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Coronavirus pandemic

Thousands of people to visit Russia for vaccination by year-end — expert

The vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry reported that vaccine tours could be organized not only to Moscow or St. Petersburg but to other Russian cities as well

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, June 11. /TASS/. The number of foreigners arriving in Russia to undergo vaccination against COVID-19 may reach tens of thousands by the end of the year, the vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, Alexander Osaulenko, told TASS.

"By the most conservative estimates, the flow of tourists can be counted in tens of thousands of people [by the end of the year]," he said on the sidelines of the Masters of Hospitality forum in the Central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.

According to the expert, foreign citizens have already sent enquiries about the matter to the Russian Union of Travel Industry, as well as Russian embassies and consulates.

Osaulenko went on to say that vaccine tours could be organized not only to the Russian capital Moscow or the second largest city of St. Petersburg, but to other Russian cities as well.

"At present, we are having a fairly extensive network of vaccination centers. That is why we can say that tourists will not have to go to Moscow or St. Petersburg. For example, people from Far Eastern countries or Southeast Asia may go to Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, or Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk," he said, adding that the final decision will be made by the Russian health ministry.

At present, industry experts and officials are discussing the format of those tours, most notably whether they would last 21 days or comprise two four-day trips.

"From the economic point of view, the format of two four-day trips [is better], because it allows us to create a travel product that would be fairly simple from the financial point of view. A 21-day tour would be expensive. <…> At the same time, a tour consisting of two four-day trips will, in fact, be something like a city break," the travel industry expert said.

Earlier, President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) Andrei Ignatyev said the price of a 21-day vaccine tour might range from $1,500 to 2,500, excluding airline costs.

Speaking at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin tasked the government to work on arranging fee-based vaccinations against the coronavirus infection for foreign nationals in Russia by the end of June.

Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency is ready together with travel agencies to organize inoculation tour packages for foreigners, head of the agency Zarina Doguzova told TASS on the sidelines of the SPIEF-2021.

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Bundeswehr prepares plan for Operation Germany in case of war with Russia — newspaper

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WIPO members adopt Riyadh Design Law Treaty

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State Department says US-India relations hit some headwinds due to Russia, BRICS

Kurt Campbell said that it is important to 'keep attention on the horizon'

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Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh gave no answer to the question of how could Ukraine prepare for this kind of attack

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Here are the key statements, made during the meeting

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Zelensky fine with conflict continuing due to Western help — Slovak PM

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Ukraine should consider territorial concessions to Russia in return for peace — magazine

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Diplomat mocks US Senator for talking about invading Netherlands

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Russia's Oreshnik missile poses significant threat to West, Turkish expert warns

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Russia uses aerial bombs to destroy Ukrainian positions near DPR’s Konstantinovka — source

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Zelensky’s actions make Ukraine vulnerable to coup, says politician

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US missile defense base in Poland long among Russian army’s targets — Foreign Ministry

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Lukashenko tells Putin situation is "starting to get tense with Wagner"

The Belarusian leader noted that they want to go to Warsaw

Russia not obliged to notify anyone about launch of intermediate-range missile — Kremlin

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Trump to name investor Bessent as Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen currently holds the position

Illegal decisions on Russian property in Finland will not go unanswered — diplomat

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Russian forces cut off key Ukrainian supply route in Velikaya Novoselka, DPR

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Russian air defense deflects attacks with Western missiles — Putin

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IN BRIEF: What Putin said about Russia’s new missile, and Moscow’s response to the West

Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia

Putin says Oreshnik missile system cutting-edge innovation by Russia, not Soviet byproduct

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Ukraine conflict entering decisive phase, Polish PM says

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Russia entitled to use weapons against military sites of states attacking it — Duma

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Defense ministers of five European nations to meet in Berlin on November 25

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Russian strategic missile forces to be equipped with advanced weapon by 95%

"A large-scale investment program for expanding production capacities at defense sector organizations is being implemented", Vasily Tonkoshkurov said

Japanese lawmaker praises Putin's restraint amid decision to strike deep into Russia

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the US administration had lifted restrictions for US-supplied missiles to be used for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia

Ukraine loses up to 160 troops in battlegroup East’s responsibility area — top brass

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Zelensky shook up by Russia’s response to permission to attack it — Lavrov

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Israel carries out four strikes on building in Beirut

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Ukrainian defense line in Donbass may soon collapse — expert

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State Department says Russia, China maintain forward momentum in bilateral relationship

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US administration chooses to escalate Ukraine conflict — Kremlin

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Putin stays open to contacts to reach 'peaceful track' — Kremlin

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Russia’s Oreshnik has no analogues worldwide — Putin

"We know what kind of developments are being carried out there, but this will happen tomorrow or in a year or two, but we have such a system already today," the president said

Oreshnik missile to go into serial production, Putin says

The president stressed that given the weapon’s special power, it "will be provided precisely to the Strategic Missile Forces"

Trump to rely on forces that brought him to power — Russian presidential aide

Nikolay Patrushev agreed that Trump, when he was still a candidate, "made many statements critical of the destructive foreign and domestic policies pursued by the current administration"