A Russian court sentenced a resident of Ukraine's occupied Crimean Peninsula on July 3 to 16 years in prison after being charged with preparing a detonation. The defendant will spend the first three years of the sentence in prison before being sent to a high-security penal colony, the court announced. He will also have to pay a 500,000 ruble ($5,600) fine. The court alleged that the defendant established contact with Ukrainian intelligence and later assumed “obligations regarding the transfer, storage of weapons, and means of committing a terrorist attack -- undermining railway lines.” Ukraine has yet to comment on the sentence, and the name of the defendant was not provided. To read the original story on RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.

Turkmenistan and Iran signed a contract on July 3 for the delivery of 10 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas per year, which Iran will then ship to Iraq.

Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry announced the deal but did not say what price Iran would pay for the gas.

The ministry's statement said Iranian companies will construct a new 125-kilometer pipeline between Iran and Turkmenistan to expand the Central Asian country's delivery capacity.

The ministry said Turkmenistan, whose economy is heavily dependent on the export of natural gas, also plans to increase its gas supplies to Iran to 40 billion cubic meters a year. However, no time frame was given.

Iran has the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and is the world's third-largest producer of the fossil fuel, but rising domestic demand is curtailing its ability to export. Iran has faced natural gas shortages during the wintertime.

A gas swap with Turkmenistan will allow Iran to meet its export commitments.

Turkmenistan has been carrying out gas swaps with Iran for several years, but the volume has been relatively low at just a few billion cubic meters annually.

Revenue from natural gas exports account for the lion's share of Turkmenistan's budget.

Turkmenistan holds the world’s fourth-largest proven natural gas reserves, estimated at nearly 14 trillion cubic meters, according to statistics compiled by British Petroleum.

Turkmenistan currently produces about 80 billion cubic meters, meaning its production to proven reserve life is 166 years, an extraordinarily high number by global standards and one that implies Turkmenistan has the potential to produce significantly more.

However, Turkmenistan has had trouble finding markets for its massive natural gas reserves. Bordered by Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran and the land-locked Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan has no ability to directly ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to world markets.

China is the country's main customer for natural gas, accounting for about half of Turkmenistan’s annual production.

Turkmenistan is working on a pipeline to supply gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, where natural gas demand is expected to rise significantly in the coming decades.

Turkmenistan has for decades been considering shipping natural gas via a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and further on to Europe, but opposition by littoral states Iran and Russia, previously the largest natural gas supplier to Europe, has left the idea in limbo.

Europe's attempt to cut its natural gas demand has also raised questions about the viability of the pipeline.

With reporting by AP

A former senator and four people in his entourage were killed on July 3 in a blast in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police in the Bajaur district told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that former Senator Hidayatullah Khan’s vehicle was attacked in the volatile Damadola area. He was accompanied by his two guards and two family members, who were all killed in the attack. Hidayatullah Khan was on a campaign trip when his vehicle was targeted by a remote-controlled bomb. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Hidayatullah Khan joined Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) in 2018 after he was elected to the Senate. He belongs to an influential political family, and his brother Shaukatullah Khan is a former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

Drone attacks targeting the Russian-held Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine must stop, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on July 3 after the plant's Russian management reported strikes near the facility and the injury of eight ZNPP employees. "ZNPP informed IAEA of several drone strikes, injuring workers at Enerhodar electrical sub-station and starting fires in forest near ZNPP switchyard," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on X. The statement did not specify whose drones carried out the attack. The head of the Russian nuclear authority, Aleksei Likhachev, called what he said was a Ukrainian attack on a substation near ZNPP an “ostentatious violation” of IAEA regulations on nuclear safety. There has been no comment from the Ukrainian side.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a July 3 press conference in Kabul that the Taliban will not remove restrictions on women and women’s education in Afghanistan. The announcement comes at the end of UN-sponsored talks in Doha, the first that Taliban representatives have attended since the annual discussions began in 2021. The talks held this time were condemned by human rights organizations for the UN’s decision to exclude women and civil society representatives to encourage the Taliban’s participation. While the UN does not recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government, Mujahid praised the “spirit of cooperation” and “atmosphere of trust” at the conference. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on July 3 that it had summoned Romanian Ambassador Cristian Istrate and informed him that a diplomat from the Romanian Embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata. The ministry described the move as "a response" to Romania's decision in late May to declare a Russian diplomat in Bucharest persona non grata. On May 24, Romanian authorities announced the arrest of a Romanian man suspected of spying for Moscow since 2022, adding that a diplomat at the Russian Embassy had been declared persona non grata for activities in breach of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

A military court in Moscow sentenced three sons of Orthodox priest Igor Ashcheulov on July 3 to lengthy prison terms for their intention to join Ukrainian armed forces. Ioann Ashcheulov received 17 1/2 years in prison, his brothers -- Aleksei and Timofei -- were sentenced to 17 years in prison each on charges of attempted treason and intending to join a terrorist group. The brothers pleaded not guilty. They were detained in July 2023 near the Ukrainian border while trying to join the so-called Liberty of Russia legion, consisting mostly of Russian citizens, which fights alongside Ukrainian armed forces against invading Russian troops. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has lamented the record-low turnout in the first round of Iran’s presidential election last week, but insisted that it is not reflective of the popularity of the Islamic republic.

In comments on July 3, Khamenei said the runoff vote on July 5 between reformist hopeful Masud Pezeshkian and hard-line candidate Saeed Jalili was “very important” and urged the public to participate.

“Those who love Islam and the Islamic republic and the progress of the country must show it by taking part in the election,” said the 85-year-old, who has the final say on all state matters.

Khamenei said the 40-percent turnout in the first round of the vote on June 28 was “not as expected,” but added that it was "completely wrong to think that those who did not vote in the first round are against the system.”

However, in a speech in 2001, Khamenei had ridiculed 40-percent voter participation in Western nations, saying it was "shameful" and a sign that "people do not trust, care, hope for the political system."

SEE ALSO:

Who Is Masud Pezeshkian, The Surprise Front-Runner In Iran's Presidential Vote?

Pezeshkian received around 42.5 percent of the ballots in the first round of voting, while his rival Jalili finished second with 38.6 percent.

The conservative vote was split between Jalili and parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who came in third with around 13.8 percent of the vote. Mostafa Purmohammadi, a former justice minister, finished last with just under 1 percent.

SEE ALSO:

Who Is Saeed Jalili, The Hard-Line Candidate In Iran's Runoff Vote For President?

With no candidate securing enough votes to win the election outright, a runoff has been scheduled for July 5.

The first round of voting was held amid calls by dissidents and activists to boycott the election, arguing that past votes had failed to instigate change.

SEE ALSO:

To Vote Or Not To Vote? Iranians Mull Continuing Presidential Election Boycott

Iran has seen a trend of sliding voter turnout since 2020 that is driven in part by a growing frustration over a lack of freedoms, a faltering economy, and declining living standards.

Analysts say the declining voter participation reflects a growing despondency in society and casts doubt over the legitimacy of Iran’s clerical establishment, which has been in power since 1979.

Elections in the Islamic republic are tightly controlled with candidates being preselected by an unelected body dominated by hard-liners.

Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court on July 3 rejected an appeal filed by veteran government critic Zarina Torokulova against her imprisonment on a charge of online calls for mass disorders. In April, a Bishkek court canceled Torokulova's five-year suspended sentence after prosecutors argued it was too lenient and ordered the 47-year-old Torokulova to serve her sentence in prison. In January, Torokulova was found guilty of calling for mass disorders in a series of Facebook posts; she insisted she had nothing to do with them. A vocal critic of the government, Torokulova has twice run for a seat on the Bishkek city council. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

Media reports say NATO allies have agreed to provide 40 billion euros ($43 billion) in military aid to Ukraine for 2025 but failed so far to commit to a multiyear military financial package for the war-wracked country. Diplomats told Reuters and German news agency dpa that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had asked allies to make a multiyear $43 billion commitment ahead of a summit of the alliance next week in Washington, but member states did not back his request. However, a diplomatic source said the agreement includes a provision to reevaluate allied contributions at future NATO summits.

ASTANA -- Kazakh civil right activists have been under pressure since July 2, a day before the presidents of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states convened in Astana for a two-day summit.

Astana-based activist Orynbasar Zhanibek told RFE/RL on July 3 that police briefly detained him a day earlier after he demanded Kazakh officials arrange the repatriation and burial with honors of late opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadyqov, who died in a hospital in Kyiv on July 1. He had been shot 13 days earlier while in his car near his home in the Ukrainian capital.

Ukrainian authorities have named two Kazakh men as suspects in the shooting. Kazakh officials have said they are ready to cooperate with Kyiv in investigating the murder, but refused the extradition of the two to Ukraine, arguing that Kazakh laws does not permit it.

Embed share

Kazakh Activist Dies Of Gunshot Wounds In Kyiv Hospital

Embed share

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

---

width px height px

---

The URL has been copied to your clipboard

No media source currently available

0:00 0:01:51 0:00

Zhanibek said the police released him after warning him of possible repercussions for his demands. He did not elaborate.

Police in Astana did not officially comment on Zhanibek's detainment.

Also on July 2, police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, detained Bauyrzhan Adilkhan, an activist with Oyan, Qazaqstan (Wake Up, Kazakhstan) movement, whil he was boarding a plane to Astana and held him in custody for several hours.

The movement said later that the detainment was politically motivated and was most likely conducted to prevent Adilkhan's presence in Astana during the SCO summit.

Almaty police department officials refused to comment on the situation.

The SCO summit started in the Kazakh capital on July 3. Leaders and representatives of the grouping's member states -- China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan -- observers Belarus and Mongolia as well as dialogue partners Azerbaijan, Qatar, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and the United Arab Emirates are taking part in the summit.

MINSK -- The leader of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front, Ryhor Kastusyou, who was serving a lengthy prison term, has been released after the country's authoritarian ruler signed a law on a mass amnesty to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from Nazi Germany.

Kastusyou's son-in-law, Dzmitry Antonchyk, who resides in Poland, told RFE/RL that the 67-year-old politician was released on July 3.

Kastusyou, a presidential candidate in 2010, was convicted in September 2022 of conspiracy to seize power and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He spent more than three years in prison including his time in pretrial detention.

While in prison, Kastusyou was diagnosed with cancer.

The Vyasna (Spring) human rights group said on July 3 that, in all, four political prisoners, including two women, were released from prison under the amnesty law that was made public earlier in the day. Vyasna did not mention the names of the people released, citing privacy reasons.

Authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed the law on July 2. According to the official announcement, the amnesty will affect 7, 850 convicts, of whom 2,090 will be released, while the remainder of the suspended sentences of 800 people will be forgiven and the administrative arrests of 40 people will be canceled. The prison sentences of 260 people will be replaced by parole-like sentences, while 4,550 convicts will have their terms cut by one year.

The Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

On July 2, Lukashenka publicly said that some of those serving prison terms for taking part in 2020 mass protests against official results of the presidential poll that named him the winner may be released. Lukashenka stressed, however, that mostly "seriously ill, mainly persons with cancer," will be eligible for early release.

As of July 3, there are 1,409 political prisoners in Belarus recognized by human rights groups, while the actual number of those convicted on politically motivated charges may be higher.

The Vyasna (Spring) human rights group said earlier that as of May 1, there were at least 254 political prisoners in Belarus with serious medical conditions or disabilities.

Lukashenka's decree says that "the amnesty will not be applied to persons involved in extremist and terrorist activities."

Since the 2020 mass protests challenging the official result of the presidential election that many in Belarus and abroad said was rigged, Belarusian authorities have added more than 4,000 to the registry of extremists. The Belarusian KGB has added more than 400 persons to the list of "terrorists" since then.

Lukashenka, 69, has been in power since 1994. He has tightened his grip on the country since the August 2020 election by arresting -- sometimes violently -- more than 35,000 people. Fearing for their safety, most opposition members have fled the country.

The West has refused to recognize the results of the election and does not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader.

Many countries have imposed sanctions against Lukashenka's regime in response to the suppression of dissent in the country.

Russia's Interior Ministry on July 3 added French businessman Philippe Delpal, a former senior executive in the Baring Vostok investment group, to its wanted list on unspecified charges.

In August 2021, a court in Moscow handed Delpal, U.S. investor Michael Calvey, and five Russian businesspeople suspended prison terms on financial fraud charges.

Calvey is the founder of the Russia-focused private equity group Baring Vostok.

Delpal received a 4 1/2-year suspended prison term at the time and Calvey was condemned to a 5 1/2-year suspended prison term. All have maintained their innocence.

The court also ordered the businessmen not to leave Russia without the authorities' permission, but the ban was lifted in January 2022, allowing Delpal and Calvey to immediately return to their home countries.

In 2023, Calvey's suspended sentence was shortened by one year, and in February 2024, a Russian court of appeals reduced Calvey's sentence by another two months.

In April, Calvey's probation period ended and his conviction was wiped off from the records of Russia's State Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

Calvey and his associates were charged in 2019 with defrauding Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($28.5 million).

Baring Vostok used to be a major shareholder in Vostochny Bank. Defendants claimed the case was aimed at pressuring Baring Vostok as part of a business dispute over the control of Vostochny Bank.

The case has rattled the investment community and prompted several prominent officials and businesspeople to voice concerns about the treatment of the executives.

Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private-equity firms operating in Russia. It was founded in the early 1990s and manages more than $3.7 billion in assets.

The company was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia's dominant search engine.

With reporting by RBK and Reuters

A St. Petersburg court of appeals on July 2 extended the three-year prison term of documentary director Vsevolod Korolyov, known for his anti-war stance, to seven years, the court press service said. Korolyov was convicted and sentenced to the three-year term in March on a charge of distributing false information about Russia's military. He was arrested in July 2022 after he posted two reports online about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, namely about alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops against civilians in Ukrainian towns and cities. He pleaded not guilty. To read the original story by RFE/RL's North.Realities, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has renewed his plea to the West for advanced air-defense systems and long-range weapons after at least five people were killed in a Russian drone and missile attack on Dnipro on July 3.

“Only two things can stop this Russian terror -- modern air-defense systems and the long-range capabilities of our weapons,” Zelenskiy wrote in English on X.

“The world can protect lives, and it requires the determination of leaders. Determination that can and must make protection from terror the norm again.”

The Ukrainian leader has long called for better air-defense systems and weapons, with the last request coming on June 30, after a Russian rocket attack killed seven people and wounded 35 others in the city of Vilnyansk, in the southern Zaporizhzhya region.

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 July 3 attack also wounded at least 34 people, according to Zelenskiy. Fourteen houses were destroyed in the strikes, Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said in a message on Telegram. He added that the attack causes multiple fires in the city.

Separately, Ukraine’s Air Force said it had shot down five missiles, including an Iskander-K cruise missile, and six unmanned aerial vehicles, five of which were Shahed-type kamikaze drones. It said the attack mainly targeted Dnipro.

This is the third time that Dnipro has been targeted in the last five days. A high-rise building was destroyed in an attack on June 28, while at least 12 people were wounded in a drone strike on July 1.

Russia also shelled Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhya region early on July 3, destroying 14 houses and wounding a man.

On the same day, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had downed a total of 10 Ukrainian drones in three regions, including five in Belgorod, four in Bryansk, and one in Moscow. The ministry added that two unmanned boats heading toward Novorossiysk in the Black Sea were sunk.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s electrical grid for months, forcing frequent power outages. In March, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said 80 percent of the country’s thermal-generation capacity had been destroyed. Around the same time, the Energy Ministry said thermal power plants controlled by Tsentroenerho and Ukrhydroenerho had been badly damaged.

Last month, Zelenskiy asked the European Union to step up electricity exports to Ukraine, as well as to supply necessary equipment and other resources to make repairs.

Zelenskiy met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on July 3 and said on Telegram that he is counting on the Netherlands to expand training missions for Ukrainian pilots.

The Dutch government previously supplied F-16s to a training facility in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots and ground staff are being taught to fly and maintain the planes in battle.

Schoof said on X that the Netherlands' support for Ukraine is “rock solid” and that Amsterdam “will continue to support Ukraine politically, militarily, and financially against Russian aggression, whatever it takes and for as long as it takes.”

Over the past several months, Ukraine has increasingly targeted fuel-production sites inside Russia, mainly oil-refining facilities that work for the Russian military.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on July 3 that border guards detained 11 citizens of Bangladesh for illegally crossing the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. The UKMK added that earlier in May, Kyrgyz authorities had detained 46 other illegal migrants from Bangladesh in the southern Jalal-Abad region. The issue of illegal immigrants from South Asia and the Middle East has turned into an important topic in Kyrgyzstan after hundreds of students from Pakistan fled Kyrgyzstan in May following violent mob attacks targeting foreign university students in Bishkek. The attacks were sparked by an online video showing a brawl between Kyrgyz men and Egyptian citizens. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

DUSHANBE -- Two sources close to the Supreme Court of Tajikistan told RFE/RL on July 2 that Sojida Saidmurodova, the mother of former top police officer Dilshod Saidmurodov, who is serving life in prison for kidnapping and killing a banker last year, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on corruption charges in June.

The sources added that the Supreme Court on June 19 also ordered three co-defendants in the case to pay hefty fines. The trial was held behind closed doors.

Relatives of the 65-year-old Saidmurodova said earlier that the woman was arrested in September and charged with financial fraud, illegally obtaining a parcel of land, illegal construction of property, forgery, and obstruction of justice.

In March, Tajikistan's Supreme Court sentenced her son, who used to work at the Interior Ministry directorate dealing with organized crime, and four other men to life in prison in the high-profile case of the abduction and murder of one of the Central Asian country's wealthiest bankers, Shohrat Ismatulloev.

Another 10 defendants were sentenced to prison terms of between one year and eight years for their involvement in Ismatulloev's abduction and murder.

Ismatulloev, the deputy chairman of Orienbank, one of the country's leading banks, was abducted in June 2023. His body was found later that August.

One of the alleged abductors was identified as Rustam Ashurov, who died in a hospital in Moldova in July 2023 after local police wounded him during a shoot-out in which he killed two security officers at Chisinau International Airport.

Moldovan authorities said at the time that Ashurov worked at the Tajik Interior Ministry for seven years but was fired for unspecified criminal activities.

Investigators said the kidnappers were looking to extort money from the banker and tortured him before he died.

Orienbank is the largest private financial institution in the authoritarian Central Asian country and has been linked to the family of President Emomali Rahmon, several sources have told RFE/RL.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met on July 3 in Kazakhstan as part of a two-day summit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is poised to admit Belarus as a member.

The expected expansion of the club of Eurasian countries is part of another push from Beijing and Moscow to use the regional security bloc as a counterweight to promote alternatives to the Western institutions that make up the U.S.-led world order.

Putin told Xi ahead of their bilateral meeting that Russia's ties with China were stronger than ever and touted the SCO as a powerful instrument to advance their foreign policy agendas.

"Russian-Chinese relations, our comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, are experiencing their best period in history," Putin said in comments broadcast on Russian state TV. He hailed the SCO for "strengthening its role as one of the key pillars of a fair multipolar world order."

Moscow and Beijing have deepened their political, military and economic links since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

In his opening remarks, Xi told Putin that China and Russia should "uphold the original aspiration of friendship for generations" in response to an "ever-changing international situation."

Calling Putin an "old friend," Xi alluded to the progress the two countries had made in putting in place "plans and arrangements for the next development of bilateral relations."

SEE ALSO:

China In Eurasia Briefing: Xi Showcases Eurasian Ambitions At The SCO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also met with Putin at the SCO, offering to help end the Ukraine-Russia war. Erdogan said he believed a fair peace suiting both sides was possible, according to the Turkish presidency. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Erdogan could not play the role of an intermediary.

"No, it's not possible," Peskov said when asked whether Erdogan could assume such a role, according to TASS. There was no explanation for why the Kremlin was opposed to Erdogan's participation.

The SCO summit, which ends of July 4, was also set to focus on better coordination for counterterrorism in the region, which remains high on the agenda for members following Moscow's Crocus City Hall attack in April. The security situation in Afghanistan and a new mechanism for an investment fund proposed by Kazakhstan will also be discussed by leaders.

"The mandate for the SCO can be quite vague and far-reaching," Eva Seiwert, an analyst at the Berlin-based MERICS think tank, told RFE/RL. "Officially speaking, this is a security organization that focuses on improving collaboration among its member states and building mutual trust throughout the region."

The bloc was founded in 2001 with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as members with a focus on settling territorial disputes and has grown to tackle issues like regional security and economic development. The SCO added India and Pakistan in 2017, Iran in 2023, and is set to grow again with the addition of Belarus this year.

The SCO's evolution over its 23-year history has largely been shaped by China and Russia's evolving relationship.

SEE ALSO:

How China Became A Force In The Former Soviet Space After The Fall Of The U.S.S.R.

At times, Moscow has looked to water down or block Chinese-led plans for the bloc, including proposals for a regional development bank and a free-trade zone. But as Xi and Putin have built stronger ties between their countries in recent years -- especially since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine -- the two leaders have more actively made the SCO a part of their broader cooperation together and a centerpiece of their shared anti-U.S. worldview.

"For a long time, China wanted to make sure that the SCO is not portrayed as an anti-Western organization, but this has changed, especially since Iran joined," Seiwert said. "It's becoming clear that the SCO doesn't care so much about what the West thinks anymore."

At a meeting of senior Russian officials in June, Putin spoke about the creation of "a new system of bilateral and multilateral guarantees of collective security in Eurasia," with the help of existing organizations like the SCO, to work toward gradually "phasing out the military presence of external powers in the Eurasian region."

Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told RFE/RL that while the SCO is increasing its international visibility and geopolitical weight, it still remains an organization that is heavy on symbolism but light on substance.

"It's still trying to figure out what it is now and what it can be," he said. "At the end of the day, its main advantage is just the sheer size and its collective GDP, but there are still almost no substantial results."

In the absence of a clear mandate, the SCO is largely serving as a diplomatic forum for regional leaders to get sought-after face time with Xi and Putin.

Leaders and representatives from nonmember states like Azerbaijan, Qatar, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan, and Turkey are also expected to attend, as is United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Notably absent from this year's summit is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attending in his place.

Niva Yau, a fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, says that India appears to be losing interest in the SCO, in part due to New Delhi's tense rivalry with Pakistan, but also over ongoing tensions with China amid a multiyear border dispute.

She says that this growing reticence from India may hamstring the bloc's potential and Beijing's future plans for it.

"It reduces the SCO's global profile and limits some of China's bigger plans," she told RFE/RL.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Russia's Investigative Committee said on July 3 that French citizen Laurent Vinatier, who was arrested in early June, has pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining information about the Russian military. On June 7, a Moscow court sent the 48-year-old expert on Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia to pretrial detention until at least August 5 on charges of illegally gathering information about the Russian military and failing to register as a "foreign agent." Vinatier works for a Geneva-based conflict mediation organization. Relations between Russia and France have been strained since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine February 2022.

The wife of Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian physician sentenced to death in Iran, said on July 2 that she was “devastated” after meeting Sweden’s foreign minister to discuss her husband’s case.

Vida Mehrannia has strongly criticized the Swedish government for not including Djalali in a controversial prisoner swap deal with Iran last month.

Subscribe To RFE/RL's 'The Rundown'

Get a curated digest of all our essential news, features, and analysis, plus our best visual journalism, in your inbox every day. The Rundown keeps you up-to-date on Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and developments across our vast coverage area. Sign up here.

As part of the deal, Stockholm released Hamid Nouri, an Iranian former prison official sentenced to life in prison for his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 in exchange for Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi.

“They told me, as always, that they’re pursuing the case. They say the same thing at every meeting. But after eight years and three months, still nothing has happened,” Mehrannia said after her meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom. “I am devastated.”

Djalali has been on a hunger strike since June 26 to protest against being left out of the prisoner exchange deal.

“He has a weak pulse and has stomach problems,” Mehrannia told a gathering of supporters after the meeting.

Djalali was detained in 2016 and subsequently sentenced to death for allegedly spying for Israel. He has denied all charges. Stockholm granted Djalali Swedish citizenship in 2018, though Billstrom says the authorities in Tehran consider him only to be an Iranian citizen.

The Swedish government has been under pressure by rights groups and activists for freeing Nouri and for failing to at least secure the release of the only Swedish citizen in Iran who is facing the death penalty.

Western governments and rights groups have long accused Iran of detaining dual citizens to use them as bargaining chips against the West.

At least eight other European citizens are currently held in Iran, including Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian descent who has also been sentenced to death.

Chinese and Russian companies are reportedly working on a kamikaze drone modeled after the Iranian-made Shahed-class unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), according to European officials who spoke to the U.S.-based outlet Bloomberg. The unnamed officials said the companies first held talks in 2023 and started developing and testing a model this year. A Chinese company last year unveiled the Sunflower 200, which bears a striking resemblance to the Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. To read the full story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

A court in St. Petersburg on July 2 labeled one of Russia's best-known TV journalists, Aleksandr Nevzorov, and his wife, Lidia, as an "extremist group" and ordered their property in the northwestern Leningrad region to be confiscated.

Nevzorov’s lawyer, Aleksei Pryanishnikov, said the court ruling orders the confiscation of the self-exiled journalist's property, car, and shares in a private business.

Nevzorov, who openly condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and fled the country for a European Union member state in 2022, wrote on Telegram that Russian authorities had bargained with him for two months, trying to "persuade" him to change his position regarding Russia's aggression against Ukraine in exchange for "a good decision by the court."

"Liberty costs much. But none of its costs can be too high," Nevzorov wrote.

In February last year, a court in Moscow sentenced Nevzorov in absentia to eight years in prison on the charge of discrediting Russian armed forces.

The Investigative Committee launched a probe into Nevzorov in March 2022 over statements he made on Instagram and YouTube that criticized Russia's armed forces for a deadly assault on a nursing home in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and the alleged torture and killing of civilians in the town of Bucha.

In June 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree granting Ukrainian citizenship to Nevzorov and his wife "for transcendental services" to Ukraine.

In the days after launching his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation that calls for lengthy prison terms for distributing "deliberately false information" about Russian military operations as part of the Kremlin's effort to control the narrative about its war in Ukraine.

The law envisages sentences of up to 10 years in prison for individuals convicted of an offense, while the penalty for the distribution of "deliberately false information" about the Russian military that leads to "serious consequences" is 15 years in prison.

It also makes it illegal "to make calls against the use of Russian troops to protect the interests of Russia" or "for discrediting such use" with a possible penalty of up to three years in prison. The same provision applies to calls for sanctions against Russia.

Nevzorov continues to sharply criticize Putin and his government over the war in Ukraine on his YouTube and Telegram channels.

UN human rights experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.” The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, made up of independent experts convened by the UN’s top human rights body, said there was a “striking lack of any factual or legal substantiation” for the spying charges leveled against Gershkovich. The five-member group said Gershkovich's U.S. nationality was a factor in his detention and as a result the case against him was “discriminatory.” Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on June 26 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government vehemently deny.

Two Russian naval ships docked on July 2 in Venezuela after leaving Cuba. Moscow's Defense Ministry said the main aim of the ship's visit to the region was to "show the flag and ensure a naval presence in operationally important areas" of the Atlantic Ocean. It said that the frigate Admiral Gorshkov -- one of Russia's most advanced warships capable of carrying hypersonic missiles -- and oil tanker Academic Pashin, both from its Northern Fleet, docked in La Guaira. The ships visited Cuba last month along with a Russian nuclear-powered submarine.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called relations between Serbia and Russia "very good" following a July 2 meeting with Russian Deputy Foeign Minister Aleksandr Grusko in Belgrade. Vucic posted a photo taken during the meeting on Instagram and wrote that he thanked Russia for supporting the territorial integrity of Serbia, which does not recognize Kosovo's independence. Vucic also thanked Russia for voting against a UN resolution on the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. Grusko also met with Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, who is under fire for canceling a Serbian-Kosovar unity festival, and with the deputy prime minister of Serbia and the former head of the Serbian intelligence agency. To read the full story by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.