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Daughter Of Jailed Belarusian Presidential Candidate Seeks European Support
Eva Nyaklyaeva, 30, a Finland-based arts manager who has never before taken up political or rights issues in her country of birth, told RFE/RL that she has met with government officials in Lithuania and Poland, Belarus's two western neighbors, as well as ministers in the Czech Republic.
She said she had been given assurances by Warsaw that they will push for a "strict" EU response to the crackdown on opposition candidates, journalists, and demonstrators in the aftermath of last month's disputed presidential elections, in which President Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed to win some 80 percent of the vote.
The Polish Foreign Ministry has already waived visa fees for Belarusian nationals as an "expression of solidarity." Warsaw is also planning a conference in February tasked with finding ways of aiding Belarus's beleaguered opposition.
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Some 600 people, including seven of nine opposition presidential candidates, were arrested during a mass rally on December 19, in which an estimated 10,000 Belarusians took to Minsk's October Square in protest of what they say were rigged elections.
Police violently dispersed the rally, beating many peaceful protesters, including Nyaklyaeu. He and four other candidates have since been charged with organizing mass riots.
The beating left Nyaklyaeu hospitalized and unable to speak before unidentified men dragged him from his hospital bed and put him in prison.
Nyaklyaeva told RFE/RL that her father nearly died in prison after losing consciousness due to low blood pressure, and that his condition is still critical.
"We are all the time trying to get him hospitalized because we are really afraid for his life," Nyaklyaeva said. "Now we are afraid not only for his freedom, but also for his life."
She traced the brutality of the government crackdown to Lukashenka's insecurity about remaining in power.
"We think that this reaction was provoked by the fact that [Lukashenka] was really, as any dictator, he really believes that the people love him," she said. "And for the first time, he got proof that now this is not the case -- that the people of Belarus want him out."
The official election tally, which was discredited by most foreign observers, said Lukashenka had earned some 80 percent of the vote, which would easily allow the man considered "Europe's last dictator" to remain in charge of Belarus.
Next Steps
Nyaklyaeva said she will travel to Berlin on January 11 to meet with German officials.
She will then head to Brussels, where she will appeal to leaders to look past other considerations in their response to the crackdown, including Belarus's role as a key transport country for eastern gas heading to Europe.
"I don't want to be diplomatic anymore," Nyaklyaeva said. "I am sick and tired, with all respect, of the analysts who say that in this situation it is very difficult for Europe or for the West to take serious steps because of the economic situation. To hell with realpolitik. These are human lives now on the line."
The European Parliament is due to hold a special meeting on January 12 to discuss the situation in Belarus.
Renewal of EU visa sanctions against top Belarusian officials is being considered.
The EU imposed visa sanctions on Lukashenka and 40 other officials in the wake of the last Belarus presidential election in 2006 over concerns about its fairness and a postelection crackdown on the opposition. Two years later, the EU suspended the ban for 36 of the officials after Minsk released senior imprisoned political leaders.
Meanwhile, weeks after the disputed election, authorities in Belarus contain to target the opposition.
RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports that in the southwestern city of Brest, authorities on January 10 searched four apartments belonging to opposition activists in connection with last month's protests. The office of the independent newspaper "Borisovskie novosti" was also raided.
The homes and offices of dozens of activists, journalists, and members of opposition parties have been searched throughout the country over the past several days.
with additional reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service
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Slovakia Revokes Temporary Protective Status For Pro-Russian Ukrainian Politician
The Slovak Interior Ministry has canceled the temporary protective status it granted to Artem Marchevskiy, a close associate of pro-Russia Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. The ministry granted Marchevskiy temporary protective status on April 8 and canceled it on July 3, the Slovak Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by the Czech news website Novinky.cz on August 26. Marchevskiy left Prague for Slovakia earlier this year after Czech authorities imposed sanctions on him for attempts to carry out "influence operations" for Moscow's benefit on Czech territory. Marchevskiy holds Ukrainian and Israeli passports. The German publication Der Spiegel identified Medvedchuk and Marchevskiy as operators of the Prague-based pro-Moscow news website Voice Of Europe, saying the website played a key role in financing pro-Kremlin European Parliament candidates.
- By AFP
Modi Discusses Ukraine Visit With Biden
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden on August 26 about his visit to Ukraine as the White House said it welcomed all countries that listened to Kyiv's view on ending Russia's invasion. Modi visited Kyiv on August 23 and told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that "no problem should be solved on the battlefield." Briefing Biden by telephone on his trip, Modi "reiterated India's consistent position in favor of dialogue and diplomacy and expressed full support for [an] early return of peace and stability," an Indian Foreign Ministry statement said. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the United States welcomed "any other country that wants to help" Zelenskiy work toward a just peace.
French President Says Arrest Of Telegram CEO Was Not A Political Decision
French President Emmanuel Macron said on August 26 that the arrest of Pavel Durov, the Russian-born co-founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was not political.
“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron said on X. "It is up to the judges to rule on the matter."
Durov was detained at the Bourget airport outside Paris on August 24 and was still being held for questioning on August 26. Telegram issued a statement on X on August 25 saying that Durov “has nothing to hide” and that Telegram is “awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation."
French media reported that France's OFMIN, an office tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses, including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, and the promotion of terrorism.
“At the heart of this issue is the lack of moderation and cooperation of the platform (which has nearly 1 billion users), particularly in the fight against pedophilia,” Jean-Michel Bernigaud, the head of OFMIN, confirmed in a LinkedIn post.
Dubai-based Telegram boasts more than 900 million users worldwide. In his first major interview in seven years, which he gave to U.S. conservative media figure Tucker Carlson on April 17, Durov vowed that Telegram aims to be a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics."
Critics in Ukraine, however, say it spreads misinformation and facilitates illegal actions. Some accuse Telegram of having ties to the Russian state and of contributing to its war effort.
Despite its critics, there is “no such decision [to close Telegram] being prepared by the National Security and Defense Council,” according to Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the opposition Holos party and the chairman of the Committee on Freedom of Speech in Ukraine's parliament.
Yurchyshyn told RFE/RL that Ukraine plans to monitor the situation for now and added that the blocking of Telegram in Ukraine is still possible.
“We understand that the French are considering accusations of promoting terrorism, and this has greatly worried the Russian authorities because communication [on Telegram] is not only about military operations in Ukraine,” Yurchyshyn said.
He noted that communications about the Wagner Group’s special operations in the Central African Republic or other African countries in which France has influence have also taken place on Telegram.
“That is, most likely, the French special services receive additional information that may be of interest to our special services,” he said.
Access to Telegram was temporarily restricted by Russia in 2018. The decision was made after the messaging app allegedly refused to provide Russia's FSB security agency with encryption keys from users' correspondence, citing the secrecy of correspondence guaranteed by the Russian Constitution.
The decision to block was sharply criticized by many Russian public figures, as well as critics of the Russian government. A mass rally in defense of Telegram was held in Moscow, where then-opposition leader Aleksei Navalny spoke.
However, independent Russian media reports indicated that Telegram reached a compromise with the authorities and has been sharing some data with the security services for several years, although that has been denied by Telegram.
With reporting by AFP
Croatian Singer Questioned At Serbian Border Over Lithium Mining Protests
Croatian singer Severina Vuckovic was briefly detained at the border with Serbia for questioning that she said was related to her support for protests against the construction of a new lithium mine. Vuckovic confirmed in a press release on August 25 that the border police asked her and her manager to step aside and conducted secondary searches and questioning. She was then taken to a police station for further questioning regarding her opinions on Serbia and recent protests against lithium mining in the country and released late on August 25 after a few hours, she said. The Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia and Croatia on August 26 condemned her detention, saying it was an example of "the attempt to stigmatize regional cooperation and solidarity." To read the original story on RFE/RL’s Balkan service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Offers $2.5 Million Reward For Arrest Of Belarusian Suspected In Cybercrime Scheme
The United States has issued a reward of up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of a Belarusian wanted for his alleged participation in a malware advertising scheme. Volodymyr Kadariya has been charged in the United States with cybercrime offenses involving malware known as the Angler Exploit Kit. It and other malware was used in a scheme to compromise the computers of millions of unsuspecting Internet users through online advertisements from October 2013 through March 2022. Kadariya was indicted in June 2023 in New Jersey on fraud charges. The reward announced on August 26 is through the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.
- By Current Time
Former Wagner Fighter Imprisoned For Rape, Murder Sent Back To Ukraine War
Former Wagner Group fighter Ivan Rossomakhin, who was sentenced in April for raping and murdering an elderly woman in Russia, has been released and sent back to the war in Ukraine, the Travmpunkt rights group said on August 26. Rossomakhin returned to his native village in March 2023 after taking part in Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. He was recruited by the Wagner mercenary group in 2022 from a penitentiary, where he was serving a 14-year prison term for murder. He was pardoned after serving for Russia in Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.
- By AFP
88 Russian, 8 Belarusian Athletes To Compete As Neutrals In Paris Paralympics
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on August 26 that 88 Russian competitors will take part under a neutral banner at the Paris Paralympics. The games, which get under way on August 28, will also feature eight Belarusians competing as neutrals, IPC spokesman Craig Spence told a press conference. The IPC has overseen their gradual return as neutral participants in the Paralympics under strict conditions. A third-party agency was tasked with verifying that the potential competitors did not actively support Russia's invasion of Ukraine or have any links with their countries' militaries.
- By Reuters
Poland Says Russian Drone Likely Entered Its Airspace During Attack On Ukraine
Poland said that a drone had likely entered its airspace early on August 26 during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine, adding that the object may have landed on Polish territory and that searches were under way. Russia launched more than 100 missiles and around 100 attack drones at Ukraine during the morning rush hour on August 26, killing at least five people and striking energy facilities nationwide, officials said. "Most likely it was a drone and we assume so, because the trajectory of the flight and the speed indicate that it was definitely not a missile," Jacek Goryszewski, spokesperson for the Polish Army's operational command, told Reuters. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.
- By Kian Sharifi
U.S. Says Iran Nuclear Deal Remains 'Off The Table' As Tehran Calls For 'New Negotiations'
Reviving the Iran nuclear deal remains off the agenda for the Biden administration, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said on August 26, as Tehran called for “new negotiations” to update the agreement before it can be revived.
Iran’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said last week that the agreement “cannot be revived in its current form” due to sunset clauses that have expired and insisted that new talks are needed to resuscitate the agreement.
However, a State Department spokesperson told RFE/RL that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the 2015 nuclear accord is formally known, “is not on the table right now.” The United States unilaterally exited the deal in 2018 under then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The United States will ensure one way or another that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome,” the spokesperson said.
Still, Washington views “diplomacy as the best way to achieve a sustainable, effective solution,” the spokesperson said.
During a televised interview, Araqchi conceded that renegotiating the agreement would be challenging.
“This document definitely needs to be reopened and parts of it needs to be changed. That is no easy task because once you reopen a document, putting it back together will be challenging,” he said in a live television interview.
Complicating matters further are the November presidential election in the United States and ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Araqchi said the Ukraine war had “deeply impacted how Europeans view security,” while the Gaza conflict has “completely upended the situation in the region.”
The minister, who was one of the architects of the deal between Iran and six major world powers, said the format of talks since 2021 to revive the agreement can no longer work.
“New negotiations are needed,” Araqchi added.
The deal restricted Iran’s nuclear program and capped uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent. In return, the United States lifted sanctions that had suffocated Iran’s economy and energy sectors.
But Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted under its terms. Iran retaliated by gradually scaling back its commitments and is currently enriching uranium at 60 percent.
Araqchi, then a deputy foreign minister, led Iran’s negotiating team when Tehran and Washington started indirect talks in April 2021 to restore the agreement. Negotiations paused when hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi came to power in Iran and a new team of negotiators entered the fray.
But talks were suspended in September 2022 in the wake of nationwide protests that rocked Iran for months. Hundreds were killed in the unrest as the authorities cracked down on demonstrations.
Iran's new president, Masud Pezeshkian, who succeeded Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash earlier this year, has vowed to engage the West.
But the ultimate decision-maker in Iran is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has praised efforts by conservatives to expand the country's nuclear program.
Explosion In Siberia Causes Fire At Russia's Largest Oil Refinery
Several Telegram channels reported on August 26 that a major explosion rocked Russia's largest oil refinery, located in the Siberian city of Omsk, sparking a fire at the facility. The reports carried videos showing flames and clouds of smoke rising from the Gazpromneft-ONPZ facility. The refinery's administration confirmed the reports, saying that the fire was under control. It remains unclear what exactly caused the explosion. Several oil refineries located in Russia's western regions have been under Ukrainian drone attacks since January. The distance from Ukraine's eastern border to Omsk is more than 2,000 kilometers. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
UN Nuclear Agency Chief Says He's Heading To Kursk Plant On August 26
UN nuclear agency head Rafael Grossi said he will visit Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant on August 26, weeks after Ukraine launched a surprise counteroffensive in the region. "Given the serious situation, I’m personally leading tomorrow’s IAEA mission to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia," he said in a post on X. The International Atomic Energy Agency has urged both Russia and Ukraine to exercise "maximum restraint" to "avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences" as fighting nears the plant.
Zelenskiy Pleads With Allies For 'Decisive Action' After Massive Russian Attack
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukraine's global allies to take "decisive action" after Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other cities across the country that damaged vital utilities.
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The Russian strikes targeted several Ukrainian cities early on August 26, killing at least seven people and wounding 47 others, according to Ukrainian officials.
Firefighters extinguished 22 fires as 740 rescuers and 176 pieces of equipment were deployed across the country to respond to the consequences of shelling, the Ukraine's Emergency Service said on Telegram.
Late on August 26, another strike hit the city of Kryviy Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region. A missile hit a hotel where many civilians were staying, according to Ukrainian media. Local politician Oleksandr Vilkul was quoted as saying "the news is bad."
Zelenskiy, in a video message posted on X, said the "vile" attacks, involving more than 100 missiles and around 100 drones, showed the West's restrictions keeping Ukraine from using long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory must be lifted.
"Ukraine cannot be constrained in its long-range capabilities when the terrorists face no such limitations," Zelenskiy said.
"Weakness and inadequate responses fuel terror.... Every leader, every one of our partners, knows the decisive actions required to end this war justly," he added, while calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "sick creature."
The United States also voiced outrage over the major Russian assault.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia's continued war against Ukraine and its efforts to plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness as the fall sets upon us," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, calling the assault "outrageous."
NATO also strongly condemned attacks against Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure, noting that Poland said an "object," most likely a drone, entered its airspace and possibly landed on Polish territory.
"Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian drone fragments and missiles have been found on allied territory on several occasions," NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said. "While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous."
The aerial attack was the largest in weeks from Moscow and comes as Ukrainian forces are advancing as they mount a major offensive into the Kursk region of Russia.
Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said water and power supplies in parts of the capital had been disrupted as Russia launched its large-scale attack during the morning rush hour.
Zelenskiy said there was "a lot of damage in the energy sector," and Ukraine’s state-run energy authority Ukrenerho said that it was introducing emergency power outages.
One person was reportedly killed and a residential building was damaged in the northwestern city of Lutsk, according to the city’s mayor, Ihor Polischuk.
Two people who were killed in the Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk regions were among the seven killed, according to local authorities.
In the Poltava region, five people were wounded after an industrial facility was struck. Three explosions were reported in the Vinnytsia region.
WATCH: One person was killed as a missile hit a cottage area on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro early on August 26. It was a day when Ukraine woke up to a barrage of Russian air attacks.
Ukraine’s Air Force Command had warned citizens not to ignore air raid alerts after it had detected 11 Russian Tu-95MS bombers taking off.
The Air Force Command added that it had detected drone movements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Mykolayiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschukv said Ukraine shot down 201 "air targets" -- 102 missiles and 99 attack drones. This was out of 236 missiles and drones fired. The assault included three Kinzhal missiles, six Iskander missiles, and 28 Kalibr cruise missiles launched from Russian ships in the Black Sea, Oleschukv said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that 20 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed overnight.
The governor of Russia’s Saratov region, Roman Busargin, said drones had targeted the cities of Saratov and Engels and damaged two residential buildings.
He said the damage was caused by falling debris after air defenses shot down the drones.
Russian news agencies said four women were injured in Saratov, with one woman hospitalized. No casualties were reported in Engels.
Engels and Saratov are located on the opposite banks of the Volga River, with a strategic bomber military base located around 12 kilometers from where the drones were intercepted. Saratov is around 900 km from the Ukrainian border.
Quoting the airport’s press office, news agencies said flights were restricted at the regional Saratov airport.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the reports.
Ukraine and Russia insist that they do not target civilians in their attacks but infrastructure critical to war efforts.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Iran Says Israel 'Lost Deterrent Power' After Hizballah Attack
Israel has reportedly launched new strikes at Hizballah, which has been designated at terrorist organization by the United States, just inside Lebanon a day after a heavy exchange of missile and drone attacks between the two foes that Iran claimed showed a shift in the balance of power.
State media reported on August 26 that Israel targeted the border village of Tair Harfa and an area near Sidon in Lebanon a day after Hizballah launched scores of rockets and drones against targets in northern and central Israel in the early hours of August 25. The attack came shortly after Israel carried out what it described as preemptive strikes targeting Hizballah’s rocket launchers.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from Israel's strikes on August 26.
Iran said on August 26 that the exchange of fire, which marked one of the largest clashes to hit the Middle East since war broke out in the Gaza Strip last October, showed Israel has lost not only its ability to anticipate small-scale attacks but also its deterrent power.
“Despite the full backing of its supporters, including the United States, Israel has lost its deterrent power and ability to predict the time and place of even a limited and calibrated attack,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani wrote on X, referring to the large-scale attack on Israel by Iran’s Lebanese ally Hizballah a day earlier.
“The occupying regime has always sought territorial expansion, but now has to defend itself within the occupied territories,” Kanani added. “Fear has been embedded in the homes of the residents of the occupied lands.”
Israeli officials said the preemptive attack prevented the launch of “thousands” of rockets. Hizballah claimed to have launched more than 320 rockets and drones but Israel put the figure at around 150.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah alleged that the group’s operation was calibrated to ensure it did not trigger a full-scale conflict.
Addressing Nasrallah and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's preemptive operation was "another step toward changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes."
Hizballah said its operation was “phase one” of its retaliation for the killing of Fuad Shukr, widely believe to be Hizballah’s second-most powerful person. Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on July 30.
Hours after Shukr’s assassination, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas was killed in Tehran. Iran vowed to avenge Ismail Haniyeh and accused Israel of killing him. Israel has neither denied nor claimed responsibility.
In his speech, Nasrallah said one reason why Hizballah took nearly a month to hit Israel was because it was discussing with Iran and other allies about whether to carry out a coordinated attack on Israel or attack separately.
Pressure has been growing on Iran to deliver on its promised attack against Israel to avenge Haniyeh.
During a phone call on August 25 with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araqchi insisted that a “measured and well-calculated” response will come.
“We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it -- unlike Israel,” Araqchi told his Italian counterpart.
Moscow Court Issues Warrant For Another Member Of Navalny's Team
A Moscow court issued an arrest warrant on August 26 for Aleksandra Frolova, a self-exiled member of late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's team. Three days earlier, the same court issued a warrant for Nina Volokhonskaya, a self-exiled producer at the Navalny LIVE YouTube channel. In mid-August, Frolova and Volokhonskaya were added to Russia's wanted list for allegedly taking part in the activities of an extremist group. Navalny's organizations and projects were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in June 2021. If arrested and convicted, the two women face up to six years in prison. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Lawmaker Dmytruk Flees Ukraine, Apparently To Avoid Investigation
Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations said on August 25 that it had launched a probe into an illegal border-crossing by a lawmaker who fled the country after he was informed he was suspected of attacking citizens. Also on August 25, the Prosecutor-General's Office said a lawmaker was suspected of attacking a law enforcement official and a military officer, attempting to steal a firearm, hooliganism, and inflicting bodily harm on a person. Media reports identified the lawmaker as Artem Dmytruk, who publicly criticized the incursion by Ukrainian armed forces into Russia's Kursk region, as well as Kyiv's move to ban the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
Kyrgyz Ex-Customs Official Matraimov's Pretrial Detention Extended
BISHKEK -- The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek told RFE/RL on August 26 that it had extended until at least October 26 the pretrial detention of Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service who was at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal involving the funneling of close to $1 billion out of the country.
Matraimov and three of his brothers -- Tilek, Ruslan, and Islambek -- were extradited to Kyrgyzstan in March from Azerbaijan, where they were in hiding.
Raimbek, the most notorious of the brothers, was charged with money laundering and the abduction and illegal incarceration of unnamed individuals as part of the 2020-21 corruption scandal.
In February 2021, a Bishkek court ordered pretrial custody for Matraimov in connection with the corruption charges. He received a mitigated sentence that involved fines amounting to just a few thousand dollars but no jail time.
The court justified the move by saying that Matraimov had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through corruption schemes he oversaw.
In November last year, the chairman of the state security service, Kamchybek Tashiev, accused Matraimov and crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev (aka Kamchybek Asanbek), who was added by Washington to a list of major global drug-trafficking suspects in 2011, of "forming a mafia in Kyrgyzstan."
Matraimov left Kyrgyzstan in October 2023 after Kolbaev was killed in a special security operation in Bishkek. In January, the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry said Matraimov was added to the wanted list of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security.
In 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan.
In March 2024, a court in neighboring Uzbekistan sentenced a close associate of Kolbaev, influential Uzbek crime boss Salim Abduvaliev, to six years in prison on charges of illegally possessing and transporting arms and explosives.
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.
Militants Kill 37 People In Pakistan's Restive Balochistan Province
Pakistani officials say at least 37 people have been killed in several apparently coordinated attacks in the southwestern Balochistan Province, where security forces have long struggled against sectarian, separatist, and ethnic violence.
Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government, told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on August 26 that “terrorists” had killed people in three separate attacks in the province. In addition to civilians, several soldiers, law enforcement officers, and militants were killed, officials said.
In the deadliest attack, dozens of gunmen killed 23 passengers traveling on a bus in the Musakhail district. Officials said the armed group blocked the road, forced passengers off the bus and fatally shot the victims -- all men -- after checking their identification documents. They set several vehicles on fire before fleeing the scene.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has been designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, claimed in a statement sent to the AFP news agency that it had launched an operation "on highways across Balochistan," insisting that it had only targeted security personnel.
The Pakistani authorities have not explicitly accused a specific group of carrying out the attack.
Rind told Radio Mashaal that casualties included both civilians and security personnel, but did not provide the overall number of deaths.
However, the Public Relations Department of the Pakistani Army said in a statement on August 26 that 10 soldiers and four law enforcement officers were killed.
The army also claimed that it killed a total of 21 militants, but this number has not been independently confirmed.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “terrorist attack” and vowed that the perpetrators would be found and punished.
Eight people were killed in another attack in the Kalat district and six others were shot dead in the Bolan district, Rind said.
Balochistan is a vast and resource-rich province but remains woefully underdeveloped and impoverished.
The BLA is the largest armed group operating in the province and it is allied with the Baloch Liberation Front, another major Baluch separatist group in the province.
Balochistan has been rocked by a slew of militant attacks since the start of the year, with first three months seeing 62 attacks. In 2023, Baluch militants carried out 110 attacks, according to the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank.
Bulgaria Gets Caretaker Government, Seventh Election In 3 Years To Be Held On October 27
President Rumen Radev has accepted the proposed cabinet of acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, giving poverty- and corruption-stricken Bulgaria a caretaker government as it heads toward its seventh general election in three years. In accepting Glavchev's list of ministers on August 26, Radev said he will sign a decree on August 27 to set a parliamentary election for October 27. Radev was forced to make the move after politicians failed three times to put together a coalition government following an inconclusive June election. Glavchev was appointed as the caretaker prime minister after the government collapsed in March under similar circumstances. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.
- By Current Time
Russian Officials Reportedly Told To Delete Work Messages From Telegram
Russian officials have reportedly been instructed to delete all work correspondence from the messaging application Telegram after its founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France. Baza, a Telegram channel affiliated with Russia’s security apparatus, said on August 25 that Defense Ministry staff, prominent businessmen, and officers at several security agencies had also been ordered to wipe work-related messages from the application. Russian war bloggers say Telegram has become a key communication tool between military command units involved in the Ukraine war. Durov was arrested amid a preliminary inquest into Telegram's lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement regarding drug trafficking and other offenses. To read the full story by Current Time, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Pope Condemns Ukraine Move To Ban Activities Linked To Russian Orthodox Church
Pope Francis on August 25 condemned the latest action by Kyiv to ban religious organizations with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Ukraine.
"No Christian church may be abolished directly or indirectly. The churches must not be touched," the pope said during his weekly prayer a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed legislation prohibiting the activities of the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
"In thinking of the law recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the liberty of those who pray," Francis said on St. Peter's Square.
He told the gathered crowd that "one does not commit evil by praying. If someone does something evil to his people, he is guilty. But he can't have done anything bad by praying."
In signing the legislation on August 24, Zelenskiy underscored what he called the spiritual independence of the Ukrainian people, saying that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) "today is taking a step toward liberation from Moscow devils."
The OCU, which is aligned with Kyiv, was granted independence from the Moscow Patriarchate by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2019, the leading voice in the Orthodox world.
The Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared it severed all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2023 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Ukrainian authorities accuse it of maintaining ties.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and of the war against Ukraine.
The adoption of the law, which was passed by parliament earlier this month, is considered a watershed moment in Ukraine, where Orthodox Christianity has been riven for decades in large part over the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The law is to go into effect 30 days after its publication.
Ukrainian authorities have sought to curtail activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine since Russian-linked forces seized parts of the country in 2014, claiming the church has supported Moscow's war of aggression.
The pope also said he continues to follow "with sorrow" the fighting in Ukraine.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AFP, and dpa
- By Kian Sharifi
Israel, Hizballah Appear To Pull Back After Missile Exchange
Israel and Hizballah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, engaged in a massive exchange of missile fire on August 25, but signaled they were not looking to escalate the conflict amid fears of all-out war in the region.
Tensions also remained high near the Gaza Strip after Hamas – an Iran-backed group also designated a terrorist organization by the United States and EU – apparently fired an "M90" rocket toward Tel Aviv late on August 25, although Israeli officials said it fell harmlessly into an empty field.
"Following the siren that sounded in Rishon LeTsiyon, one projectile was identified crossing from the southern Gaza Strip and falling in an open area in the area of Rishon LeTsiyon," the Israeli military said.
In one of the biggest clashes to rock the Middle East since war broke out in the Gaza Strip last October, Israel said it launched preemptive air strikes on targets of Iran-backed Hizballah in southern Lebanon after Israeli intelligence detected that Hizballah was planning to attack in the morning.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech later in the day that the attacks, which did not include using precision or strategic missiles, targeted "the Glilot base -- the main Israeli military intelligence base," near Tel Aviv, about 100 kilometers across the southern Lebanese border with Israel.
Nasrallah added in the televised speech that Israel began striking Hizballah targets about 30 minutes before the group launched its attack, which was in response to the killing of one of its commanders.
Addressing Nasrallah and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's preemptive operation was "another step toward changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes."
Thousands have been displaced in northern Israel as Hizballah and Israel continue to trade cross-border attacks, which have intensified since war broke out in Gaza following an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that left some 1,200 people dead and scores more taken hostage.
The August 25 exchange of hundreds of missiles and drones sparked fears that the war may escalate and engulf the entire region, but a Hizballah official said in a written statement to media outlets that the group had "worked" to ensure its attack would not trigger a full-scale war.
Reuters quoted its diplomatic sources as saying Israel and Hizballah exchanged messages following the exchange saying neither wanted to escalate the conflict further.
Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute, said that at least for now, the scope of the strikes from both sides may be enough to avoid a major war between Israel and Hizballah "because both sides do not want it."
Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said around 100 fighter jets "eliminated thousands of Hizballah rocket-launcher barrels" that had been "aimed for immediate fire" toward northern and central Israel.
Hizballah said the attack was "phase one" of its retaliation for the killing of its top commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on July 30 in Beirut. It insisted the operation had been "completed successfully."
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a 48-hour state of emergency across Israel.
The IDF said Hizballah had fired 150 projectiles, but Hizballah claimed to have launched more than 320 Katyusha rockets.
Israeli fighter jets continued to strike Hizballah rocket launchers after the group's attack to "remove threats."
Three people were killed in areas in southern Lebanon, according to the country's Health Ministry.
The extent of damage caused by Hizballah's attack is unclear. Video footage on social media showed some rockets being intercepted and the aftermath of several rockets making impact.
The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon called the developments "worrying" and called "on all to cease fire and refrain from further escalatory action."
"We will continue our contacts to strongly urge for de-escalation," it said.
Hizballah and Israel have inched even closer to a full-blown war for weeks, especially after the death of 12 people in an apparent Hizballah rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on July 27.
Three days later, Israel struck a target in Beirut, killing Shukr, who was widely believed to be the second-most powerful person in Hizballah's hierarchy behind Nasrallah.
Diplomats, meanwhile, huddled in Egypt on August 25 for high-level talks aimed at brokering a cease-fire in the 10-month-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Later, a Hamas representative said the group's delegation left Cairo after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators “who briefed them on the results of the latest negotiations" and said it had rejected Israel's latest terms for a cease-fire.
Israel's attack on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, according to the local Hamas-run health authorities.
With reporting by Reuters
- By AP
Taliban Morality Laws Provide 'Distressing Vision' For Afghanistan, Warns UN Envoy
The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public provide a "distressing vision" for Afghanistan's future, a top UN official warned on August 25. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission to Afghanistan, said the laws extend the "already intolerable restrictions" on the rights of women and girls, with "even the sound of a female voice" outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers recently issued a set of morality laws that include a requirement for women to conceal their faces, bodies, and voices outside the home.
- By AFP
At Least 34 Dead After 2 Pakistani Buses Plunge Into Ravines
At least 34 people were killed in two separate bus accidents in Pakistan on August 25, including 12 pilgrims who had been prevented from crossing into Iran, officials said. At least 22 people were killed when the bus they were traveling in plunged into a ravine near the town of Azad Pattan on the border between Punjab Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In a separate incident, 12 men died when their bus crashed into a ravine on the Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, after being prevented from crossing into Iran. Road accidents are common in Pakistan, where safety measures are lax, driver training is poor, and transport infrastructure is often decrepit.
Ukraine, Russia Report Multiple Deaths In Strikes On Both Sides Of Border
Six people were killed in Ukrainian attacks in the Russian border region of Belgorod, local officials said on August 25, as Ukrainian authorities reported that several people -- including Western news agency staffers -- were among the dead and wounded in Russian strikes across the country.
Meanwhile, in his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces made further advances deeper into Russia's Kursk region and had taken control of two additional settlements.
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"I've just spoken with commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskiy, and there is an advance of our troops in the Kursk region -- from 1 to 3 kilometers. Two more settlements were taken under control," said Zelenskiy, who added that "active actions” were continuing.
In Russia, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that five civilians were killed and 12 others were wounded in Ukrainian shelling in the town of Rakitnoye. One person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the village of Solovyovka, he added.
Gladkov said six of the wounded were in serious condition, including a 16-year-old girl who was in intensive care.
The claims cannot be independently verified.
Russian authorities declared a state of emergency in Belgorod earlier this month, and Moscow said it was sending more troops to defend the region following Ukraine's surprise cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk on August 6.
Ukraine has since captured more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region, according to Kyiv, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War II.
In the Ukrainian city of Sumy -- some 30 kilometers from the Russian border -- authorities on August 25 reported that heavy Russian shelling killed at least four people and injured 13 others over the past 24 hours.
Authorities also said one person was killed and several others were wounded in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions in Russian missile and drone attacks.
Donetsk regional officials said the body of a British citizen was recovered from the rubble following an overnight strike at a hotel in Kramatorsk, a city of some 147,000 people in southeastern Ukraine.
Reuters later identified the person as Ryan Evans, 38, who was working as a safety adviser for Reuters. Evans, a former British soldier, had been with the news agency since 2022, advising staffers on safety issues at sites around the world.
Officials said four journalists -- including those with German, Latvian, and U.S. citizenship -- and two local citizens were among the injured, but the report could not immediately be confirmed.
Reuters earlier said several team members had been at the hotel but couldn't immediately confirm their whereabouts or status.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional government, wrote on Telegram that the hotel was destroyed and that "17 private houses, six high-rise buildings, three enterprises, an administrative building, and a coffeeshop were damaged."
Russian attacks hit residential buildings in Kharkiv's Balakliya, Chuhuiv, and Kupyansk districts, as well as the regional capital, Kharkiv city, wounding at least 17 people and damaging several houses, local authorities said.
Russia launched several missile and drone attacks overnight, targeting northern and eastern regions, but Ukraine’s air-defense systems destroyed most of the weapons before they reached their targets, Ukraine's air force said.
"Most of the missiles did not reach their targets," the air force said on Telegram, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an Iskander-K cruise missile, and six guided air missiles. It did not specify how many missiles were destroyed.
The air-defense systems shot down eight of the nine drones launched by Russian forces overnight over the Mykolayiv region, the air force claimed.
On the diplomatic front, Zelenskiy on August 25 said talks with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Switzerland were continuing regarding a potential second peace summit.
The Ukrainian leader also said he had told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Kyiv that he would support India hosting the summit.
"This applies not only to India but to any state that would be positive about hosting a second summit,” Zelenskiy added.
Some 80 countries, but not Russia, met in Switzerland in mid-June to discuss the potential for a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskiy has insisted Ukraine's territorial integrity must be the foundation of any peace deal, while Russia has said conditions for ending the war include Kyiv renouncing its desire to join NATO and ceding Crimea and four other occupied regions of Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry in Kyiv also said on August 25 that Ukrainian intelligence agencies had reported that Belarusian armed forces, under the guise of military exercises, have been concentrating a significant number of personnel, weapons, and equipment including tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, air-defense systems, and engineering equipment its border with Ukraine.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
Pavel Durov, Billionaire Founder Of Telegram App, Detained In France, Company Says
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was detained at the Bourget airport outside Paris and was scheduled to appear in court late on August 25 or 26, French media reported, citing unnamed sources.
The 39-year-old billionaire reportedly arrived from Baku, Azerbaijan, aboard his private jet accompanied by a bodyguard and a personal assistant and was arrested immediately, a source told AFP.
Durov was scheduled to appear in court for alleged offenses related to his popular messaging app.
There was no immediate comment by French authorities, but Telegram issued a statement on X saying that “Durov has nothing to hide” and that it’s “awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
The Paris prosecutor's office plans to make a statement to the press on August 26, Russian state agency TASS reported.
French media reported that France's OFMIN, an office tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses, including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, and the promotion of terrorism.
The SOTA Telegram channel reported that Durov was being held in a migration prison at Le Bourget airport, where he can be held for up to four days until a decision is made on his case.
The Dubai-based Telegram platform boasts more than 900 million users worldwide. In his first major interview in seven years, which he gave to U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson on April 17, Durov vowed Telegram aims to be a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics."
In Ukraine, though, critics worry it spreads misinformation and facilitates illegal actions. Some accuse Telegram of ties to the Russian state and of contributing to its war effort.
In 2021, Durov, a native of Russia who left the country about 10 years ago, received French citizenship.
Recently, he has lived mainly in the United Arab Emirates, where the company's office is also located.
Durov, who previously created the Russian social network VKontakte, developed the Telegram messenger in 2013.
He is the main owner of Telegram, which is worth an estimated $30 billion.
In 2018, the Russian authorities temporarily restricted access to Telegram.
The decision was made after the messaging app, as alleged, refused to provide Russia's FSB security agency with encryption keys from users' correspondence, referring to the secrecy of correspondence guaranteed by the constitution.
The decision to block was sharply criticized by many Russian public figures, including critics of the Russian authorities. A mass rally in defense of Telegram was held in Moscow, at which, in particular, then-opposition leader Alexei Navalny spoke.
However, independent Russian media reports indicated that Telegram reached a compromise with the authorities and has been sharing some data with the security services for several years, although that has been denied by Telegram.
With reporting by AFP
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