MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will suspend test-firing rocket engines at one of its design bureaus in the city of Voronezh until the end of the month to conserve oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients, a top space official said on Sunday.
Russia, which is grappling with a surge of COVID-19 cases, on Saturday registered the most coronavirus-related deaths it has recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.
The Kremlin blames the high toll on the slow progress of the national vaccination campaign. Officials reported 962 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday and more than 28,600 new cases.
“In view of growing demand for medical oxygen to treat the sick, today we decided to suspend test firing rocket engines at Voronezh’s Chemical Automatics Design Bureau ranges until the end of the month,” the head of Russia’s space agency tweeted.
“Our company alone supplies up to 33 tonnes of oxygen per day,” Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by)
