Russia

June 23 (Reuters) - Russia urged the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday to ensure Ukraine does not shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, saying it was otherwise operating safely.

Alexei Likhachev, chief executive of the Russian state nuclear energy firm Rosatom, made the comments at a meeting with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, Rosatom said in a statement, after Grossi visited the plant last week.

(AP) --- The video was shocking — not just for what it showed but also for what was said.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the outspoken millionaire head of the private military contractor Wagner, stood in front of the bloodied bodies of his slain troops in Ukraine and yelled expletive-riddled insults at Russian military leaders, blaming them for the carnage.

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/: The Moscow City Court on Thursday upheld the decision to extend by three months the arrest of The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who is accused of espionage, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.

"The court considered the appeal from Gershkovich’s defense against the decision to extend his stay in custody and ruled to leave the decision of the court of first instance unchanged and the defendant's appeal unsatisfied," the court said.

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/: The West can supply additional military equipment to Ukraine but it does not have an endless amount of manpower to work with, meaning Western countries intend to fight Russia until the last Ukrainian, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out at a briefing with permanent Security Council members.

KAZAN, June 22. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has praised the country's demand for domestically produced aircraft.

"The demand is huge," he said at a conference in Kazan on expanding civil aircraft production.

"Our companies need modern aircraft for transporting goods and passengers. We need small models for regional flights, as well as medium-and long-haul aircraft," Mishustin added.

He emphasized that the government pays great attention to the aviation industry. "This is a strategic, backbone industry," Mishustin said.

21 June 2023; MEMO: The Kremlin, on Wednesday, said that the UN is unable to exert necessary influence on the West in order to fulfil their obligations under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Anadolu Agency reports.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Moscow and Doha are working on joint projects totaling more than 160 bln rubles ($1.9 bln), Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during talks with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani

He noted that Moscow and Doha are expanding "interaction in the investment sphere."

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Ukraine’s troops understand that they don’t stand a chance against heroic and courageous fighters of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin emphasized on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the courage and heroism of our fighters, thanks to the commanders’ readiness to repel any aggressive actions against Russia, I believe, the enemy doesn’t stand a chance. They understand that and this is why they have stalled now," Putin said at the meeting with military college graduates, answering a question from reporter Pavel Zarubin.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Aggressive policies by the United States and NATO, leading towards an ever-deeper involvement in military confrontation, can result in a direct clash between nuclear powers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, June 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia's new generation of Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads, would soon be deployed for combat duty.

In a speech to new graduates of military academies, Putin stressed the importance of Russia's "triad" of nuclear forces that can be launched from land, sea or air.

"The most important task here is the development of the nuclear triad, which is a key guarantee of Russia's military security and global stability," he said.