Russian police detained dozens of protesters on Saturday as supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took to the streets following his call to protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule.

Three people were killed Friday in a gas explosion at a mine in the Russian region of Siberia, prosecutors said.

Before he returned to Russia, opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his supporters had anticipated he would be arrested and planned to force the Kremlin to release him by staging repeated protests, a close ally has said.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took off on a plane bound for Russia on Sunday, to return home for the first time since he was poisoned last summer, despite Russian authorities' stated desire to arrest him and potentially jail him for years.

South Korea said on Tuesday it had scrambled fighter jets in response to an intrusion into South Korea's air defence identification zone by 19 Russian and Chinese military aircraft.

Donald Trump's outgoing administration is planning to close the two remaining US consulates in Russia, the State Department confirmed Saturday, as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office amid high tensions with Moscow.

Russian authorities said Friday they were investigating the mysterious death of nearly 300 endangered seals that had been discovered washed up on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Moscow launched an online service on Friday for people to book appointments to be vaccinated against Covid-19, two days after President Vladimir Putin called for large-scale vaccinations.

Dressed in impeccable camouflage fatigues with Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Russian peacekeepers stand guard along the last road linking Armenia with the restive region of Nagorno-Karabakh

Germany, once a beacon of hope in Europe's coronavirus nightmare, logged its one millionth case on Friday, as Russia announced a partnership with India to mass produce its controversial Sputnik vaccine.

Russia has banned entry to 25 British citizens in retaliation for similar measures by Britain, Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday, without providing their names.

Hungary's plans to import and possibly use Russia's touted Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine raise safety concerns and could damage trust in potential shots, the European Commission said, opening a new front in the EU's fraught relations with Budapest.