The Moscow City Court on August 7 upheld a lower court's decision last month to issue an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, on a charge of taking part in an extremist group’s activities. Navalnaya was also added to Russia's wanted list in July. The arrest warrant was issued on July 9, less than two weeks after Navalnaya was elected to head the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). Navalnaya replaced Garry Kasparov, another Russian opposition member living abroad. HRF is a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights around the world.

A court in Russia's Urals city of Yekaterinburg sentenced Rustam Fararitdinov -- the half-brother of self-exiled Bashkir activist and Kremlin critic Ruslan Gabbasov -- to 5 1/2 years in prison on terrorism charges on August 7. Fararitdinov, who was arrested in November, rejects the charges. Gabbasov, who currently resides in Lithuania, said earlier that investigators had openly told Fararitdinov that he was under arrest because of him. Gabbasov fled Russia in 2021 amid a crackdown on dissent. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, click here.

Azerbaijan has withdrawn its military from one section of the recently demarcated border with Armenia, according to the mayor of a local Armenian village who spoke to RFE/RL on August 7.

Tigran Harutiunian, the administrative leader of Berkaber, a village in Armenia’s northeastern Tavush Province, said the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani military from the vicinity of Qizilhacili -- one of four former Azerbaijani villages that Armenia ceded control of as part of the border demarcation earlier this year -- occurred about a month ago.

“They left quite a while ago. I believe it was in early July. They vacated their position, and now our border guards are stationed there,” Harutiunian said.

For over 30 years, the Azerbaijani side has controlled about 900 hectares of land belonging to Berkaber. It was decided that this area would not be demarcated during the process that took place in April and May.

The government released a map in April highlighting the sections where adjustments would be made, and the Azerbaijani military remained at one such section after the completion of the demarcation.

It had been agreed that “within a short but reasonable period of time,” Armenia and Azerbaijan would withdraw their forces and allow the deployment of border guards.

Residents of Berkaber have reported hearing explosions near their village and assumed they were caused by Armenian sappers working in the area.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said earlier that controlled explosions would take place on August 7 near Berkaber and Kirants, another village where the border demarcation took place, and advised local residents not to panic. It said there would be a total of 10 explosions to the northeast of the villages but did not specify their purpose.

Harutiunian told RFE/RL that the area from which the Azerbaijani military had been withdrawn might be undergoing demining.

“They left one post, but that gap is quite extensive and is currently being cleared,” Harutiunian said.

Residents of Kirants, however, informed RFE/RL that the explosions near their village appeared to be part of some engineering work.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian faced intense criticism earlier this year for agreeing to the first-ever border demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which involved a limited section. This demarcation resulted in Armenia ceding control of the four villages as well as certain territories of Armenian villages based on 1970s maps used in the process.

The move sparked large-scale protests in Yerevan, with opposition groups also arguing that Armenia would be more vulnerable in the Tavush region if another war with Azerbaijan occurred, given that Armenian armed forces had to withdraw from strategically important areas.

Pashinian has dismissed this criticism, contending that the alternative to the border demarcation would have been another war for which Azerbaijan would have had a legitimate pretext. He has also maintained that local Armenian communities are now better protected from a legal standpoint than they were before the demarcation.

The Vienna-based rights group Freedom for Eurasia has urged Uzbek authorities to transfer imprisoned Karakalpak activist Dauletmurat Tajimuratov to a less restrictive special correctional facility for convicted former state officials, citing his deteriorated health condition. Freedom for Eurasia said on August 6 that Tajimuratov had served in various state positions in Uzbekistan's Karakalpak Autonomous Republic in different years and therefore is eligible to serve his sentence in such penitentiaries. Tajimuratov is serving a 16-year prison term he was handed over his role in mass anti-government protests in Karakalpakstan in 2022. Freedom for Eurasia said earlier that at least 70 people were killed during the unrest.

Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen who has been held in Russia since January, has pleaded guilty to a charge of treason, according to Russian state media.

Karelina, 33, was not included in the major prisoner swap between Russia and the West on August 1 that saw three Americans released from Russian custody.

She is currently on trial in the city of Yekaterinburg over a 2022 donation to a charity supporting Ukraine.

"[She] has pleaded guilty," her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, told reporters after a court hearing, according to TASS.

Karelina was detained by Russia's Federal Security Service in January in Yekaterinburg, where she had traveled to meet relatives.

A resident of Los Angeles and U.S. citizen since 2021, Karelina was initially charged with hooliganism, reportedly for cursing at police officers.

Security agents, however, searched her phone and said they discovered that prior to traveling to Russia she had made a $51 donation to a U.S-based organization that provides aid and assistance to Ukraine.

The Sverdlovsk regional court is expected to announce a verdict at its next hearing on August 8.

Karelina faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

SEE ALSO:

'They Remain In Torturous Conditions': The Prisoners Left Behind In Russia After Historic Exchange 

The August 1 prisoner swap involving the United States, Russia, and several European countries included three high-profile U.S. citizens, as well as five German citizens jailed in Russia and Belarus and eight Russian political activists held in Russia in connection with their opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

But Karelina and several other Americans whom Washington has designated as unjustly imprisoned and hundreds of Russian citizens seen as political prisoners remain behind bars in Russia, prompting calls for Western governments to vigorously pursue their release as well.

"They remain in torturous conditions. They are in grave danger. We simply must not forget about them, even against the euphoric backdrop that it was possible to pull someone out," Russian opposition politician in exile Dmitry Gudkov told Current Time after the prisoner swap, which saw eight Russians -- including a convicted assassin and spies -- returned to Moscow from Western custody.

With reporting by RIA Novosti and TASS

Russia's sustained assault on domestic civic freedoms has seen a massive escalation since the start of Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with hundreds of dissenters, journalists, and political activists being prosecuted and imprisoned under new draconian laws, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on August 7.

The government of President Vladimir Putin's more-than-a-decade-old, systematic break-up of Russians' fundamental rights went into overdrive over the past two years, making not only dissent, but even openly critical discussion in Russian society a punishable offense and forcing many people to leave the country while hundreds others have been thrown behind bars for long prison terms after arbitrary sentences, the report said.

“The Russian government is forcing civic activists and journalists to tread dangerously on a legislative minefield, and their resilience is being tested like never before,” said Rachel Denber, the deputy director of HRW's Europe and Central Asia Division, at the launching of the report titled “Russia’s Legislative Minefield: Tripwires for Civil Society since 2020.”

“Yet independent groups and media are persisting, and they provide hope for the eventual transformation of Russia into a country committed to protecting and promoting fundamental rights,” Denber said.

The 205-page report touches upon the numerous pieces of repressive legislation and policies that Putin's government has adopted over the past four years and how the Kremlin has employed them to stifle any trace of dissent and emasculate Russia's civil society.

The paper looks at the repressive measures adopted by Moscow in 8 areas: “foreign agents,” public assembly, electoral rights, freedom of expression, sexual orientation and gender identity, treason and similar concepts, historical truth, and education.

HRW looks at how these laws severely restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, while forcing state-approved historical, social, and political narratives on public life.

The report says all Russian and foreign activists and journalists freed by the Kremlin in a prisoner swap with the West on August 1 -- including RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and activists Vladimir Kara-Murza, Andrei Pivovarov, and Ilya Yashin -- were charged under laws described in the report.

At the same time, the report notes that hundreds more activists and journalists remain jailed or imprisoned under these laws.

HRW singles out the "foreign agents" legislation, first adopted in 2012, as the most draconian tool in the Kremlin's legal arsenal used to crack down on civic freedoms, and describes how it gradually evolved from first targeting NGOs, then unregistered groups, media organizations, reporters and, by 2022, anyone the state considered to be “under foreign influence.”

"The law seeks to smear any person or entity that is independently critical of the government as 'foreign,' and therefore suspicious or even traitorous," HRW said, noting that penalties have also been increased over the years and now include fines, imprisonment, and revocation of citizenship for naturalized citizens.

Those branded as "foreign agents" have also been barred from holding jobs in the public sector, including the civil service and teaching, with authorities effectively seeking to create “a caste of untouchables,” it said.

“The Kremlin keeps turning the clock back toward past tyranny,” Denber said. “Russia’s laws should be expanding respect for rights, not destroying them.

"Russia’s government should repeal its draconian provisions, bring laws into line with its international obligations, and foster an environment in which civil society can thrive," Denber said.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Members of the unregistered Naghyz Atazhurt (Real Fatherland) party in Kazakhstan said on August 7 that authorities have recently increased pressure on the party's activists by leveling fines and arresting the party's leaders.

Party member Nazigul Maqsutkhan said at a press conference in Almaty that in the last 12 months the party's activists had been ordered to pay fines estimated at 5 million tenges (about $10,5000), which is a significant sum for residents of the Central Asian nation.

"Among other things, our colleagues were found guilty of leading, being a member of, and financing an unregistered party. By that, the authorities impose more obstacles for our efforts to register the party," Maqsutkhan said, adding that one person had been ordered to pay 780,400 tenges (about $1,630) for wiring 2,000 tenges ($4) to the Naghyz Atazhurt party.

Among other examples of pressure imposed on the unregistered party, Maqsutkhan mentioned the arrest last week of Naghyz Atazhurt party leader Bekzat Maqsutkhan, who was sentenced to 10 days in jail on a charge of violating regulations for holding public events.

The charge stemmed from Bekzat Maqsutkhan's participation in rallies supporting journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, who was sentenced to seven years in prison on August 2 for financing an extremist group and participating in a banned group's activities, charges he and his supporters reject as politically motivated.

Naghyz Atazhurt's leaders and activists have been trying to register as a political party since May 2022.

Initially, the party was involved in defending the rights of ethnic Kazakhs in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

In 2022, its activists announced a plan to become a political party "to contribute to the process of the democratic political system while taking into account the Kazakh people's traditions, language, and national characteristics."

Naghyz Atazhurt, formerly known as Atazhurt Eriktileri (Volunteers of the Fatherland), has campaigned for the release of ethnic Kazakhs held in so-called reeducation camps in Xinjiang.

The United Nations has said an estimated 1 million ethnic Uyghurs and other mostly Turkic-speaking Muslim indigenous people of Xinjiang, including Kazakhs, are being held in what it described as "counterextremism centers" in Xinjiang.

The UN also said millions more had been forced into internment camps.

China maintains that the facilities are "centers for vocational education and training."

The United States, the European Union, and other Western states have reiterated their support for Georgia's sovereign and territorial integrity as the country marks the 16th anniversary of a brief war with Russia even as its ruling party appears to be turning back toward Moscow.

Late on August 7, 2008, Georgian troops rolled into the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia in an attempt to reclaim the territory from what Tbilisi said was growing Russian militarization.

The conflict erupted into a five-day war in which Russian forces drove deep into Georgia before pulling back in the wake of a European Union-brokered peace agreement.

The conflict, which Tbilisi and Moscow accuse one another of starting, left hundreds dead and drove thousands from their homes.

After the war, Russia left thousands of troops in South Ossetia and another breakaway region in Georgia, Abkhazia, and recognized both as independent countries.

SEE ALSO:

Abkhaz Separatists Say Work Set To Begin On Russian Naval Base In Georgian Region

Marking the anniversary of the conflict, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi issued a statement on Facebook saying that the August 2008 events "continue to have an impact on Georgians."

"Russia's ongoing violations of the 2008 ceasefire agreement highlight the continued struggle for peace and stability in the region. The United States continues to advocate for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity in its internationally recognized borders," the U.S. Embassy's statement said.

The British Embassy in the Georgian capital also expressed London's support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that the U.K. remembered "those killed, injured and displaced by Russia’s brutal and illegal actions."

Pursuit of EU and NATO membership remains embedded in the post-Soviet Caucasus nation's constitution, but the current Georgian government's passage of a perceived Russian-style law to curb media and NGOs has dealt a blow to both efforts.

The ruling party Georgian Dream is perceived by many in the West of a recent turn toward anti-Western rhetoric and authoritarian practices since the passing of a controversial "foreign agent" law, which imposes tight controls on foreign-funded media and NGOs that get more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. Russia has used that same designation to clamp down on opposition and independent media.

SEE ALSO:

Georgian Dream Plays Geopolitics To Shore Up Support At Home

The EU ambassador to Georgia said that Georgia's accession has been halted as a result of the Georgian Dream government's actions and that he hoped Georgians would make "the right choice" in the upcoming elections.

In noting the August 7 anniversary, the 27-nation bloc voiced its "condemnation of Russia's continued military presence in the occupied breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in violation of both international law and of Russia's commitments under the 12 August 2008 six-point agreement."

"The human rights of conflict-affected communities in Georgia continue to be violated, including through 'borderization' policies, closures of crossing points and illegal detentions by the Russian military and de facto authorities," the EU said in a statement.

"Restrictions on freedom of movement must end, violations of human rights must be investigated, and justice must be ensured for all victims," it added while expressing its "unwavering support to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders."

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the Foreign Ministry of Norway, foreign ministers of Estonia and Lithuania -- Margus Tsahkna and Ingrida Simonyte, were among other foreign entities and politicians who expressed their support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity on August 7.

A court in Prague sentenced Czech citizen Filip Siman to seven years in prison for looting during military unrest in the suburbs of Kyiv in April 2022 following the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Siman, 27, is a former soldier in the Czech Army who fought in Ukraine's 49th Assault Battalion, Carpathian Sich. In April 2022, he took part in the cleanup of Irpen and Bucha after the retreat of Russian forces.

The court charged Siman with stealing the property of soldiers and civilians who died during the battles. He filmed the robberies and posted them on social media and claims he was following orders by his command unit.

He was detained by the Ukrainian military, after which he returned to his homeland.

The sentence handed down was more lenient because the court ruled that in peacetime in the Czech Republic, a soldier would not have committed such a crime.

Among the things he stole were gold, a ring, cash, household electronics, and an aviation oxygen mask from an An-225 Mriya aircraft.

In addition to looting, Simana was accused of serving in foreign armed forces. He was acquitted on that charge.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and former President Milos Zeman promised not to prosecute citizens who joined the Ukrainian Army.

Siman said he regretted his actions.

"I did what I was told. The commander told me that war trophies are war trophies. We did nothing that others didn't do," he said.

The Carpathian Sich battalion denies it gave Simon an order to break the law.

The sentence has not entered into legal force and can be appealed.

With reporting by Czech Radio and iDnes

Serbs from northern Kosovo protested on August 7 against the opening of the main bridge in Mitrovica that divides the city into the Albanian-majority south and the Serb-majority north.

Protesters gathered near the bridge held up banners with messages including, "On the bridge we defended survival, now we defend extinction" and "While the EU and the U.S.A. are writing statements, they are expelling us."

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti last week informed Western diplomats in Pristina of his plans to open the bridge to traffic, a move that was opposed by both NATO and Quint nations -- an informal decision-making group consisting of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain.

"The bridge must be opened. It is in the service of all, and is against no one. Freedom of movement and the rule of law do not endanger peace and security -- on the contrary," said Kurti's cabinet after meeting with foreign diplomats in Kosovo.

During the protest, a former judge from North Mitrovica, Nikola Kabasic, said that the Serb community does not support the opening of the bridge. He also disputed claims by Kosovar authorities that it would foster peace and coexistence.

"We don't feel safe here," he said, adding that there has been freedom of movement even though the bridge was not previously open to traffic.

Kabasic said the bridge should be opened only when relations between the parties are normalized and dialogue can be agreed on in Brussels.

He asked for a consensus among all representatives of Serbs in Kosovo to identify and protect the fundamental interests of the Serb community.

"Misery is our collective problem. We are attacked as a people; we are under pressure to leave Kosovo," Kabasic said.

For years, Serb political parties in Kosovo were divided in their politics, and only the Serb List enjoyed the support of official Belgrade.

Members of the Serb community mentioned the efforts of Kurti’s government to establish authority in the north of Kosovo, as well as the presence of members of special units of the Kosovo police.

Kabasic emphasized that the protest was not against the ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo but against Kurti and his government.

SEE ALSO:

Boosted Kosovo Border Patrols Roll Through Rough Terrain

He said members of the special units of the Kosovo police should withdraw from the north of Kosovo and that Serb representatives should lead the local government.

In the post-war period, the bridge over the Ibar River was a symbol of the riots and barricades erected by Kosovo Serbs to oppose Pristina's efforts to establish authority in the north.

The bridge is currently open solely for pedestrians, although in the framework of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia it has been agreed that it will also be opened to vehicles.

The Quint countries said in a statement that they oppose opening the bridge to traffic at this time.

The NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, has stated that any decision on the opening of the main bridge over the Ibar River must be made within the framework of EU-mediated talks between Kosovo and Serbia.

KFOR soldiers from Italy are currently stationed on the bridge, while members of the Kosovo police patrol nearby.

KFOR also said it would not hesitate to react to any risk to regional security and stability.

The EU repeated its stance that the issue of opening of the bridge in North Mitrovica should be resolved within the framework of official dialogue, citing a 2014 agreement.

Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement on the bridge in Brussels in 2014 and the EU funded its revitalization worth 1.5 million euros. The bridge was supposed to open in 2017.

Protests against the bridge opening took place two days after Kosovar authorities closed down nine branches of the Serbian post office in the north, after concluding that they had been operating illegally and with no license from the Kosovo authorities.

In the past two years, Kurti's government has worked intensively to establish power in the north of Kosovo, which has been met with resistance from the local population and sometimes even criticism from the international community.

Some of the decisions that have been implemented are the re-registration of vehicles from Serbian license plates to those of Kosovo, updating driver's licenses, discontinuing the use of the Serbian dinar, and the closure of certain institutions that work in the Serbian system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on August 7 endorsed bills extending martial law and a general military mobilization for 90 days starting on August 12. Ukrainian lawmakers approved the bills on July 23. Martial law and the general mobilization were last extended in May, the 11th such prolongation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to the new legislation, martial law and the general military mobilization remain in place until November 9, 2024. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

A court in Estonia on August 6 held a preliminary hearing in the high treason case against journalist Svetlana Burceva, who used to work for the Sputnik and Baltnews news agencies that belong to the Kremlin-controlled Russia Today media holding. The 57-year-old Burceva was detained in March and initially charged with violating European sanctions imposed on the Russian media outlets. Investigators said she used a pseudonym -- Alan Torm -- and continued to work for Sputnik even after it stopped its operations in Estonia following the sanctions. Prosecutors ruled that Burceva worked as a propagandist in the Russian news agencies and therefore her charge was changed to high treason. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

German airline Lufthansa has suspended flights to Iran, Israel, Iraq, and Beirut amid rising tensions in the Middle East. "Based on its current security analysis, Lufthansa Group is again adjusting its services to the Middle East," the airline said in a statement on August 7. "All flights to Amman, Beirut, Tehran, and Tel Aviv are suspended up to and including August 13." Lufthansa says passengers can rebook or cancel free of charge. Tensions in the region have escalated amid Israel’s war in Gaza and the killing last week in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Palestine’s Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Kyrgyzstan has issued an arrest warrant for imprisoned Uzbek criminal boss Salim Abduvaliev, Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security said on August 6. The 73-year-old Abduvaliev, who was sentenced to six years in prison in Tashkent in March on charges of illegal possession and transportation of arms and explosives, is wanted in Kyrgyzstan for allegedly financing the organized criminal group of late Kyrgyz kingpin Kamchybek Kolbaev. Abduvaliev is believed to have ties with top Uzbek officials and leaders of the so-called Brothers' Circle, a Eurasian drug-trafficking network that included Kolbaev, who was killed during a police operation in Kyrgyzstan in October. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, click here.

The governor of Russia's Kursk region bordering Ukraine said on August 7 that a state of emergency has been declared on day two of an apparent large-scale Ukrainian ground offensive that Russia says is supported by tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery.

"To eliminate the consequences of enemy forces coming into the region, I took the decision to introduce a state of emergency in the Kursk region from 7 August," Governor Aleksei Smirnov said on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier accused Kyiv of firing rockets at civilian and residential targets in the region amid reports by Russian pro-war bloggers that a number of villages have been captured by Ukrainian forces as they advance into Russian territory.

Speaking during the broadcast of a government meeting on August 7, Putin called the military operation "another large-scale provocation."

The Russian military’s chief of staff, General Valery Gerasimov, told Putin that Russian forces had halted an advance by up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

"The enemy's advance deep into territory in the Kursk direction was stopped by the actions of the units covering the state border together with border guards and reinforcement units, with air strikes, missile and artillery fire," Gerasimov said in televised comments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a video issued later on August 7 thanked the Ukrainian military, singling out troops along the front line in the areas of Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Lyman, and Kharkiv “and wherever our protection against offensive operations of the occupier continues."

Zelenskiy didn’t mention Kursk but said it was important to continue to destroy the enemy "just as accurately as our soldiers know how and just as effectively as it gives a result."

The more pressure on Russia, the closer peace will be, he said. "Just peace through just force. I thank everyone who ensures this."

Earlier in the day the acting governor of the Kursk region said two people were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike near the town of Sudzha.

Smirnov said on Telegram that a Ukrainian drone struck a moving ambulance, killing the driver and a paramedic, in Sudzha, a town some 10 kilometers from the border.

Neither Putin’s nor Smirnov's claims could not be independently confirmed.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that it was up to Ukraine to answer questions about their operations but added that "nothing has changed" about the U.S. policy prohibiting strikes inside Russia using U.S.-supplied weapons except for targeting "imminent threats just across the border."

He also said U.S. officials have reached out to their Ukrainian counterparts to get a better understanding of the situation.

Smirnov also urged residents to donate blood after Russia's Defense Ministry the previous day said up to 300 troops backed by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored fighting vehicles crossed the border into the Kursk region and attacked Russian positions near the settlements of Nikolayevo-Darino and Oleshnya.

Moscow said its forces repulsed the attacks using artillery fire, warplanes, and drones, and the Ukrainian forces retreated after suffering losses.

However, on August 7, pro-Kremlin bloggers reported that Ukrainian forces occupied Nikolayevo-Darino and Sverdlikovo in the Sudzha district.

The bloggers said Ukrainian troops entered Sudzha the day before and were trying to take control of the villages of Goncharovka and Oleshna.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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Kyiv has also not commented on these reports, which could not be independently confirmed.

In Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, a mandatory evacuation is being carried out in 23 settlements located within five communities.

About 6,000 people, including 425 children, have been ordered to evacuate, Governor Volodymyr Artyukh said on Ukrainian television.

Artyukh noted that the situation in the Sumy region is quite tense, and an air alert has lasted for more than a day.

Many of the explosions residents hear are “the work of our air defense,” whose coverage of the Sumy region has never been better, he said.

Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 drones launched by Ukraine at four of its regions early on August 7.

"Air-defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed three drones over the Belgorod region, four over the Kursk region, two in the Voronezh region, and two over the Rostov region," the ministry said in a message on Telegram.

Meanwhile, Ukraine reported that its air defenses shot down all 30 drones launched by Russia at seven of its regions.

All Russian drones "were shot down over the Kyiv, Khmelnytskiy, Vinnytsya, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions," the air-force commander, General Mykola Oleschuk, said.

In Kyiv, falling debris from downed drones hit a person, who suffered a shrapnel injury to the leg.

Across the whole Kyiv region, dozens of residential homes and farm buildings were damaged by the debris, the head of Kyiv's regional military administration, Ruslan Kravchenko, reported on August 7, adding that the attack on the capital lasted for more than eight hours.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

A Moscow court on August 7 sentenced blogger Andrei Kurshin to 6 1/2 years in prison over two online posts he made condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The court found the administrator of the Moscow Calling Telegram channel guilty of distributing "false" information about the Russian military. Kurshin was arrested in August 2023 for his posts criticizing Russia's military strikes on a dam and a maternity hospital in Ukraine. He pleaded guilty and expressed his willingness to join Russian troops invading Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's North.Realities, click here.

Niger's ruling military junta has announced it is breaking off diplomatic relations with Ukraine, becoming the second African state to sever ties with Kyiv following comments by a Ukrainian official perceived as lending support to rebels in neighboring Mali.

The move comes as Russia continues to expand its influence in the Sahel region by supporting military regimes confronted with separatist and Islamist rebellions.

Ukraine has yet to comment on Niger's move, which comes after Mali's military rulers on August 4 also cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine over its alleged involvement -- which Kyiv denies -- in an attack by rebels that resulted in the killing of dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian mercenaries.

SEE ALSO:

Mali Breaks Off Relations With Ukraine Over Alleged Role In Separatist Attack

"The Government of the Republic of Niger, in full solidarity with the Government and people of Mali, has decided, relying on its sovereignty, to sever diplomatic relations between the Republic of Niger and Ukraine. This decision comes into force immediately," government spokesman Abdourahamane Amadou said late on August 6 in a televised address.

Armed groups in Mali's predominantly Tuareg north said they killed at least 47 government soldiers and 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries in fighting last month near the West African country's border with Algeria.

The losses incurred by Wagner fighters arguably amounted to the heaviest defeat the Russian mercenary group has suffered in the two years since it began to give military assistance to the Bamako regime.

Without directly confirming Kyiv's involvement, Andrey Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), told Ukrainian public television that the rebels "received all the necessary information they needed" to defeat the Russian mercenaries fighting alongside Malian troops.

Yusov's comments prompted Mali's military government to sever ties with Ukraine and accuse Kyiv of supporting terrorism and violating Mali's sovereignty.

Kyiv, whose troops fought fierce battles against Wagner mercenaries in eastern Ukraine, strongly rejected Mali's move, calling it "short-sighted and hasty given that Ukraine is a victim of unprovoked full-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation."

"Ukraine unconditionally adheres to the norms of international law, the inviolability of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, and resolutely rejects the accusations of the Transitional Government of Mali of alleged support of international terrorism," the ministry said in a statement on August 5.

Russia has been offering regime protection and other services to authoritarian governments in Africa and has recently expanded into Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger as military coups sweep through the Sahel.

On August 6, some 40 people were arrested in Nigeria's north, which borders Niger, for waving Russian flags during protests against the high cost of living and government policies.

On August 5, the United States handed over Airbase 201 in Agadez, its last military base in Niger, to local authorities, the U.S. Department of Defense and Niger’s Ministry of Defense announced in a joint statement.

The handing over of Airbase 201 came after U.S. troops withdrew earlier this month from Airbase 101, in Niger’s capital of Niamey.

The closing of the two bases, which played a major role in U.S. counterterrorism operations in the region, came after Washington and Nigerien authorities agreed that U.S. troops will leave the country by September 15.

Wagner was previously involved in some of the fiercest fighting of Russia's war in Ukraine, but its fate was put into question when founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in August 2023, two months after leading a brief mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Wagner mercenaries who did not sign contracts with Russia's Defense Ministry after the mutiny are believed to have moved to Africa.

With reporting by Reuters

The United States on August 6 charged a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran in connection with a foiled murder-for-hire plot to assassinate a U.S. politician or government officials in the United States.

The U.S. Justice Department identified the suspect as Asif Merchant, 46, who is in U.S. custody. The department did not name the politician whom the suspect allegedly wanted to assassinate, but said in a news release that law enforcement foiled the plot before any attack could be carried out.

A criminal complaint unsealed in Brooklyn, New York, on August 6 said Merchant sought to recruit people in the United States to carry out the plot in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC’s) elite Quds Force, who was assassinated in January 2020.

Then-President Donald Trump approved the drone strike on Soleimani. Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the high-profile killing.

Merchant, who prosecutors allege spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States from Pakistan, was charged with murder for hire in federal court in Brooklyn.

An individual Merchant contacted in April to help assist with the plot reported his activities to law enforcement and became a confidential informant, according to the complaint, the Justice Department news release said. Merchant instructed the informant to arrange meetings with individuals whom Merchant could hire to carry out the assassination and other acts.

Merchant met in June with the would-be hitmen, who were in fact undercover U.S. law enforcement officers.

Merchant said he had received instructions to "finalize" the plan and leave the United States from the unidentified "party" he had been working with. He told the undercover agents that they would receive instructions in either the last week of August or the first week of September after he had departed the United States.

Merchant subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the United States on July 12. Law enforcement agents placed him under arrest before he could leave the country. The complaint said a federal judge ordered Merchant detained on July 17.

Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee in the November 5 presidential election, was wounded on July 13 in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that investigators have found no evidence that Merchant had any connection to the attempt on Trump's life. Investigators have said the shooting, which wounded Trump in his right ear, was carried out by a lone 20-year-old gunman.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York said Merchant "planned the murder of U.S. government officials on American soil" working on behalf of others overseas.

"This prosecution demonstrates that this office and the entire Department of Justice will take swift and decisive action to protect our nation’s security, our government officials, and our citizens from foreign threats."

The FBI is investigating the case. Merchant has said that he has a wife and children in Iran and a wife and children in Pakistan. Avraham Moskowitz, a lawyer for Merchant, did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.

With reporting by Reuters

The Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian military of attacking its positions in Russia's Kursk region on August 6, while Ukraine said its forces shot down drones, a missile, and a helicopter over the Sumy region on the other side of the border.

The Russian ministry said up to 300 fighters from Ukraine's 22nd Mechanized Brigade supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored fighting vehicles attacked the positions of Russian units near the settlements of Nikolayevo-Darino and Oleshnya in the Kursk region, which borders on the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine.

Russian media quoted the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that Russian forces had dealt with an armed "provocation" by Ukraine.

Moscow said its forces repulsed the attacks using artillery fire, warplanes, and drones, and the Ukrainian forces retreated after suffering losses. The claims could not be independently verified.

The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed its forces defeated "reserves in the territory of the Sumy region."

The ministry said that Russian aircraft struck the "concentration of manpower and equipment of the armed forces" in and around several settlements in Sumy. There was no independent confirmation of the attacks.

The Ukrainian military's 22nd Mechanized Brigade did not comment on the claims but said border settlements of the Sumy and Chernihiv regions continued to suffer from Russian shelling.

The General Staff of Ukraine's military said that its forces shot down a Russian helicopter, a ballistic missile, and two drones over the Sumy region.

Earlier on August 6, at least one person was killed and several others were wounded in drone strikes reported by Russia and Ukraine, after Kyiv was targeted again in an overnight attack that caused damage to civilian infrastructure.

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Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, said that one person was killed when a drone struck a vehicle, while in Kursk, another region that has a border with Ukraine, several people were wounded by falling debris from drones shot down by Russian air defenses.

Gladkov, who also issued a missile alert for the city of Belgorod and its surroundings early on August 6, said the strike that killed the civilian occurred near the village of Novostroevka, in Belgorod's Graivoronsky urban district.

His claim could not be independently confirmed.

In the Kursk region, 26 drones were shot down on August 6, acting regional Governor Aleksei Smirnov said, adding that five people were wounded by falling debris in Sudzha, a town some 10 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Smirnov also claimed that Russian border guards repelled an alleged attempt by Ukrainian forces to cross the border into the Kursk region. Ukraine has not commented on this matter and Smirnov's claim could not be independently confirmed.

Ukraine, whose civilian and energy infrastructure has been relentlessly pounded by Russian drone and missile strikes, has in recent months increasingly resorted to striking targets deeper inside Russian territory, mostly hitting oil refining facilities working for the military and energy infrastructure.

In Ukraine's south-central Zaporizhzhya region, two civilians were killed as a result of Russian shelling, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on August 6. Fedorov reported the deaths on Telegram, saying an aerial bomb was used in the attack, which also destroyed a house.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that an earlier strike on the city of Kharkiv killed one person and injured 12. Authorities in the city said a Russian missile strike hit the city center, damaging residential buildings, a clinic, and 25 cars belonging to civilians.

In Ukraine, air defenses shot down 15 drones and four out of six missiles over the Kyiv, Kherson, Mykolayiv, and Khmelnytskiy regions early on August 6, the air force said in a message on Telegram, adding that two of the missiles were Iskander ballistic missiles and two were Kh-59 cruise missiles.

In the Kyiv region, falling drone debris caused damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential high-rise buildings, gas stations, and commercial structures, the region's governor, Ruslan Kravchenko, reported on Facebook. He added that no casualties had been reported.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanon-based group Hizballah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, said Israel's recent actions will not go without a "strong and effective" response amid fears of a full-blown war in the region.

Hizballah said six of its fighters were killed in Israeli attacks on August 6, while it claimed to have launched missiles and drones at Israel, though no casualties were immediately reported.

For months, Israel and Hizballah have traded constant cross-border attacks -- including a deadly rocket attack from Lebanon on July 27 that hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killing 12 youths and children -- that have killed many and displaced thousands of people.

Pressure has continued to build since strikes killed top military commander Fuad Shukr in a Beirut suburb and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, which has also been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, in Iran.

Tehran is Hizballah's main ally, and the Lebanese militant group is a key member of Iran's so-called axis of resistance, a loose network of militant groups and proxies that aid it in opposing Israel and the United States.

Hizballah is also considered a key part of Iran's efforts to deter Israel or Washington from going to war against Tehran.

Tehran "finds itself obliged to respond, and the enemy is waiting in a great state of dread," Nasrallah said in a televised address on August 6 to mark one week since Shukr's death.

“Whatever the consequences, the resistance will not let these Israeli attacks pass by," he added, saying that Hizballah will respond "alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis" of Iran-backed groups in the region, "whatever the consequences."

Experts say no side wants an all-out war in a region that has been reeling since Israel launched its war against Hamas after it killed some 1,200 people in a raid and took 240 people hostage on October 7.

SEE ALSO:

What Hamas Leader's Killing Means For Talks Aimed At Ending Gaza War

Hizballah has not usually shied away from claiming attacks on Israeli targets. But it issued a rare denial of responsibility after the attack that killed the children and youths in the Golan Heights.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the two recent assassinations, but it has admitted to killing other senior Hamas leaders, including Saleh al-Arouriand Mohammed Deif, the movement's military commander.

Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, recently told RFE/RL that if war did break out, members of the "axis of resistance" would likely intensify their attacks against Israel while also targeting U.S. troops and bases in the region in a bid to pressure Washington to rein in Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on August 5 called it a "critical moment" for the region and said Washington was "engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock" to help calm tensions amid fears Iran is preparing a retaliatory strike against Israel over Haniyeh's assassination in the Iranian capital.

As the world waits to see how and when Iran carries out its promised response to Haniyeh's assassination, Hamas named its Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, as Haniyeh's successor.

Sinwar is considered the architect of the October 7 attack on Israel, and is believed to be in hiding in Gaza, evading Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on August 6 that another former Defense Ministry official has been arrested on corruption charges amid an ongoing crackdown on defense officials. Vladimir Demchik, former chief of the ministry's property department, is suspected of accepting 4 million rubles ($46,900) as a bribe to secure ministry contracts with a private business in 2017. Several other top military and Defense Ministry officials have been arrested on corruption charges before and since President Vladimir Putin dismissed his longtime ally, Sergei Shoigu, as defense minister in mid-May. Former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov took over for Shoigu. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 6 it summoned Moldova's charges d'affaires and informed him that an employee of the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata in response to a similar move by Moldova last week. On August 1, Moldova's Foreign Ministry declared an employee of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau persona non grata and gave him 48 hours to leave the country. That move came hours after authorities in Chisinau detained two Moldovan officials following a raid by security forces on parliament premises linked to a spying investigation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

The Moscow City Court on August 6 rejected an appeal filed by Aleksandr Kibovsky, a former member of the Moscow municipal government, against his pretrial detention on charges of fraud and bribe-taking. Kibovsky's lawyers requested he be transferred to house arrest. Kibovsky was detained on July 16 and one day later placed in pretrial detention until at least September 16. Investigators allege Kibovsky accepted more than 100 million rubles ($1.1 million) in bribes while serving as the chief of Moscow's Culture Department between 2015 and 2023. Kibovsky pleaded not guilty and said he was willing to volunteer to fight with Russian forces in Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

An Iranian appeals court changed the sentence handed to Grammy Award winner Shervin Hajipour for making the viral song Baraye. One of Hajipour's lawyers told the Shargh news outlet that the court ruled that half of his three-year sentence had been suspended for two years, while additional punishments, including a two-year travel ban, were dropped. Earlier on August 6, Mizan, the news outlet linked to the judiciary, said that in making its decision, the 42nd branch of the Court of Appeal of Mazandaran Province decided "the judgment of the primary court was not recognized as appropriate to the situation of the accused and society." The song became the anthem of the Women, Life, Freedom protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. In July, Hajipour said on Instagram that, while he was not barred from leaving Iran, he would go back to prison rather than leave the country. He was previously arrested in September 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea's floor-exercise routine at the Olympic Games in Paris could be reconsidered by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) following several requests for a clarification lodged on August 6, including one from former Romanian Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci.

A revision in the scoring of the competition on August 5 boosted American Jordan Chiles into third, while both Maneca-Voinea and fellow Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu were left outside the medals.

Chiles and her coaches filed an inquiry about the difficulty component of her score immediately after the competition ended, and when it was accepted by the judges, she moved up to bronze. Maneca-Voinea also lodged an appeal over her mark, saying she had been unfairly penalized. But her appeal failed.

The revision of Chiles' score caused an uproar on the Romanian team and prompted Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to declare that he would not attend the closing ceremony, while Romanian gymnastics legend Comaneci lashed out on X.

"I can’t believe we play with athletes' mental health and emotions like this," she said.

Comaneci told RFE/RL that numerous videos and requests had been sent to the FIG asking for a clarification of the deduction Maneca-Voinea received for stepping out of bounds.

"You can't see it," Comaneci said, referring to the moment when judges assessed that she stepped out of bounds after a tumbling run. "I don't think [the FIG] can ignore it. Clarity is needed for Sabrina and all of us."

Comaneci also published a video on social media showing that Maneca-Voinea's foot did not cross the line.

Ciolacu, meanwhile, said viewers worldwide were shocked when Chiles' score was revised, giving her the bronze and said it highlighted that “somewhere in the system of organizing this competition, something is wrong."

He said on his Social Democratic Party's Facebook page that he made the decision not to attend the closing ceremony "after the scandalous situation in gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an absolutely dishonorable way."

The president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Mihai Covaliu, also sent a letter of protest to the FIG asking for reconsideration of Voinea-Maneca's appeal. Covaliu’s letter, quoted by News.ro., said the incident had damaged the image of international gymnastics and affected athletes' mental health.

The president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, Carmencita Constantin, also sent a letter to the head of the FIG in which she asks for explanations for Voinea-Manaca's alleged step out of bounds, saying it can be proved that it was a judging error.