By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States though not used, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such machines.Five people died at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg on Tuesday, including four in a coronavirus intensive care unit, according to a local lawyer. A source told the TASS news agency that the blaze erupted after a ventilator, used to help severely ill COVID-19 patients breathe, burst into flames in the ward.A similar fire - caused by the...…By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States though not used, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such machines.Five people died at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg on Tuesday, including four in a coronavirus intensive care unit, according to a local lawyer. A source told the TASS news agency that the blaze erupted after a ventilator, used to help severely ill COVID-19 patients breathe, burst into flames in the ward.A similar fire - caused by the...WW…

By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States though not used, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such machines.Five people died at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg on Tuesday, including four in a coronavirus intensive care unit, according to a local lawyer. A source told the TASS news agency that the blaze erupted after a ventilator, used to help severely ill COVID-19 patients breathe, burst into flames in the ward.A similar fire - caused by the...…By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States though not used, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such machines.Five people died at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg on Tuesday, including four in a coronavirus intensive care unit, according to a local lawyer. A source told the TASS news agency that the blaze erupted after a ventilator, used to help severely ill COVID-19 patients breathe, burst into flames in the ward.A similar fire - caused by the...WW…

By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States though not used, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such machines.Five people died at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg on Tuesday, including four in a coronavirus intensive care unit, according to a local lawyer. A source told the TASS news agency that the blaze erupted after a ventilator, used to help severely ill COVID-19 patients breathe, burst into flames in the ward.A similar fire - caused by the...…By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States though not used, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such machines.Five people died at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg on Tuesday, including four in a coronavirus intensive care unit, according to a local lawyer. A source told the TASS news agency that the blaze erupted after a ventilator, used to help severely ill COVID-19 patients breathe, burst into flames in the ward.A similar fire - caused by the...WW…

By , KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A huge forest fire in Ukraine that has been raging for more than a week is now just one kilometre from the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant and poses a radiation risk, Greenpeace Russia warned on Monday, citing satellite images.Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Service said it was still fighting the fires, but that the situation was under control.Video footage shot by Reuters on Sunday showed plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky and trees still ablaze, with firefighters in helicopters trying to put out the fires.Aerial images of the 30 km (19 mile)...…By , KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A huge forest fire in Ukraine that has been raging for more than a week is now just one kilometre from the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant and poses a radiation risk, Greenpeace Russia warned on Monday, citing satellite images.Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Service said it was still fighting the fires, but that the situation was under control.Video footage shot by Reuters on Sunday showed plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky and trees still ablaze, with firefighters in helicopters trying to put out the fires.Aerial images of the 30 km (19 mile)...WW…

By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state prosecutors said they would ask a court on Tuesday to jail opposition politician Alexei Navalny for up to three and a half years, and the Kremlin said it would not listen to U.S. complaints about his case.Riot police detained more than 5,300 people who took part in protests across Russia on Sunday calling for the release of Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin who was detained last month on his return from Germany.The political unrest is a headache for Putin, 68, who has dominated Russian politics for over two decades. The case has...…By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state prosecutors said they would ask a court on Tuesday to jail opposition politician Alexei Navalny for up to three and a half years, and the Kremlin said it would not listen to U.S. complaints about his case.Riot police detained more than 5,300 people who took part in protests across Russia on Sunday calling for the release of Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin who was detained last month on his return from Germany.The political unrest is a headache for Putin, 68, who has dominated Russian politics for over two decades. The case has...WW…

By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it would extend a punitive slowdown of Twitter until May 15, though it acknowledged the U.S. social media company had speeded up deletion of what Moscow calls banned content.Moscow has traditionally taken a more hands-off role in policing the internet than neighbouring China. But as friction has grown this year over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, it has signalled a tougher line.Russia has since March impeded the speed of Twitter for not removing content it deems illegal, and threatened to block it entirely. Photos and...…By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it would extend a punitive slowdown of Twitter until May 15, though it acknowledged the U.S. social media company had speeded up deletion of what Moscow calls banned content.Moscow has traditionally taken a more hands-off role in policing the internet than neighbouring China. But as friction has grown this year over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, it has signalled a tougher line.Russia has since March impeded the speed of Twitter for not removing content it deems illegal, and threatened to block it entirely. Photos and...WW…

By MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained around 200 people, including several prominent opposition figures, at a meeting of independent and opposition politicians in Moscow on Saturday, the interior ministry said.The detentions come amid a crackdown on anti-Kremlin sentiment, following the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny who returned to Russia in January after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia.The Moscow forum, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, was a gathering of municipal deputies from all over the country, Andrei Pivovarov, the...…By MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained around 200 people, including several prominent opposition figures, at a meeting of independent and opposition politicians in Moscow on Saturday, the interior ministry said.The detentions come amid a crackdown on anti-Kremlin sentiment, following the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny who returned to Russia in January after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia.The Moscow forum, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, was a gathering of municipal deputies from all over the country, Andrei Pivovarov, the...WW…

By MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained around 200 people, including several prominent opposition figures, at a meeting of independent and opposition politicians in Moscow on Saturday, the interior ministry said.The detentions come amid a crackdown on anti-Kremlin sentiment, following the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny who returned to Russia in January after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia.The Moscow forum, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, was a gathering of municipal deputies from all over the country, Andrei Pivovarov, the...…By MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained around 200 people, including several prominent opposition figures, at a meeting of independent and opposition politicians in Moscow on Saturday, the interior ministry said.The detentions come amid a crackdown on anti-Kremlin sentiment, following the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny who returned to Russia in January after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia.The Moscow forum, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, was a gathering of municipal deputies from all over the country, Andrei Pivovarov, the...WW…

By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale voluntary vaccination programme against COVID-19 to begin next week across Russia, saying teachers and doctors should be first in line to get the country’s flagship Sputnik V vaccine.Putin gave the order during an online meeting with ministers on Wednesday, a day when Russia, which has the fourth highest number of recorded infections in the world, registered 589 new daily deaths from the coronavirus.Putin said Russia will have produced 2 million vaccine doses within the next few days.Sputnik V, one of two Russian-made...…By , MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale voluntary vaccination programme against COVID-19 to begin next week across Russia, saying teachers and doctors should be first in line to get the country’s flagship Sputnik V vaccine.Putin gave the order during an online meeting with ministers on Wednesday, a day when Russia, which has the fourth highest number of recorded infections in the world, registered 589 new daily deaths from the coronavirus.Putin said Russia will have produced 2 million vaccine doses within the next few days.Sputnik V, one of two Russian-made...WW…