Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since his arrest on July 9, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has named an acting successor.

Rogozin called the moon program in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda on Monday a "political project" and likened it to NATO, the Western military alliance Russia has long shunned.

Eight Republican lawmakers attended a White House briefing about explosive allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan — intelligence the White House insisted the president himself had not been fully read in on.

The assessment was included in at least one of President Donald Trump's written daily intelligence briefings at the time, according to the officials.

Eight Republican lawmakers were briefed Monday on the explosive allegations against Russia, while eight Democrats will be briefed Tuesday morning.

Trump, in a Sunday morning tweet, said ``Nobody briefed or told me'' or Vice-President Mike Pence or chief of staff Mark Meadows about ``the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians.''

Whelan, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, denies the charges of spying for the U.S. that his lawyers said stem from a sting operation.

The hospital, located in northwestern Moscow, had been designated by the authorities as one of the medical facilities treating coronavirus patients in the Russian capital.

Moscow and many other regions have been in lockdown for nearly two weeks to stem the contagion, but hospitals in the capital are still being pushed to their limit, officials said.

Robert O’Brien’s comments come after conflicting accounts emerged from a recent closed-door briefing by intelligence officials, who spoke to lawmakers about Russian interference in the 2020 campaign.