Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny plans to fly back to Russia on Sunday for the first time since he was poisoned in August, despite the risk of being jailed on his return from Germany.

The decision, announced by Navalny on Wednesday, signals his intention to continue his political struggle against Vladimir Putin and creates a dilemma for the authorities on how to deal with one of the Russian president’s most prominent critics.

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus hospitalizations in Russia dropped by 16% in the first ten days of the year, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova said at a meeting of the presidium of the government’s Anti-Coronavirus Coordination Council on Tuesday.

"We recorded a 16% decline in the number of hospitalized patients in the reporting period. The coronavirus growth rate has dropped to 0.7% in January, while in December, the rate ranged between 0.9% and 1.2%," she pointed out.

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/: The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is like war humankind is waging on an unknown enemy, Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) Vladimir Mau told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/: Russia will keep flights to and from the United Kingdom suspended until February 1, 2021, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The anti-coronavirus crisis center has decided to keep flights to and from the United Kingdom suspended. In order to protect public health, the suspension has been extended until 11:59 pm on February 1, 2021," the statement reads.

Russia suspended flights to and from the UK on December 22.

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/: The situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection in Russia is stabilizing, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova reported at a session of the presidium of the state coordination council to control the coronavirus incidence in the Russian Federation on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/: Nearly 30 avalanches have been documented in Russia during the New Year holidays, the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s press service informed TASS on Monday.

"During the New Year holidays, we have managed to avoid incidents with tourists who registered their route. So far currently, there are over 230 groups registered on routes coming up to the total of over 2,200 people. In the stipulated period, 27 snow avalanches have been documented, nine of them were forced," the press service informed.

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/: Four people died, at least six were injured after a dump truck driver reportedly lost control of his vehicle and rammed a Ministry of Defense bus convoy on Novorizhskoye Highway in the Moscow Region Monday, a source in the law enforcement told TASS.

"According to the preliminary information, the truck driver lost control and rammed the bus convoy," the source said.

MOSCOW, January 11: The Russian Health Ministry has given the approval to the Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology for the clinical trials of a "light vaccine" against COVID-19, dubbed "Sputnik Light," the website of the state register containing research approvals of the Russian Health Ministry informed on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/: The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Russia over the past 24 hours has increased by 23,315, bringing the total to 3,425,269, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Monday.

According to the crisis center, the relative growth of new cases has not surpassed 0.7% for three days.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, said he expects U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to extend the last major nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington when it expires next month, but that the two countries have much more to do.

In an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency published on Monday, Gorbachev, 89, said he was counting on Biden, whom he said he had met many times, to extend the New START treaty.