Russia reports 8,779 new COVID-19 cases, total exceeds 500,000

Russia reported 8,779 new COVID-19 cases and 174 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing total number of confirmed cases to 502,436, including 6,532 deaths, official data released on Thursday showed. 

Russia has become the third country in the world, after the U.S. and Brazil, to have more than half a million confirmed COVID-19 cases.