Russian Colonel Artyom Gorodilov, who is under U.S. sanctions due to suspected involvement in war crimes in Ukraine, has been detained in Russia on allegations of conducting large-scale fraud, Russian media reported on July 4. Specific details of the charges remain unclear. Since 2019, Gorodilov has been the commander of the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment, which was deployed to Bucha, Ukraine, during Russia’s full-scale invasion. Russian forces were blamed for the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. The U.S. State Department sanctioned Gorodilov for what it said was “his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely extrajudicial killings" in Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service click here.

Labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in the northern city of Rasht, rights groups told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on July 4, a move her supporters have labeled "medieval and criminal."

The court said the woman been convicted on charges of "armed rebellion against the state" and included as evidence her membership in an independent labor organization.

She was also accused of being a member of the banned Komala Kurdish separatist party, which the family denied.

The Norway-based Hengaw and U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency also reported on Mohammadi’s death sentence.

The Campaign for the Defense of Sharifeh Mohammadi described the labor organization -- the Coordination Committee for Helping to Establish Labor Organizations -- as legal but said that, in any case, she had not been a member for 10 years.

The Defense Campaign called the court verdict against her "medieval and criminal."

“Many believe that this ridiculous and baseless verdict was issued solely to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among Gilan [Province] activists,” the group said.

Mohammadi’s aunt, Vida Mohammadi, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the woman has been tortured in prison following her arrest on December 5, 2023, and that she had spent several months in solitary confinement.

Vida Mohammadi said Sharifeh Mohammadi was not affiliated with any political organization inside or outside the country.

The Hengaw rights watchdog said Mohammadi "endured mental and physical torture at the hands of Iranian Intelligence interrogators...who sought to extract a forced confession from her."

The U.S.-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, which focuses on Iranian issues, said the death sentence was linked to "her involvement with an independent labor union."

"This extreme ruling highlights the harsh crackdown on dissent within Iran, particularly against labor activists amid economic turmoil," it said.

SEE ALSO:

Prison Sentences Of Iranian Women's Rights Activists Upheld On Appeal

Major protests erupted in Gilan Province and throughout the country in 2022 following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman who had been detained for allegedly flouting Iran's strict dress code for women.

More than 500 protesters were killed nationwide and thousands arrested during the months of unrest.

Domestic and International rights activists have accused Tehran of using the death penalty to intimidate protesters and others following the mass demonstrations.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Iran “remains one of the world’s top practitioners of the death penalty, applying it to individuals convicted of crimes committed as children and under vague national security charges; occasionally, it is also used for nonviolent offenses.”

Poland hopes to bring in border guards and police from Finland, Germany, and Greece to help patrol its frontier with Belarus, a senior official said on July 4, amid mounting concerns over migration pressures from the east into Europe. "Preparations are underway and these are countries that are very experienced in border protection. Especially, for example, Greek experiences can be very useful," a senior government official told reporters. The border between Poland and Belarus has become a flashpoint as Western officials accuse the government in Minsk of using migrants it brings from in from outside of Europe as "hybrid warfare."

Kazakh activist Abzal Dostiyarov was summoned by police on July 4 amid pressure being applied on rights activists during the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Astana. After Dostiyarov departed police headquarters, a spokesman confirmed to RFE/RL that he had been summoned for a "preventive conversation." Right activists have been under pressure since July 2 after many demanded Kazakh officials arrange the repatriation and burial with honors of opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadyqov, who died in Kyiv on July 1 after being shot 13 days earlier in the Ukrainian capital. Ukraine named two Kazakh men as suspects. Kazakh officials said they were ready to cooperate with Kyiv in the investigation but refused the extradition of the two to Ukraine, arguing that Kazakh law doesn't permit it. Dostiyarov and others said they were planning a tribute to Sadyqov. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

A Moscow court has sentenced U.S. citizen Robert Woodland to 12 1/2 years in a maximum-security penal colony after finding him guilty of the attempted sale of illegal drugs, the court press service reported on July 4. Woodland, a Russian-born man who was adopted by American parents as a child, was arrested by Russian police in January on charges of drug possession. At the time of his arrest, Woodland had reportedly been working as an English teacher outside Moscow. Court documents identified him by his Russian surname, Romanov, but it was not clear whether he had Russian citizenship. The Interfax news agency said he was a Russian citizen. More than 10 U.S. citizens are being held in Russian jails and prisons, accused or convicted on charges ranging from drug possession and theft to treason and espionage. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.

Apple has removed from the Russian unit of its App Store several VPN services used to bypass blocking efforts by the Kremlin, Russian media outlets and VPN services reported on July 4. The U.S.-based Red Shield VPN said Apple removed its app at the request of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media watchdog. “We encourage journalists and human rights organizations to publish information and submit requests to Apple about it,” Red Shield said in a tweet. Roskomnadzor has suppressed dozens of VPN services in the country that can be used to access media and social networks blocked by Russian authorities. VPN use in Russia has increased significantly following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and a subsequent crackdown on media access and independent voices in the country. VPNs, or virtual private networks, allow users to mask the area or country they are in, thereby allowing them to circumvent local Internet restrictions.To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.

BUDAPEST -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will travel to Moscow on July 5 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, days after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, a Hungarian government source told RFE/RL.

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.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will also accompany Orban to the Kremlin, the government source said on July 4. Szijjarto has visited Russia more than five times since Moscow invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.

News of the Moscow visit comes days after Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union -- an action that raised concerns among many in the EU because of Orban’s regular pro-Russia statements – and elicited quick condemnation from leaders of the bloc.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, posted on X that “the EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.”

“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” Michel added.

An EU official who asked not to be identified told RFE/RL that Orban has not informed the bloc of any planned trip to Moscow.

If Orban would have asked, Michel would have strongly advised against such a visit, the official said.

Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orban has stood out among leaders from the European Union and NATO for his reluctance to sign onto massive Western weapons and aid packages for Ukraine.

Central European investigative editor Szabolcs Panyi first reported on the trip in a post on X. RFE/RL later received confirmation of the visit via a Hungarian government source.

The Hungarian prime minister's press office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Last month, Putin said Russia would end its war -- which is believed to have killed and wounded at least 500,000 soldiers on both sides -- only if Kyiv met certain conditions.

Those included renouncing its NATO ambitions and ceding four partially occupied regions that Russia claims in their entirety, in addition to Crimea.

Ukraine dismissed the conditions as absurd and said they amounted to capitulation.

While in Kyiv, Orban -- who maintains close relations with Putin -- said he presented Zelenskiy with a cease-fire proposal aimed at pausing fighting with Russia more than two years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

SEE ALSO:

Hungary's Orban Presents Zelenskiy With Cease-Fire Proposal On First Visit To Kyiv

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Zelenskiy, Orban gave no details about the contents of the proposal but said he asked the Ukrainian president "whether it was possible to take a break, to stop the firing, and then continue the negotiations,” adding that a cease-fire "could ensure speeding up the pace of these negotiations."

The talks were notable because of Orban’s vocal, persistent criticism of Western military aid for Kyiv.

Zelenskiy did not express his opinion on the proposal during the briefing with reporters, but a spokesman for the president said later on July 2 that Zelenskiy gave Orban an opportunity to air his thoughts.

Ihor Zhovkva, Zelenskiy's deputy chief of staff, also said Hungary was not the first country to come forward with a potential peace plan.

Zhovkva said Zelenskiy listened to Orban's proposal but stated Ukraine's "quite clear, understandable, and known" position in response.

Ukraine says its "territorial integrity" must be the foundation of any peace agreement -- a notion underscored by 80 countries that participated in the Ukrainian-initiated Global Peace Summit in Switzerland last month.

Orban last visited Moscow in September 2022, when he paid his respects at the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

RFE/RL's Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak contributed to this report.

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported on July 4 that Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the United States, has indicated that his assignment is ending soon amid a time of high tensions between Moscow and Washington. Kommersant reported that Antonov included a handwritten note on an unrelated document dated June 29, stating “My assignment is coming to an end. I hope together we will continue to defend the interests of our Fatherland!" The Russian Foreign Ministry declined to comment, according to Reuters. Antonov was appointed as the Kremlin’s envoy in Washington by President Vladimir Putin in August 2017.

A severe heatwave continued to batter Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi for a third week, filling hospitals with patients and morgues with bodies, officials and rescuers said on July 4. More than 50 people have died so far due to heatstroke since the start of the latest wave last month, police spokeswoman Summiya Syed said. Dozens of new victims were brought to the city’s largest Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on July 3, the hospital’s spokesman Hassan Ali told the dpa news agency. The heat index -- a combination of the temperature and humidity -- rose to 55 degrees Celsius on July 3, the highest level ever recorded in the coastal city of more than 20 million people, chief meteorologist Sardar Sarfraz said.

The government of the majority-Serb entity that makes up half of Bosnia-Herzegovina has deleted the term "gender identity" in draft amendments to the region's Criminal Code, indicating a hardening stance on LGBT causes and a further digression from central government authority in the post-Yugoslav state. Officials announced the change following a government session in Banja Luka on July 4. They said it was aimed at harmonizing the Criminal Code "with provisions of the Constitution of Republika Srpska," whose leadership, especially the entity's President Milorad Dodik, have threatened to try to secede from the rest of Bosnia, which also comprises a Bosniak and Croat federation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.

The Kremlin said on July 4 that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit was first announced by Russian officials last month, but the dates have not been previously disclosed. Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhi’s importance as a key trade partner for Moscow has grown since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Under Modi’s leadership, India has avoided condemning Russia’s action in Ukraine while emphasizing the need for a peaceful settlement. Modi last visited Russia in 2019.

Iranian state media said on July 4 that campaigning had ended one day ahead of a runoff vote between a reformist and a hard-liner to replace the country's late president in an election beset so far by record-low turnout.

The tightly vetted race has narrowed to ultraconservative Saeed Jalili and veteran reformist lawmaker and ethnic Azeri Masud Pezeshkian, who surprised many by earning the most of four candidates in voting on June 28.

Voter turnout in the first round was just 40 percent, a record low that has prompted concern at the highest levels of the country's religiously dominated leadership.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged on July 3 that the turnout was "not as expected" but denied the lack of voter interest reflected unpopularity for Iran's leadership and called the vote "very important."

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

SEE ALSO:

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

While some of the regime's harshest critics have urged a boycott of round two, it was unclear how widespread those calls were and whether Iranians would heed them.

Iran's unelected, hard-line institutions routinely vet candidate applications to weed out perceived threats, including by disqualifying relative moderates.

This election is seen as especially important because of Khamenei's advanced age and the eventual winner's potential role in influencing the choice of the next supreme leader.

Pezeshkian won around 42.5 percent of the ballots in the first round, according to official results, while Jalili finished with 38.6 percent.

Neither of the other two candidates -- parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and former Justice Minister Mostafa Purmohammadi -- got more than 14 percent.

Critics and dissidents urged a boycott of the election, saying past votes have failed to bring change.

Embed share

'Not Free At All': Iranians Voice Need For Change Amid Snap Presidential Election

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 0:01:17 0:00

Voter turnout in Iran has been slumping since 2020, seemingly driven by frustration over a lack of freedoms and reforms, a beleaguered economy that is still subject to U.S. and other sanctions, and falling living standards.

Rights groups have alleged that Iran's authorities have cranked up suppression of critical voices on social media since ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash while returning from a visit to Azerbaijan on May 19.

Raisi was an intensely divisive figure who was relentless in his criticism of the West and accused of serving as a prosecutor for an "execution committee" that sent thousands of political prisoners and regime opponents to their deaths in the late 1980s.

He was also seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials also died in the crash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with interim Iranian President Mohammad Mokhber on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan in July 4 amid an "unprecedented upswing" in bilateral ties, Russia's Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters.

An Iranian-born Norwegian man was found guilty of terrorism on July 4 in a 2022 attack on an LGBT festival in Oslo and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Two people were killed and nine were seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar, on June 25, 2022. The Oslo District Court said Zaniar Matapour, 45, shot 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight shots with a handgun into the crowd. It said Matapour had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group and “has been radicalized for several years.” His 30-year sentence was the highest penalty in Norway since terror legislation was changed in 2015. Matapour can request parole after 20 years but can only be released if he is deemed no longer dangerous.

A court in the Russian capital ordered further pretrial detention on July 4 for a French researcher arrested in June who Russian investigators said a day before pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining information about the Russian military.

Forty-eight-year-old Frenchman Laurent Vinatier was initially sent into pretrial detention on June 7 over the alleged spying and for purportedly failing to register as a "foreign agent."

Vinatier is an adviser who works for the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a nonprofit conflict-resolution organization, and "travels regularly for his work," according to the group.

The HD says it is "doing everything possible to assist" and get legal representation for Vinatier, and is "reaching out to relevant governmental authorities."

Radio France International reported that HD acknowledged that Vinatier had not registered as a "foreign agent" because he was unaware of such an obligation.

Russia has long used its "foreign agent" laws to jail perceived domestic and international enemies and critics.

But it has stepped up detentions of Westerners under those and other charges since its all-out invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

A "foreign agent" conviction can result in a five-year prison sentence.

In some cases -- including one against jailed RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva that Washington has said is to punish journalism -- allegations concerning Russia's military amid what Moscow calls a "special military operation" against Ukraine have accompanied the "foreign agent" charge.

The Russian Investigative Committee alleged publicly that the information Vinatier gathered "could be used against state security."

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Mohammad Mokhber, the interim president of Iran, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on July 4. Moscow and Tehran have been negotiating a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement reflecting the "unprecedented upswing" in their bilateral ties, according to Russia's Foreign Ministry.

The leaders of China, Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, four of the five post-Soviet republics of Central Asia, and other states are continuing a two-day summit in Kazakhstan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional grouping promoted by Beijing and Moscow as an alternative to Western influence.

They started the second and final day by accepting Belarus as a member, an expected move that advances authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenka along his anti-Western path since disputed elections four years ago sparked unprecedented street protests and a brutal crackdown.

Lukashenka has pursued SCO membership for a decade and a half.

In the past three years, his decisions to "weaponize" third-party migrants at Belarus's border with its EU neighbors and to allow Russian troops to stage their full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Belarusian territory have further alienated Lukashenka from the West and increased his reliance on Moscow.

Lukashenka called Belarusian entry into the SCO "historic." In his familiar tone, Lukashenka declared the need to "destroy the unipolar world" and take on responsibility for "global security" because "the narcissistic, selfish West proved incapable of it."

"There are no leaders there [in the West] capable of making responsible decisions independently," he said.

Analysts have pointed out that Lukashenka could be hoping the SCO tie boosts and expands desperately needed trade and economic cooperation with China while slightly reducing his regime's dependence on Moscow.

The SCO is a political, economic, and security and defense organization founded by China and Russia in 2001.

With the addition of Belarus, its membership has now expanded from six to 10 countries, including India and Pakistan, who joined in 2017, and Iran, which became a member in 2023.

Four of the five post-Soviet Central Asian states are members, with only Turkmenistan staying away.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met on the first day of the summit in Astana, which has been shrouded in tightened security measures well beyond the Independence Palace venue where the leaders are gathering.

Putin was quoted by Russian media as crediting the SCO with "strengthening its role as one of the key pillars of a fair multipolar world order."

Xi, who has lent diplomatic support to Russia over Western objections throughout Putin's two-year-old invasion of Ukraine, called Putin an "old friend" in Astana. He cited the "aspiration of friendship for generations" in response to an "ever-changing international situation."

The Kremlin said Putin and Xi talked about the Ukraine war during talks on the sidelines of the summit and, in the words of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as quoted by Reuters, "noted" the "futility of any formats" for peace talks without Russian participation.

On day two, Xi urged SCO members to "resist external interference" and "safeguard the right to development."

In addition to the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek presidents, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are in attendance at the SCO event. Baku and Ankara are dialogue partners of the SCO.

SEE ALSO:

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

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also there as part of his first tour of Central Asia since 2017, which will take him to Tajikistan next. He attended the SCO's remotely held summit last year.

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

Putin and Xi's recent efforts since the Ukraine war began have pressed the SCO as part of their broader cooperation and a centerpiece of their shared anti-U.S. perspective.

But beyond the Belarus move, it is unclear what if any gains are likely to be made by the organization at this, its 24th, annual summit.

Critics say that, in expanding its membership and geographical reach, it has diluted whatever mission it might hope to achieve.

"It's still trying to figure out what it is now and what it can be," Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told RFE/RL recently.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met with visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Astana on July 3 in what Toqaev called "a bright sign of close relations" between the international body and his post-Soviet republic. Toqaev expressed "full support" for the work of the UN. Kazakhstan has hosted peace talks between Caucasus foes Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as discussions on the Syrian conflict in the past year while pressure has mounted at home over economic and political woes amid a clampdown on dissent since deadly unrest two years ago. Guterres is on his first tour of Central Asia since 2017 and is attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

Ukraine's military has acknowledged its withdrawal from part of the key highland town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, while its Energy Ministry said Russian missiles killed one person and damaged a gas facility in the central Poltava region.

A spokesman for the Khortytsya operational group of the Ukrainian armed forces confirmed earlier claims by Moscow and specified that Russian troops now control the "Kanal" district of Chasiv Yar. The "protected retreat" had been approved by military command, the spokesman said.

Chasiv Yar has been a theater of intense fighting since April, and serves as a logistics hub for Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry meanwhile said the Russian missile attack that struck gas producer Ukrhazvydobyvannya's infrastructure in Poltava on July 4 had damaged the facility and killed one person while injuring three others, according to Reuters.

The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin told a summit of the anti-Western Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kazakhstan that the West was to blame for Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

SEE ALSO:

SCO Quickly Absorbs Belarus On Final Day Of Regional Grouping's Astana Summit

Putin encouraged "a new architecture of cooperation, indivisible security and development in Eurasia, designed to replace the outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, which gave unilateral advantages only to certain states."

The SCO's 24th annual summit has been dominated by Putin's and Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-Western appeals and the organization's admission of Moscow ally Belarus as its 10th member.

Earlier on July 4, military officials in the Ukrainian capital said they intercepted fresh "waves" of Russian drones targeting Kyiv around dawn on July 4 that did not appear to inflict injuries or major damage, as locals in a major city hundreds of kilometers to the east mourned the dead and wounded from a third attack there in less than a week.

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 head of Kyiv's military administration, Serhiy Popko, said via Telegram that the drones came "from different directions" but that "not a single drone reached Kyiv itself."

Explosions could be heard from the city following a 4 a.m. air alert but, Popko said, life in the city was not otherwise disrupted.

Ukraine's military said it had downed 21 of 22 Russian attack drones in all over central and northern regions overnight on July 3-4.

Meanwhile, the head of the military administration in the central city of Dnipro said the death toll had risen to six -- with more than 30 others injured -- from a Russian bombardment of that city early on July 3.

Dnipro Mayor Boris Filatov declared July 4 a day of mourning after the third attack in just five days on Dnipro, a city with a prewar population of around 1 million people.

That bombardment also renewed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's pleas for more advanced air-defense systems and long-range weapons from allies to beat back the two-year-old full-scale invasion by Russia.

Also on July 3, Zelenskiy rejected a description of the battlefield situation as a "deadlock" and said Ukraine's fighting manpower has improved in recent months but it needs "the tools [and] they haven't arrived yet."

Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to U.S. officials after the White House announced a new $2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine on July 3, and added, "We count on further U.S. assistance."

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) predicted this week that while Ukraine was forming new brigades to "address its manpower challenges," "delayed and insufficient Western weapons deliveries will likely prevent Ukraine from equipping all these new brigades."

It called "timely" Western assistance a "crucial determinant" of Ukraine's capacity to respond to Russia's current "battlefield initiative."

The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about Ukraine during talks on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan on July 3 and, in the words of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as quoted by Reuters, "noted" the "futility of any formats" for peace talks without Russian participation.

SEE ALSO:

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

Russia, which insists it has already annexed Crimea and four other areas of Ukraine, was excluded from a major summit in Switzerland last month to seek paths toward peace in Ukraine.

A NATO summit next week in Washington marking the transatlantic alliance's 75th anniversary is expected to grapple with ways to further support Ukraine's defense and map a path to closer cooperation, but Kyiv is not expected to be invited to join NATO as Zelenskiy has urged.

Russian news agency TASS on July 4 quoted Russia's Defense Ministry as saying it had destroyed a grounded Ukrainian MiG-29 in the Dnipropetrovsk region, but there was no initial confirmation from Ukrainian authorities.

Reports from the Ukrainian military suggest Russian forces are focusing an offensive on the area of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region.

The governor of Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhya region, Ivan Fedorov, said on July 4 that Russian shelling killed two and injured another person there amid a barrage that struck 10 settlements over the past day.

RFE/RL cannot independently confirm reports by either side of battlefield developments in areas of the worst fighting.

With reporting by Reuters

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.