Новости за 21.02.2017

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations since 2006, died in New York City on Feb. 20 from a heart attack. Words of condolence came from Moscow where President Vladimir Putin expressed his sympathy to the family, and Foreign Ministry official spokesperson Maria Zakharova described Churkin as "a great diplomat and someone very dear." Diplomats around the world also expressed their grief.

The news that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the validity in Russia of civil documents issued by authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics (DNR and LNR) came on Feb. 18 during the Munich Security Conference. The move drew an immediate and harsh response from Ukraine, with President Petro Poroshenko describing Moscow's move as "fresh evidence of [Russia's] violation of international law."

Russia and the United States might launch joint operations against Islamic State militants in Syria’s Raqqa, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Feb. 21.

Moody's international rating agency has changed outlooks on the ratings of 12 regional and local governments in Russia and two government-related issuers to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ and affirmed the ratings of these 14 issuers, the agency reported Feb. 21.

Autovaz launched sales of Lada Vesta cars in Germany, the Russian automaker said on Feb. 21. The sales opening ceremony was staged in Hamburg.

OOO Honda Motor Rus (Russian dealer of Honda automobiles) will recall 135,170 Civic 4D, CR-V, JAZZ, FR-V and LEGEND 4D cars and 323 Acura RDX vehicles due to airbags malfunction, Russia’s Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology (Rosstandart) said on Feb. 21.

Russian scientists say the air temperature in the Arctic may low not earlier than 2020. Over the past ten years, the Arctic area became warmer by an average of three degrees, expert of the Antarctic Research Institute Valery Karklin told TASS on Feb. 21.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to posthumously award the Order of Courage to Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin, who died in New York.

The Turkish airline Onur Air plans to launch flights between Istanbul and Zhukovsky on May 2, first deputy director of Ramport Aero, the managing company of Zhukovsky Airport, Evgeny Solodilin told TASS.

The Russian hi-tech holding Ruselectronics (part of the state-owned corporation Rostec) is developing a camouflage material that will help hide equipment from precision weapons by changing color and imitating complex patterns, which even include wind-rippled tree leaves, the holding’s press office told TASS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin, who died in New York on Feb. 20 at 64 years of age, as one of the most prominent diplomats who brilliantly coped with his tasks and never suffered defeats. Putin’s message addressed to the diplomat’s widow Irina Churkina and his children, Anastasiya and Maksim, was published on the Kremlin’s website on Feb. 21.

The MGU catalog includes every galaxy known to science. They are located within a radius greater than 30 billion light-years from our planet.

The fifth regiment armed with the S-400 Triumf missile systems has been put on combat duty in the Moscow region, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin was an outstanding diplomat and intellectual star and his sense of humor will go down in history of the organization, former UN Secretary general Ban-Ki-moon said late on Feb. 20.

The Russian authorities do not have a plan to make friends with the Taliban. The Afghan group was blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the Russian Supreme Court on Feb. 14, 2003. Any cooperation between Russia and the Taliban would constitute a criminal offense.

St. Petersburg is home to the largest number of communal apartments in Russia. These huge premises with multiple rooms and communal corridors, kitchens and bathrooms still stand on every corner. According to data for 2015, there are about 85 thousand such apartments in the city.

Los Angeles is the world’s new reigning champion for the title of most congested city. According to research by Inrix, in 2016, LA residents spent 104 hours in traffic jams, whereas for Moscow the figure was 91 hours. In 2015, the title of the world’s most congested city went to the Russian capital.