MOSCOW 

The number of recoveries in Russia from the novel coronavirus exceeded 250,000 on Wednesday.

A total of 252,783 patients have recovered from COVID-19, including 10,386 over the last 24 hours, the country's emergency task force said in a daily report.

Meanwhile, 8,404 new coronavirus cases were registered in the country over the past day, bringing the tally to 493,657, it added.

In addition, 216 people have died of the virus, bringing total fatalities to 6,358, the report said.

In late May, the Russian government started to lift restrictions inside the country, saying the situation had stabilized and proceeded with economic recovery measures.

On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced a partial opening of the borders for international travel, while Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin lifted the lockdown on the capital.

Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 411,300 lives in 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil and Russia are currently the world's worst-hit countries.

More than 7.24 million cases have been reported worldwide, while recoveries so far exceed 3.37 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.