The United States on September 26 imposed sanctions on an alleged Russian money-laundering operation that caters to cybercriminals around the world and unsealed indictments against two Russian nationals for their alleged involvement in the operation.

The Justice Department and the State Department said their actions in coordination with Dutch partners shut down the "prolific" money-laundering operation known as Cryptex and recovered millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

"Today's actions highlight the Department’s continued disruption of malicious cyber actors and their criminal ecosystem," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

The two Russians named in the indictment, Sergei Ivanov and Timur Shakhmametov, are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering using stolen credit and debit card information, and other charges.

Neither the Justice Department nor the State Department's statements say where the two are located. The State Department announced rewards of up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Ivanov or Shakhmametov.

Ivanov's services have been used by cybercrime marketplaces, ransomware groups, and hackers responsible for significant data breaches of major U.S. companies, the Justice Department said.

Cryptex advertises its virtual currency services in Russian and has received over $51.2 million in funds derived from ransomware attacks, the Treasury Department said.

Ivanov also allegedly created and operated Russian payment and exchange services UAPS, PinPays, and PM2BTC, which the Justice Department said provided money-transfer and -laundering services directly to criminals.

Ivanov operated for nearly two decades as a professional cyber-money-launderer, advertising his services to other cybercriminals on exclusive Russian-speaking criminal forums, the Justice Department said.

In a coordinated action, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Ivanov and Cryptex, which it said is based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines but operating in Russia.

The Treasury Department also identified PM2BTC as a "primary money-laundering concern" in connection with Russian illicit finance.

PM2BTC has long-standing ties to Russian or Russian-affiliated financial institutions that are under U.S. sanctions or other restrictions, according to the Treasury Department.

"The United States and our international partners remain resolute in our commitment to prevent cybercrime facilitators like PM2BTC and Cryptex from operating with impunity," said Bradley Smith, acting undersecretary for the Treasury Department’s terrorism and financial intelligence unit.

Individuals visiting the sites now see a message indicating that the site has been seized by the federal government. The seizure prevents the owners and third parties from using the sites for money laundering, the Justice Department said.

It also said law enforcement authorities in the Netherlands seized the servers hosting PM2BTC and Cryptex. Those servers have been taken offline, and the Dutch have seized cryptocurrency from those servers worth more than $7 million.

The State Department is also offering rewards of up to $1 million each for information identifying the leaders of PM2BTC and stolen credit-card marketplaces PinPays and Joker's Stash.

The UN General Assembly on September 26 marked the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons with a long debate on nuclear disarmament that coincidentally came just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin caused alarm by proposing revisions to his country's nuclear doctrine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited Russia at the start of the session, telling delegations that the United Nations must call on Russia "to return to the nuclear arms disarmament process."

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has withdrawn from two important nuclear treaties, raising concerns about the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict.

Putin further raised concerns on September 25 when he unveiled a new version of the Russian nuclear doctrine. The revised version of the document would allow the use of nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states when they are supported by nuclear powers.

The new text "proposes that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear-weapon state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear-weapon state, should be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation."

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Throughout the UNGA session it was apparent that the nations of the world were unequivocally against Putin's updated doctrine.

Putin's comments came just one day before the 10th annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which was designated by the United Nations to promote nonproliferation, disarmament, and the subsequent elimination of nuclear weapons.

"Achieving global nuclear disarmament is the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations," the organization said on its website detailing the designation of September 26 as International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Despite the efforts of the world body, more than 12,000 nuclear weapons remain in the eight declared nuclear countries -- Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Israel is believed to possess nuclear weapons but operates on a policy of nondisclosure.

During the high-level meeting, representatives of all 193 UN member states were given an opportunity to speak on nuclear disarmament. Many of the delegates joined Guterres in arguing for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, who told the meeting they "deliver no real security or stability."

The U.S. representative Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary at the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability, said that the United States was "ready to engage constructively with Russia on bilateral arms control."

At the same time, she highlighted Putin's withdrawal from key agreements and his rejection of "dialogue and transparency." In 2023, Putin both revoked Russian ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty and suspended the New START nuclear treaty with the United States.

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Is This The End Of Nuclear Arms Control?

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has often touted Russia's nuclear arsenal and has issued warning about the use of nuclear weapons if Russia's national sovereignty were to ever be threatened.

Stewart also spoke on the deterrence and security provided by the U.S. nuclear arsenal, which she said extends to U.S. allies, thus eliminating the need for others to pursue nuclear programs of their own.

Delegates from South Africa and Libya, which are among the few countries that had nuclear weapons programs and chose to disband them, also spoke, calling for nuclear weapons to be given up entirely by all countries. In outlining their own choices, they hoped to show to other nuclear nations the feasibility of eliminating their nuclear weapons.

Acting Libyan Foreign Minister Al-Taher Salem al-Baour asked nuclear weapons states to "do what other countries...have done" in getting rid nuclear weapons, calling them "weapons of destruction with no beneficial value."

While several other delegates called for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, Fijian President Wiliame Katonivere said the climate of distrust was evident and that the existence of nuclear weapons would only lead to suffering.

Many of the other speakers saw that progress achieved directly after the Cold War was slowly melting away, and Guterres was the most blunt about this, saying that the "risk of nuclear war is at heights not seen since the Cold War era."

U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the White House on September 26 after announcing billions in military aid for Kyiv, insisting again that Russia "will not prevail" in its invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskiy presented Biden with what he has referred to as his "victory plan" and again requested that the United States lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons it has provided to strike deep inside Russia at military targets

"Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail, and we'll continue to stand by you every step of the way," Biden said as he hosted Zelenskiy in the Oval Office after thanking him for presenting his plan.

"We deeply appreciate that Ukraine and America have stood side by side," said Zelenskiy, dressed in a dark green military-style outfit.

Biden, Zelenskiy Meet, Discuss New Aid Package For Ukraine

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Zelenskiy also met with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's nominee for president, later at the White House and shared his "victory plan" with her.

Harris told Zelenskiy that her support for the people of Ukraine was unwavering.

"The Ukrainian people are bravely defending their homes and their homeland, their freedom and their democracy against a brutal dictator," Harris told Zelenskiy at the White House.

She also said that calls for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia were "dangerous and unacceptable." She added that suggestions from Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance (Republican-Ohio), that Ukraine should cut a deal to end the war were not proposals for peace but "proposals for surrender."

Trump has said Ukraine should have made concessions to Putin in the months before Russia's invasion. At a campaign rally in North Carolina on September 25 he said, "Any deal -- the worst deal -- would’ve been better than what we have now."

Biden earlier on September 26 announced more than $8 billion in military aid for Kyiv and repeated in a statement that the United States will "provide Ukraine with the support it needs to win this war."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

The package includes for the first time a system called Joint Standoff Weapon -- a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of up to 130 kilometers launched from fighter aircraft -- as well as an additional Patriot air-defense battery and hundreds more Patriot missiles and AMRAAMs (advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles).

Biden, who is leaving office in January, said the training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots in the United States will also be expanded, including the training of an additional 18 pilots next year.

He said Washington and its partners were taking steps to disrupt a global cryptocurrency network used by Russia to evade sanctions and launder money, without elaborating.

Biden added he has called a top-level meeting of the 50 or so members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany next month to better coordinate efforts to back Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression.

Zelenskiy thanked Biden in a message on X. "I am grateful to [U.S. President] Joe Biden, U.S. Congress and its both parties, Republicans and Democrats, as well as the entire American people for today's announcement," he wrote.

Zelenskiy is looking to shore up support for his war effort ahead of the U.S. presidential election pitting Harris against former President Trump. A meeting between Trump and the Ukrainian president had been expected to be added to Zelenskiy's schedule, but it was unclear whether it would take place.

The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.

Few details are known about the "so-called victory plan" put together by Zelenskiy, who has been on an intensive diplomatic mission since he arrived for the annual UN General Assembly earlier this week.

Zelenskiy has said the plan will be a "bridge" toward ending the conflict, while media reports said it would ask for stepped-up U.S. military and financial backing and security guarantees, as well as further sanctions on Russia.

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A Critical Trip For Zelenskiy As Battlefield Worsens And U.S. Election Looms

People close to Zelenskiy have said the main security guarantee that Kyiv is pursuing is NATO membership, a longtime demand that has been met with skepticism by the United States and its allies.

Zelenskiy has also indicated he will again seek permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia to prevent attacks on its cities and infrastructure, a move Ukraine's allies are divided upon.

The White House played down Ukraine's hopes that Zelensky's visit would achieve that goal.

"I'm not expecting there to be any new announcements on this particular action or a decision coming out of this meeting," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina) said earlier that failing to allow the change in strategy would be a mistake.

After meeting with Zelenskiy at the U.S. Capitol on September 26, Graham said the Ukrainian president asked for only one thing: permission to use U.S. weapons to strike "legitimate military targets" inside Russia.

Graham said he believes that actions taken this week likely will determine the outcome of the war and that outcome will be "dire" for Ukraine if there is no change in the military strategy.

"If you continue the policy of holding Ukraine back because you are worried about escalation, you will doom them to lose," Graham told reporters after meeting Zelenskiy.

The Ukrainians "don't need just nice statements anymore. They need the capability to get [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to the table. And that will only come when you can hurt Putin militarily." If Biden really wants Ukraine to prevail, he must allow Zelenskiy to execute his plan, he added.

Zelenskiy told senators the plan is to hit specific targets, including air bases, that the Russian military uses in its attacks on Ukraine. Zelenskiy believes that attacking those targets would give him leverage to get Putin to negotiate, and Graham said he believes that too.

As the diplomatic efforts took place, Ukraine felt the brunt of Russian attacks on September 25 and 26. At least eight people were killed and 44 wounded, regional officials reported.

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'It Was A Miracle': How A Ukrainian Man Survived A Russian Glide Bomb

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A child was wounded in Kyiv as the Ukrainian capital and more than 10 other regions came under a wave of Russian strikes early on September 26.

Vadym Filashkin, the governor of Donetsk, said four people were killed and 19 were wounded across the region whose civilian areas were shelled 28 times.

In Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said, two people were killed and 14 were wounded. A 62-year-old woman was killed in a rocket attack in the Odesa region, according to Governor Oleh Kiper, while one person died in Russian shelling of the Sumy region.

Overnight shelling of the southern Zaporizhzhya region wounded eight people, one seriously, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.

Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had captured Ukrayinsk, a town in Donetsk some 30 kilometers south of Pokrovsk, a key hub that has been in Moscow's crosshairs for the past few months.

At least 15 policemen were injured, two of them seriously, in an explosion inside a police station in northwestern Pakistan. The evening explosion on September 26 took place in the arms storage of the police station in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, one officer told RFE/RL by phone. But another officer, who was at the scene, said the number of injured policemen could be as high as 30. There was no claim of responsibility. In April 2023, 17 people were killed in two explosions inside the office of the counterterrorism police in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The province has experienced a rise in attacks tied to Islamic militarism.

Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) has banned seven mostly Russian news sites, including that of state news agency RIA Novosti, which it said posed "national security risks" for Chisinau.

The SIS on September 25 ordered Moldovan electronic communications providers to block access to five Russian sites -- Ng.ru, Gazetacrimea.ru, Crimea.gov.ru, Crimea.ria.ru, and Crimea24tv.ru in addition to RIA Novosti's Ria.ru site.

The seventh site that was ordered blocked by SIS is Nuacum.eu, which describes itself as the voice of a movement called Nu. Nu Acum (No. Not Now).

The site, which has been urging Moldovans to vote against joining the European Union in a referendum scheduled for next month arguing that the move is premature, features as its main driving force ex-Economy Minister Octavian Calmic.

Moldova's pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, who is running for reelection on October 20, has proposed holding the EU referendum simultaneously with the presidential election.

Under the U.S.-educated Sandu, Moldova -- one of Europe's poorest countries and a former Soviet republic where Russia maintained strong influence after Chisinau became independent more than three decades ago -- has experienced an about-face toward the West since she defeated Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon in November 2020.

After the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Chisinau positioned itself firmly with the West, condemning Moscow's war of aggression and admitting tens of thousands of refugees from neighboring Ukraine.

Chisinau eventually secured an invitation to join the EU in 2022 and started membership negotiations with the 27-member bloc in June.

The Russian Embassy in Moldova, which has in the past called the blocking of Russian sites "a subjective and politicized move," has not commented on the SIS decision to block the seven sites.

In June, the United States, Canada, and Britain issued a joint statement warning of Russia's plans to influence the presidential election and to dispute a result running counter to the Kremlin's interests.

The U.S. State Department has warned about Russia's attempt to influence the election.

"In defense of our shared democratic values, we are taking this step to warn our democratic partners and Allies that Russian actors are carrying out a plot to influence the outcomes of Moldova's fall 2024 presidential election," the State Department said in a statement.

"They intend to incite protests in Moldova should a pro-Russia candidate not win. They seek to foment negative public perceptions of Western governments and Moldova’s incumbent leadership, while degrading public confidence in Moldova’s ability to secure itself and maintain rule of law."

Ahead of last year's local elections, the SIS ordered the blocking of dozens of sites that it said were posing a "danger" to Moldova's news environment.

After RFE/RL found that the "blocked" sites continued to be accessible, experts said the method used by Moldovan authorities -- DNS blocking -- was inefficient.

Moldovan lawmakers earlier this year passed a law that established the institutions that have the right to block access to "criminal sites," namely the Foreign Ministry and the SIS.

A military court in Moscow on September 26 sentenced Russian actor Aleksei Panin, who currently resides in the United States, to six years in prison in absentia on a charge of justifying terrorism. The charge stems from Panin expressing support on social media in October 2022 for an explosion that seriously damaged the Kerch bridge connecting Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea region with Russia's Taman Peninsula. In May, Panin was added to Russia's list of extremists and terrorists. Panin has openly criticized Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

A recent incident at a school in Uzbekistan between a teacher and a sixth-grader who asked her why she didn't speak Russian in a Russian class has led to heated statements between Russian and Uzbek officials.

The incident took place at a school in the capital, Tashkent, on September 23. A female teacher in a Russian class pulled a student's ear and slapped his face after he asked her why she was not speaking Russian.

A video of the incident went viral on the Internet and sparked strong reactions from Russians on social media.

On September 25, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview that Russia "has requested official explanations from the Uzbek side" regarding the incident.

"An urgent request has been sent to the Uzbek side to legally assess the material in the media and, if the case if proven, to undertake measures against the person for the cruelty imposed on the child," Zakharova said.

Alisher Qodirov, deputy chairman of the Uzbek parliament and leader of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party, on September 26 wrote on Telegram that "it would be better for [Russia] to deal with their own affairs full of problems than to deal with our internal issues."

"The violation of rights of an Uzbek child at a school in Uzbekistan will be investigated in accordance with Uzbek laws. There is no advantage to stir up noise out of the blue," Qodirov wrote.

Although only about 2 percent of the 35 million people in Uzbekistan are ethnic Russians, the Russian language is still taught in schools across the country.

Uzbekistan and other former Soviet republics have been cautious about the Russian language in their countries after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

One of Moscow's main justifications for its aggression has been the "protection of Russian-speaking population of Ukraine" from the "Nazi government." Ukraine's government was democratically elected and does not include any far-right parties.

In early September, Qodirov proposed banning all Soviet symbols and ideology in his country in response to a court decision in the southeastern Uzbek city of Samarkand to hand a parole-like sentence to a local man after he worked with a pro-Soviet Russian group in calling for the restoration of the Soviet Union.

A relative of the late leader of the short-lived Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Dzhokhar Dudayev, was reportedly abducted and detained in the Russian North Caucasus region after he posted Dudayev's picture on Instagram.

A source in Chechnya told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that Lom-Ali Idigov, a son of Dudayev's cousin, was still in custody in Grozny.

The source added that Chechen authorities refused to comment or explain why Idigov was detained.

The disappearance of Idigov was first reported by the Chechen opposition Telegram channel 1ADAT on September 25.

It said the "abduction" took place eight days earlier as he returned home in the village of Katayama near Grozny. Idigov had been in Moscow, where he periodically travels for business.

According to the Telegram channel, Idigov has been held in police custody without being charged with any crimes but that it came after he posted Dudayev's photo on Instagram.

Dudayev, a major general in the Soviet Air Force, was elected Chechnya's president in October 1991, less than two months before the Soviet Union collapsed, and eventually proclaimed Chechnya's independence under the name of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

Chechnya was then officially an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation and Moscow did not recognize its independence, launching the devastating First Chechen War in December 1994.

In April 1996, a Russian missile killed Dudayev 30 kilometers from Grozny after Russian security services intercepted his satellite phone's signal while he was talking with then-Russian lawmaker Konstantin Borovoi.

The current Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, claims his father, Akhmat Kadyrov, was the first Chechen president and suppresses any mention of Dudayev in public or private.

Once a supporter of Dudayev, Akhmat Kadyrov, left pro-independence forces and started supporting Russia's federal forces and officials in autumn 1999.

In 2000, Akhmat Kadyrov became Chechnya's pro-Moscow leader. Since he was killed in a bombing attack in Grozny in May 2004, Ramzan Kadyrov has led Chechnya within the Russian Federation with an iron grip.

Pakistan's military said on September 26 that the country has signed a contract to sell JF-17 Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan. The aircraft is co-produced by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and developed jointly with China, with whom Islamabad has grown increasingly close as ties with its traditional military ally, the United States, have weakened over the last few years. The military did not provide the cost or quantity of jets agreed to, but said in a statement that the sale was part of Islamabad's efforts to enhance defense cooperation with friendly countries and bolster the air-power capabilities of Azerbaijan. Pakistan is also a close ally of Turkey, which backed Azerbaijan in its standoff with Armenia when clashes erupted between the two South Caucasus countries last year, resuming decades-old hostilities.

Kyrgyz prosecutors have asked a court in Bishkek to sentence to six years in prison each of 11 former and current reporters for the Temirov Live investigative group on charges the journalists and rights groups have rejected as politically motivated.

Prosecutor Adilet Ubukeev asked the Lenin district court to convict and sentence the journalists on September 26.

Kyrgyz human rights defender Rita Karasartova decried the move, calling the prosecutors' demand "ridiculous."

"They demand six years in prison for each journalist. For what? Is journalism a crime?" she said after the court hearing.

"Is it a crime to compile journalistic materials, investigate, publish the investigation results, write about it? Is it a crime to criticize authorities?" Karasartova added while calling for the immediate release of all 11 journalists.

The journalists went on trial on June 7.

Four of them -- Makhabat Tajibek-kyzy, Azamat Ishenbekov, Aktilek Kaparov, and Aike Beishekeeva -- have been held in pretrial detention since January 16.

The other seven, Maksat Tajibek-uulu, Akyl Orozbekov, Jumabek Turdaliev, Joodar Buzumov, Saparbek Akunbekov, Saipidin Sultanaliev, and Tynystan Asypbekov, were transferred to house arrest amid an outcry from domestic and international human rights groups over the case.

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The Austrian-based International Press Institute also condemned the prosecutors' request and called on the Central Asian nation's authorities to "immediately release the journalists."

Rights groups and watchdogs have also decried the treatment of the journalists while in detention.

In April, the Kyrgyz Ombudsman's Institute said guards physically attacked Tajibek-kyzy and two of her cellmates in detention center No.1 in Bishkek.

Prosecutors said at the time that they launched a preliminary investigation into Tajibek-kyzy's complaint.

Tajibek-kyzy is the wife of prominent investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, the founder of Temirov Live who was deported to Moscow in November 2022 after a court ruled that he illegally obtained Kyrgyz citizenship.

Temirov, who held Kyrgyz and Russian passports, rejected the accusation and insisted the probe against him was launched after he published the results of an investigation suggesting corruption among top Kyrgyz officials.

Kyrgyzstan's free press and civil society have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia, but that has changed amid a deepening government crackdown.

In early April, President Sadyr Japarov signed into law a controversial bill that allows authorities to register organizations as "foreign representatives," which critics say mirrors a repressive Russian law on "foreign agents" similar to one Moscow uses to muzzle independent journalism and NGOs.

German lawmakers have expressed concerns over a recent report by a Belarusian website that activists jailed by Minsk on administrative charges in 2020 were sent to work at onion plantations belonging to a company led by a German lawmaker who belongs to the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD).

According to the report, issued by Reform.news on September 24, Jorg Dornau owns an onion plantation in the Lida district of western Belarus where jailed Belarusians were paid 5 euros ($5.60) per day on a voluntary basis to work.

Kerstin Koeditz, a lawmaker in the Saxony parliament, told RFE/RL on September 26 that if the allegations are found to be true, Dornau must resign.

"This sort of business conduct may damage Germany's reputation and uncover old wounds from the fascism times of our eastern neighbors," Koeditz said.

Neither Dornau nor AfD party officials would comment on the situation when contacted by RFE/RL.

Despite being hounded by scandals, AfD, bolstered by support from disenchanted younger voters, has performed well in recent European and state elections.

The Reform.news report quoted a Belarusian man who said he worked at Dornau's onion farm in Lida while serving a 15-day jail term for liking a post on social media.

The farm belongs to Zybulka-Bel Ltd. company that was established by Dornau and Yury Kunitsky, a German citizen from the former Soviet Union.

The company was set up in October 2020, the same time as when the country's authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime was violently arresting thousands of protesters who challenged the official results of an August 2020 presidential election that handed him victory despite opposition and Western claims the poll rigged.

Since then he has continued to put Belarusian behind bars for even the slightest hint of dissent.

The Reform.news report said that inmates worked at the onion fields on the basis of an agreement Dornau signed with the Center for the Isolation of Offenders in Lida.

Juliane Pfeil , a member of the Saxony parliament, told RFE/RL that Dornau had failed to fill out all necessary forms with questions regarding a separate report in April by a German newspaper Welt am Sonntag about Dornau's business in Belarus.

"Such behavior leads one to think that there is something more behind this," Pfeil said, adding Dornau has already been fined three months' pay, 20,862 euros ($23,302), for failing to fully disclose his business dealings in Belarus.

It is not illegal for German lawmakers to have private businesses in countries such as Belarus. However, lawmakers must be transparent in reporting incomes.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German Bundestag representing the Christian Democratic Union, told RFE/RL that if the allegations are proven, Dornau must face criminal prosecution.

"AfD has always been close and had ties with the dictatorships in Russia and Belarus. There were trips by party members to Belarus, and, in general, AfD is Russia's mediator in Germany, constantly involved in the destruction of the democratic state order," Kiesewetter said.

In reference to the report, the self-exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the Tagesspiegel newspaper it is "immoral to cooperate with Lukashenka's regime and its repressive institutions."

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 25 of taking billions of dollars from the United States while at the same time refusing to "make a deal" to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Trump, who has been highly critical of the aid Washington has disbursed to Kyiv, said Ukraine should have made concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the months before Russia's February 2022 attack.

"Any deal -- the worst deal -- would’ve been better than what we have now," Trump said. "If they made a bad deal, it would’ve been much better. They would’ve given up a little bit and everybody would be living, and every building would be built, and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.”

Trump made the remark at a campaign rally in North Carolina as Zelenskiy attended the UN General Assembly in New York ahead of a visit on September 26 to Washington, where U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce an additional aid package.

Trump has frequently claimed that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine if he had been U.S. president and that he would swiftly put an end to the war if he returned to the White House. But he has not presented any concrete explanation of how he would accomplish that.

In a debate earlier this month with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.

Russia and Ukraine held several negotiations before the full-scale invasion was launched in February 2022, but Kyiv rejected the demands put forth by Moscow, which included recognizing Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and separatist-controlled entities in Luhansk and Donetsk.

Trump’s comments in North Carolina appeared to be in response to Zelenskiy’s comments in an interview with The New Yorker in which he said Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.”

Trump noted that Zelenskiy was in the United States and said he was making “little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me."

He also described Ukraine as a country in ruins outside of Kyiv that is short on soldiers and questioned whether it had any bargaining chips left to negotiate an end to the war.

“What deal can we make? It’s demolished,” he added. “The people are dead. The country is in rubble.”

Zelenskiy said he would present Biden with what he calls a victory plan for the war that is expected to include a request for permission to use long-range weapons provided by the United States to strike Russian targets.

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There had been reports that a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy would take place in New York, but the meeting was expected to be scrapped, according to U.S. media.

The White House said Biden launched a joint declaration of support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction involving more than 30 countries, including the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, and the European Union.

Biden, Zelenskiy, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gathered with other world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a strong display of unity for Ukraine.

"We're committed to providing Ukraine with the resources that it needs to build back stronger than before.... You're not alone in this fight," Biden said in launching the joint declaration.

A copy of the document distributed by the White House said it was Russia's responsibility under international law to pay for damages it had caused in Ukraine.

"We reaffirm that, consistent with all applicable laws and our respective legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," it said.

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Biden said more U.S. actions to accelerate support for Ukraine will be announced on September 26.

In his remarks, Zelenskiy mentioned the U.S. Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II and said: "Today we are laying the foundation for a similar architecture of recovery."

Meanwhile, the U.S State Department announced on September 25 that Washington will provide $375 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.

The package includes high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) and mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, as well as Javelin and tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

WASHINGTON -- The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson (Republican-Louisiana), has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to fire his ambassador to the United States after Zelenskiy took part in a tour of a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania, which is seen as a battleground state in the upcoming U.S presidential election.

Johnson said in a letter to Zelenskiy on September 25 that Ambassador Oksana Markarova organized the tour of a Pennsylvania arms plant that produces munitions critical for Ukraine’s country's war effort.

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The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is one of only two sites in the United States that produce 155-millimeter artillery shells, which are among the most important aspects of U.S. military aid to Ukraine with more than 3 million shipped to the country.

Zelenskiy visited the plant on September 22 ahead of his meetings this week at the United Nations in New York and with President Joe Biden in Washington.

Pennsylvania is one of the most important of seven swing states that will determine the U.S. election on November 5. U.S. aid to Ukraine has become an issue in the election after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives held up the last aid package for six months in part because they said the money could be better spent at home.

Democrats argued that most of the aid is spent on military equipment manufactured in the United States and therefore protects and creates American jobs.

Johnson said the tour was led by a top political surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris and “purposely excluded Republicans.” He did not identify that person, but Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and vocal supporter of Harris, took part in the tour.

Johnson added that Republicans have lost trust in the ambassador’s “ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country” and demanded that Zelenskiy immediately remove her from her position.

“As you have said, Ukrainians have tried to avoid being ‘captured by American domestic politics, and ‘influencing the choices of the American people’ ahead of the November election,” Johnson said in the letter. “Clearly that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site.”

He claimed the tour intentionally failed to include a single Republican, making it a “clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats.”

The Ukrainian Embassy to the United States did not return a call from RFE/RL requesting comment.

Johnson added that support for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine “continues to be bipartisan,” but he said U.S.-Ukrainian relations are “tested and needlessly tarnished when the candidates at the top of the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 25 that a conventional attack on Russia by any country that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack.

Putin made the statement as he outlined revisions to Russia’s nuclear doctrine at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council in Moscow.

Russia's current nuclear doctrine says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.

The revised version of the document says that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack posing a “critical threat to our sovereignty,” Putin said.

"It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any nonnuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation," Putin said.

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"The conditions for Russia's transition to the use of nuclear weapons are also clearly fixed," Putin said, adding that Moscow would consider such a move if it gets reliable information about the start of a mass cross-border attack by air from strategic and tactical aviation, cruise missiles, drones, and hypersonic weapons.

Putin also said the list of states and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence should be expanded but did not mention which countries would be added.

A top Ukrainian government official denounced the revisions, saying they proved Moscow had nothing left but nuclear blackmail to intimidate the world.

"Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world apart from nuclear blackmail," Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president's office, said on September 25 on Telegram. "These instruments will not work."

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine Live Briefing: Dozens Wounded In Russian Attacks

Since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, he and others in the Kremlin have threatened the West with Russia's nuclear arsenal to discourage it from ramping up support for Kyiv.

The revisions come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy seeks permission from his allies in the United States and Europe to use the longer-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory.

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West 'Too Cautious About Giving Ukraine Weapons That Could Strike Into Russia,' Says Former NATO Commander

The change follows Putin’s warning to the United States and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.

Putin said the revisions were carefully calibrated and commensurate with the modern military threats facing Russia.

The number of people killed in a Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk rose to two people, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on September 25.

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"As of 5:30 p.m. we know of 2 deaths in Kramatorsk. This afternoon, the Russians dropped three guided aerial bombs on the city. 2 people died and at least 12 were injured. Three children are among the wounded," Filashkin said on Telegram.

Local authorities said Russian troops targeted the center of Kramatorsk, damaging two high-rise buildings, shops, and cars.

Kramatorsk, which lies about 20 kilometers from the front line, has been hit by two deadly missile strikes that took numerous lives since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. One killed 13 in June last year, and the other hit the city's train station in April 2022, killing more than 60 civilians.

The Kherson region also came under Russian shelling on September 25, local authorities report.

An 80-year-old woman was killed, and two people on the street were injured. In addition, a 48-year-old local resident was taken to the hospital with injuries to her face and forearm, Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.

Prokudin said earlier that Kherson city was under attack by Russian aircraft.

Russian forces also used glide bombs in that attack. One of the bombs hit a cultural institution, seriously damaging the building and setting off a fire. There was no information about victims, ​he said.

Later in the day Prokudin said Kherson remained under attack and called on the townspeople to remain in shelters.

Earlier on September 25, the Ukrainian Air Force said the country's air defenses shot down 28 drones and four missiles launched by Russia at 10 regions.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on the Donetsk stronghold of Vuhledar as they seek access to the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, some 80 kilometers to the north.

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said on September 25 that fighting was ongoing in Vuhledar, although the Ukrainian military said the city was not yet surrounded by Russian forces.

The White House has disinvited Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze from a prestigious reception during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), another sign of souring relations between the two once-close allies over what Washington says are the "anti-democratic actions" of the Caucasus nation's government.

Media reports about the White House's decision were confirmed to RFE/RL on September 25 by the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, which also said all meetings with Kobakhidze's delegation have been canceled.

"The Biden Administration rescinded Prime Minister Kobakhidze's invitation to its annual UNGA reception and declined to meet with the Georgian delegation due to increasing concerns about the Georgian government’s anti-democratic actions, disinformation, and negative rhetoric about the United States and the West," the embassy's statement said.

The Voice of America's Georgian Service first reported that Kobakhidze’s invitation to the traditional event had been canceled.

Georgia's government, dominated by the Georgian Dream party, has come under fire from the country's Western allies following its move to introduce a "foreign agent" law that many fear will stifle media and independent voices.

Parliament in May gave final passage to the law, overriding a veto by President Salome Zurabishvili, who split with legislators and party leaders in support of protesters who took to the streets en masse.

The law is modeled on a similar measure in Russia, which was initially passed in 2012 and has been gradually expanded and toughened to encompass civil society groups, human rights activists, media organizations, and others. The law has forced the closure of dozens of organizations and individuals in Russia, and forced activists and reporters to flee the country.

SEE ALSO:

Defying Controversial 'Foreign-Agent' Law, Georgian NGOs Are Ready To Fight

The Georgian Dream party insists the new law was needed to ensure transparency in the country's political scene and to protect its sovereignty, while the government has denied heavy-handed tactics were used against demonstrators.

Last week, the U.S. ambassador to Georgia, Robin Dunnigan, reiterated Washington's displeasure over the Georgian government’s recent statements and actions, saying they "further isolate Georgia from the West."

"The Georgian people have overwhelmingly said that their future is a future with Europe and with the West, and actions and statements that isolate Georgia don’t help that goal," she said.

"I want to reiterate once again that there is no stronger supporter in the world than the United States for the Georgian people and for the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic integration," Dunnigan added.

Dunnigan's statement came after Kobakhidze summoned her to officially protest the sanctions imposed by the United States on two Georgian officials and two Georgian citizens associated with brutal crackdowns on peaceful protestors and political opponents who rallied against the foreign agents law.

In May, the United States, which for years had been a steady supporter of Georgia's aspirations to join NATO and the European Union, announced visa restrictions on Georgian government officials and a comprehensive review of bilateral relations over the legislation, which was signed into law in June.

Georgia was given EU candidate status on December 14, but has yet to start the accession negotiations, which can last for years. Georgians have also been given the green light for visa-free travel in the Schengen zone. Both of the diplomatic initiatives are under threat because of the law's approval.

Russian lawmakers on September 25 approved the first reading of legislation that would ban the adoption of Russian children by citizens from countries where gender transition is legal in a nod to the Kremlin's crusade to protect what it views as "traditional family values."

The bill is moving through the State Duma -- led by the legislature's chairman, Vyacheslav Volodin -- along with two other pieces of legislation that would ban "propagating child-free ideology" and impose large fines for "propagating childlessness."

If approved in two subsequent readings and by the Federation Council, the ban would hit prospective parents from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland, all of which allow for gender transitioning.

Last year, Russia adopted a law banning surgical operations "aimed at changing the sex of a person" and the changing of gender in documents. Separately, the Supreme Court decided in November to ban the nonexistent "International Public LGBT Movement."

Over the past decade, Russian President Vladimir Putin, with support from the dominant Russian Orthodox Church, has portrayed himself as a champion of what he describes as traditional values, a theme that plays well among many of his supporters in Russia.

In November 2022, less than nine months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, Putin signed a decree supporting a 2021 document on Russia's "traditional spiritual-moral values," including "service to the fatherland," "strong families," and "the priority of the spiritual over the material."

Among his initiatives, in July 2023 he signed into law a ban on gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy done as part of the gender-transition process.

Other bills that year aimed against "Western anti-family ideology" annulled marriages where one of the parties had "changed gender," while also banning transgender people from adopting.

Russia had already banned adoptions from the United States in 2012 in retaliation to a U.S. law imposing asset freezes and visa bans on Russians accused by Washington of human rights abuses, including those believed involved in the death of a whistleblowing Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Moscow jail in 2009.

Russian authorities also have raised the issue of "traditional family values" to stressing the need to increase the birth rate in the country amid an ongoing decrease of the country's population.

Earlier on September 25, lawmakers in the Far Eastern region of Primorye adopted in all three readings a bill banning the "inducement to abortions."

Similar laws have been adopted since 2023 in several other Russian regions, including Mordovia, Tver and Kaliningrad.

Russian rights activists have expressed concern over moves to restrict access to abortions.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 25 said he has received reports saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attack nuclear power plants and infrastructure in Ukraine with the goal of disconnecting the plants from the power grid.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Zelenskiy said he recently received "yet another alarming report from our intelligence" saying that Russia is using satellites to gather images and detailed information about Ukraine's nuclear infrastructure.

"Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster, a day like that must never come," Zelenskiy said.

Moscow "needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the annual UN meeting in New York.

"If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders," he said.

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Zelenskiy also appealed to world leaders to keep his country's fight against Russia's invasion a top priority and warned that Putin is intent on seizing more territory, calling "more land" for a country the size of Russia an "insane" proposition.

"I think every leader, every country that supports us...sees how Russia, a country more than 20 times larger than Ukraine in territory, still wants even more land," he said.

Zelenskiy has been on an intensive diplomatic mission since his arrival in the United States for the annual UNGA event, meeting with key U.S. lawmakers and appearing on U.S. media to urge Washington to maintain its crucial support for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president plans to lay out a "victory plan" to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on September 26 amid relentless strikes on Ukraine's cities and a grinding Russian offensive that is making slow but continuous advances into the eastern part of the country.

He dismissed efforts by China and Brazil to end the war, questioning why the pair were proposing an alternative to his peace formula.

Proposing "alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles" would give Putin the political space to continue the war, he said.

China has been trying to enlist developing nations to join the six-point peace plan it issued with Brazil in May.

Their proposal calls for an international peace conference "held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advocated for the plan when he addressed the General Assembly on September 24.

"Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," Zelenskiy told the 193-member assembly.

"When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices -- with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa -- saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises, what is the true interest? Everyone must understand, you will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense," he said.

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The Ukrainian president told the UN Security Council on September 24 that Russia can only be "forced" into peace, and denounced Iran and North Korea as "accomplices" who have helped Moscow by providing weapons it has used in attacks on Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has "broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed: forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelenskiy said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 25 that Zelenskiy's stance was "a fatal mistake" that would have grave repercussions for Ukraine.

"A position based on an attempt to force Russia into peace is an absolutely fatal mistake, because it is impossible to force Russia into peace," Peskov said in a call with reporters.

"This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime."

Details about Zelenskiy's victory plan remain unknown, but he said the blueprint will be a "bridge" toward ending the conflict.

Media reports say the plan will ask for stepped-up U.S. military and financial backing and security guarantees, as well as further sanctions on Russia.

The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.

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Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has said the main security guarantee that Kyiv wants is NATO membership, a demand Kyiv has been advancing for years but which has been met with skepticism by the West, including Washington.

Zelenskiy has also indicated he will again seek permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia, a move Ukraine's allies are divided upon.

WATCH" Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Entire Speech At The UNGA

FULL SPEECH: Watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Addresses UN General Assembly

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On September 24, he called on Washington to take "decisive" action to bring the end of the war closer. In a meeting with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, Zelenskiy voiced Kyiv's gratitude for what he called Washington's unwavering support for Kyiv and highlighting the critical U.S. role in defending Ukraine's freedom.

"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our victory plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the meeting.

"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said.

Even without the details of Zelenskiy's plan, some of Ukraine's most stalwart Western allies have pointed to the need to find a compromise solution to the conflict.

Czech President Petr Pavel, whose country has been one of Kyiv's strongest backers and the driving force behind a multibillion-dollar program known as the Czech Ammunition Initiative that has provided Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, told The New York Times in an interview published on September 23 that Ukrainians "will have to be realistic" about their chances of recovering all territories occupied by Russia.

"To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen," the newspaper quoted Pavel as saying. "So the end will be somewhere in between."

Pavel added that Ukrainians also need to be "realistic about the support that they can achieve" from allies who are increasingly under domestic pressure to scale back help against Russia after more than 2 1/2 years of war.

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Residential High-Rise Hit By Russian Attack In Kharkiv

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Kyiv, which has around a fifth of its territory occupied by Russia, has repeatedly opposed such a possibility.

"There can be no half-hearted solutions when it comes to human lives, freedom, common values, justice for Russian crimes, restoration of international peace, and security," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a post on Telegram after Pavel's interview was published.

"Temporary solutions will not restore full-fledged peace but will only postpone war."

• RFE/RL

Rescuers in Kharkiv were confronted by an apartment wall covered almost entirely in blood after a deadly Russian strike on September 24.

Zelenskiy's diplomatic offensive came as Russia stepped up its strikes on Ukraine. On September 25, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 28 drones and four missiles launched by Russia at 10 regions, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram.

Russian drones and missiles were downed over the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson. Four more drones were "locally lost" in several regions of Ukraine, the statement said.

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What Do Ukrainians Expect From Zelenskiy's 'Victory Plan'?

In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on the Donetsk stronghold of Vuhledar as they seek access to the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, some 80 kilometers to the north.

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said on September 25 that fighting was ongoing in Vuhledar, although the Ukrainian military said the city was not yet surrounded by Russian forces.

Moscow's advances in the east appear to be the fastest over the past two years, despite a shock Ukrainian counteroffensive into Russia's Kursk region last month.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was briefed on September 24 by U.S. intelligence officials on alleged threats from Iran to assassinate him, Trump's campaign said in a statement. The campaign said intelligence officials have identified that Iranian threats have "heightened in the past few months" and U.S. government officials were working to protect Trump and ensure the elections were not impacted. Iran has previously denied U.S. claims of interfering in American affairs. Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York did not respond to a request for comment late on September 24.

Senior Kosovo officials on September 24 honored an ethnic Albanian policeman killed by a commando-style group of armed Serbs last year in northern Kosovo, while the country's interior minister said on the eve of a trial for suspects in the attack that the indictments were "incomplete" because they ignored official Serbian involvement.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said during a visit to the slain police sergeant's hometown that Serbia "is responsible and must be held accountable" for what he and other officials have described as a "terrorist" attack.

Belgrade has denied involvement in the ambush by dozens of heavily armed paramilitary gunmen near the Serbian Orthodox Banjska Monastery complex in September 2023 that killed the policeman and injured another. Three gunmen were killed before the group escaped into rugged terrain near the Kosovo-Serbia border.

The incident alarmed observers already concerned about stalled normalization efforts and escalating tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs are in the majority in four northern regions along the mutual border.

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A Year After Brazen Attack In Kosovo, Questions Remain

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A trial is scheduled to begin in Kosovo on September 25 of the group's alleged ringleader, fugitive former Kosovar Serb politician Milan Radoicic, and 44 unnamed subjects of indictments announced earlier this month.

Serbian officials have said Radoicic confessed his involvement last October and is complying with court reporting requirements, but they are continuing their own investigation. They say any legal process will take place "before domestic courts" and categorically reject extradition.

Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told RFE/RL in an extensive interview that the Banjska indictments were "late but also incomplete, since we know that there were somewhere around 100 terrorists directly involved in this attack…[and] organization and support from the institutions of Serbia has been evident."

Svecla insisted there is "indisputable evidence" that the Banjska attackers trained at an official Serbian Army barracks in Pasulanske Livade, about 100 kilometers from the Kosovar border.

Kurti has led a sweeping crackdown on the unofficial ties that have kept tens of thousands of Serbs in northern Kosovo heavily dependent on Belgrade, including use of the Serbian dinar, banks, and post offices.

The United States and European Union have repeatedly criticized Kosovar government actions over the past 18 months as "uncoordinated," "unilateral," and a potential obstacle to progress on decade-long talks to normalize the Balkan countries' relations.

In remarks as he dedicated a local road to the late policeman, Kurti accused Western officials of "appeasement" toward Belgrade out of "caution or fear" of actions by Russia with which Belgrade has maintained trade and diplomatic relations despite unprecedented U.S. and EU sanctions since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Kurti added that "there are no more internal sources of insecurity or instability that we can't control or manage."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said the Banjska incident was "not terrorism at all."

Serbia's Higher Public Prosecutor's Office told RFE/RL that its investigation into the Banjska events was not complete, but it is treating Radoicic as a suspect in three crimes, including endangering security and weapons charges.

Pristina says Belgrade has ignored its request for Radoicic's handover despite an Interpol warrant issued at its request in December.

Radoicic is a former vice president of the Serbian List party that dominates political life and many parallel institutions for ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo. He resigned from that post and relinquished control of a Serbian business around the time he was said in October to have acknowledged responsibility for the Banjska incident under questioning by Serbian authorities.

The United States imposed sanctions on Radoicic and several associates in 2021 for alleged corruption and their suspected involvement in the 2018 murder of Kosovar Serb businessman and Serbian List critic Oliver Ivanovic.

Kurti has alleged that Radoicic has held multiple meetings with Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA) in the past year.

The U.S. State Department has urged Serbia to hold all participants in the deadly attack accountable.

Donald Trump Jr., son of Republican U.S. presidential candidate and ex-President Donald Trump, met with Serbian businessmen at a dinner to discuss the prospect of investments in Serbia. Slavko Caric, former chairman of the executive board of Erste Bank, confirmed to RFE/RL that he attended the dinner, held in Belgrade on September 23. The main topic was "investments and the attractiveness of the business environment in the region and Serbia from the perspective of U.S. investors," Caric said. He added that the discussion also covered the similarities and differences between investing in Southeastern Europe and the United States and "the advantages of this region and how to fully realize the potential for mutual business cooperation."

U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a blunt message to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 24, telling the gathering that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine had "failed at its core aim," and he urged members of the world body meeting to continue supporting Kyiv.

Putin "set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free," Biden said in his last address as U.S. president to the annual UNGA in New York City.

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"The world has to choose whether to sustain support for Ukraine or walk away from that aggression. My answer is we will not let up on our support for Ukraine," Biden said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was among the leaders present as Biden spoke, previously called for the UNGA to discuss Russia's attacks on his country.

"We just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future. We need Russia to end this criminal and unprovoked aggression that violates all global rules," Zelenskiy said.

Biden also spoke about the war in Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, to finalize a cease-fire proposal that Washington has worked on for months with partner countries in the region.

"Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms," he said of the deal brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.

Biden said the world "must not flinch from the horrors of October 7" -- the date that Hamas raided southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, who Biden said are "going through hell" along with innocent civilians in Gaza.

But at the same time it must recognize that the deal put forth by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt will "bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza free from Hamas's grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war.

He also warned against "full-scale war" in Lebanon, where hostilities have shifted and where hundreds of people were killed the day before in Israeli strikes aimed at rooting out militants belonging to Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and their ammunition stocks.

SEE ALSO:

Israel's Deadly Strikes On Lebanon Mark Start Of New War

"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said, also stressing that the UN must work to ensure that Iran "will never, ever obtain a nuclear weapon."

Biden, 81, who in July decided against seeking a second term as president, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, struck a note of optimism during his speech.

He said he had seen much despair in the world over his time as a U.S. senator, vice president, and president, but the world has the capacity for reconciliation.

"There will always be forces pulling us apart," he said. "Our test is that the forces that are holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart."

Rights groups have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Belarus and Russia, saying they have proof that hundreds of Ukrainian children were forcibly taken to Belarus during Russia's full-scale invasion and are being "reeducated" to turn against their homeland.

The Ukraine-based Zmina human rights center said on September 23 that its experts, along with colleagues from Freedom House and Ukraine's Regional Human Rights Center, filed a report with The Hague-based court documenting the "political indoctrination and military reeducation of Ukrainian children on the territory of Belarus."

The groups said documents and exclusive data confirm the "participation of Belarusian agents in the eradication of the Ukrainian ethnic identity of children, turning them into enemies of their own people."

The report says 18 entities in Belarus were identified as being involved in exposing at least 2,219 Ukrainian children aged 6 and older to forms of "discriminatory pressure."

Russia has come under heavy criticism for transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant in March 2023 for President Vladimir Putin over the issue.

Earlier this year, evidence gathered by RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, found similar evidence to the report from the rights groups on September 23.

RFE/RL found that Belarus was organizing "vacations" for children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine where the children were taught to identify with concepts that both Moscow and Minsk promote.

According to the United Nations, Russian agents have taken at least 19,546 children to that country from Ukraine since February 18, 2022.

The report by the rights groups also gives a detailed look at the financing and ways the "reeducation program" was being implemented.

The rights organizations said the "indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children" carried "elements of crimes against humanity."

Zmina did not disclose the identities of the Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian citizens implicated in the crimes.

The authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, said last week while speaking with the Russian-installed leader of occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk region that Ukrainian children in Belarus "are provided with medical treatment and resting."

Belarusian activists jailed by Minsk on administrative charges in 2020 were sent to work at onion plantations belonging to a company led by a German lawmaker who belongs to the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party, an investigation by Reform.news revealed. According to the report, jailed Belarusians were paid five euros ($5.60) per day on a voluntary basis to work in the fields in the western Belarusian district of Lida. One of the activists told Reform.news that the German lawmaker, Jorg Dornau, who represents a district in the state of Saxony, visited the plantations to check the activists' work. Dornau has not commented on the investigative report. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.