Russia voices a resolute protest against the Czech Republic’s authorities in connection with the expulsion of 18 staff of the Russian Embassy and will take retaliatory measures, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.