Russia

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/: The Russian military and industrial complex commenced the development of the new-generation Kedr strategic missile system, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS Monday.

When asked what the Kedr research and development project is, the source said: "It aims to upgrade strategic missile weapons. It is part of the work to develop a new generation [of missile systems]."

According to the source, the project is currently undergoing the science and development phase.

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/: Russia anti-coronavirus vaccines are efficient against its new strains as well, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"According to the reports I receive, our vaccines also work against these strains, which have caused so much fear in Europe, and not only in Europe," he said at a meeting with Veronika Skvortsova, chief of Russia’s Federal Medical Biological Agency.

"Tests of these vaccines demonstrate that our vaccines are efficient against these strains," Putin stressed.

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/: Russia did not annex Crimea, the peninsula joined Russia legally, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on US President Joe Biden’s remark that Washington will never recognize Crimea as Russia.

"It is indeed impossible to recognize the annexation of Crimea, and nobody is talking about the annexation of Crimea, because it never happened," Peskov said, underscoring that "what happened was reunification of Crimea and Russia, in rather strict compliance with all norms of international law."

MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/: Alexey Navalny has arrived in penal colony number 2 in Pokrov, in central Russia’s Vladimir Region, human rights activist Ruslan Vakhapov, who specializes in defending prisoners’ rights, told TASS.

"According to my information, Navalny has been recently taken to IK-2 in Pokrov. The reports about his arrival in this correctional facility were circulated among the penal colony’s inmates," Vakhapov said. In his words, Navalny’s arrival in this penal colony can be only confirmed after his lawyers’ visit.

MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/: A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a Fregat booster and Arktika-M weather satellite blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport, according to a broadcast on the Roscosmos state space corporation’s website.

MOSCOW, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Mi-35 helicopter made an emergency landing for technical reasons during a scheduled patrol mission over the Al-Hasakah province of Syria on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The chopper was not attacked, the ministry said, adding that rescuers have transferred the Mi-35 crew to an airfield.

The pilots aboard were immediately treated by the rescuers and are not in serious condition, according to the ministry.

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart Vagharshak Harutyunyan have discussed over the phone the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"During the conversation, the two sides discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, the current situation in the region and the areas where Russian peacekeepers perform tasks in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as other issues of mutual interest," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the military personnel and veterans of Russia’s Special Operations Forces on their professional holiday.

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/: An increase in the number of coronavirus cases can occur for several years even after most of the population is vaccinated, Deputy Director for Clinical and Analytical Work at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Natalia Pshenichnaya told TASS.

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/: Moscow believes that Head of the EU delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko’s criticism of the Moldovan Coordination Council for Television and Radio Broadcasts constitutes interference in the country’s domestic affairs, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry noted that Michalko had criticized the council’s activities in a patronizing manner and called "for the creation of a legislative mechanism to protect Moldova from external disinformation."