MOSCOW, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia registered 29,018 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 2,992,706, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Friday.

It said that 563 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 53,659.

According to the statement, 2,398,254 people have so far recovered, including 27,397 recoveries reported over the past day.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 7,315 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 772,104, the response center said.