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Czech President Attends Anti-Muslim Rally
The president of the Czech Republic has attended a rally organized by an anti-Muslim group to coincide with the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that toppled communist rule.
Milos Zeman, who is known for his anti-Islam rhetoric, told the crowd of several thousand people in Prague that they aren't extremists.
Riot police separated them from a counterdemonstration.
Zeman warned against immigrants who belonged to a "culture of murderers and religious hatred."
The rally in the Czech capital on November 17 was organized by the Bloc Against Islam.
It took place at a university campus where the anticommunist revolution began in 1989, prompting Charles University officials to distance themselves from it.
The migrant crisis and the Paris attacks attracted thousands of people to different rallies in Prague in favor and against refugees, even though the country has seen only a small number of asylum seekers compared to several European nations.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
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Poland Detains Belarusian Woman Found Smuggling Illegal Migrants From Iran, Afghanistan
Poland's Border Guard Service said its officers detained a Belarusian woman who was attempting to smuggle three illegal migrants from Iran and one from Afghanistan into Lithuania in her car.
The border guards stopped the car with Warsaw license plates after it entered the country from Lithuania.
The foreigners had no documents allowing them to legally enter Poland, the Border Guard Service said. Some were seated in the car, while the others were discovered in the vehicle's trunk. Polish authorities handed the four migrants to Lithuania and impounded the car as evidence in the case.
The Belarusian woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was released and ordered to return to Belarus. She was also banned from entering Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone for 10 years.
The European Union has accused Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka of waging a “hybrid war” by allowing migrants to fly in, then funneling them to the bloc’s borders in retaliation for the EU's sanctions imposed over the brutal crackdown on Belarus’s pro-democracy movement following the disputed presidential election in August 2022.
Tens of thousands of the migrants have come from the Middle East and South Asia to the EU's eastern flank, sparking a major border crisis.
Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have since introduced states of emergency along the border and erected high fencing along the frontier with Belarus to stem the flow.
Russian Glide Bomb Attack On Kramatorsk Kills 2
The number of people killed in a Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk rose to two people, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on September 25.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
"As of 5:30 p.m. we know of 2 deaths in Kramatorsk. This afternoon, the Russians dropped three guided aerial bombs on the city. 2 people died and at least 12 were injured. Three children are among the wounded," Filashkin said on Telegram.
Local authorities said Russian troops targeted the center of Kramatorsk, damaging two high-rise buildings, shops, and cars.
Kramatorsk, which lies about 20 kilometers from the front line, has been hit by two deadly missile strikes that took numerous lives since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. One killed 13 in June last year, and the other hit the city's train station in April 2022, killing more than 60 civilians.
The Kherson region also came under Russian shelling on September 25, local authorities report.
An 80-year-old woman was killed, and two people on the street were injured. In addition, a 48-year-old local resident was taken to the hospital with injuries to her face and forearm, Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
Prokudin said earlier that Kherson city was under attack by Russian aircraft.
Russian forces also used glide bombs in that attack. One of the bombs hit a cultural institution, seriously damaging the building and setting off a fire. There was no information about victims, he said.
Later in the day Prokudin said Kherson remained under attack and called on the townspeople to remain in shelters.
Earlier on September 25, the Ukrainian Air Force said the country's air defenses shot down 28 drones and four missiles launched by Russia at 10 regions.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on the Donetsk stronghold of Vuhledar as they seek access to the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, some 80 kilometers to the north.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said on September 25 that fighting was ongoing in Vuhledar, although the Ukrainian military said the city was not yet surrounded by Russian forces.
White House Disinvites Georgian PM From UN Reception As Relations Sour
The White House has disinvited Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze from a prestigious reception during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), another sign of souring relations between the two once-close allies over what Washington says are the "anti-democratic actions" of the Caucasus nation's government.
Media reports about the White House's decision were confirmed to RFE/RL on September 25 by the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, which also said all meetings with Kobakhidze's delegation have been canceled.
"The Biden Administration rescinded Prime Minister Kobakhidze's invitation to its annual UNGA reception and declined to meet with the Georgian delegation due to increasing concerns about the Georgian government’s anti-democratic actions, disinformation, and negative rhetoric about the United States and the West," the embassy's statement said.
The Voice of America's Georgian Service first reported that Kobakhidze’s invitation to the traditional event had been canceled.
Georgia's government, dominated by the Georgian Dream party, has come under fire from the country's Western allies following its move to introduce a "foreign agent" law that many fear will stifle media and independent voices.
Parliament in May gave final passage to the law, overriding a veto by President Salome Zurabishvili, who split with legislators and party leaders in support of protesters who took to the streets en masse.
The law is modeled on a similar measure in Russia, which was initially passed in 2012 and has been gradually expanded and toughened to encompass civil society groups, human rights activists, media organizations, and others. The law has forced the closure of dozens of organizations and individuals in Russia, and forced activists and reporters to flee the country.
The Georgian Dream party insists the new law was needed to ensure transparency in the country's political scene and to protect its sovereignty, while the government has denied heavy-handed tactics were used against demonstrators.
Last week, the U.S. ambassador to Georgia, Robin Dunnigan, reiterated Washington's displeasure over the Georgian government’s recent statements and actions, saying they "further isolate Georgia from the West."
"The Georgian people have overwhelmingly said that their future is a future with Europe and with the West, and actions and statements that isolate Georgia don’t help that goal," she said.
"I want to reiterate once again that there is no stronger supporter in the world than the United States for the Georgian people and for the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic integration," Dunnigan added.
Dunnigan's statement came after Kobakhidze summoned her to officially protest the sanctions imposed by the United States on two Georgian officials and two Georgian citizens associated with brutal crackdowns on peaceful protestors and political opponents who rallied against the foreign agents law.
In May, the United States, which for years had been a steady supporter of Georgia's aspirations to join NATO and the European Union, announced visa restrictions on Georgian government officials and a comprehensive review of bilateral relations over the legislation, which was signed into law in June.
Georgia was given EU candidate status on December 14, but has yet to start the accession negotiations, which can last for years. Georgians have also been given the green light for visa-free travel in the Schengen zone. Both of the diplomatic initiatives are under threat because of the law's approval.
Russia Wants To Ban Adoption By Countries Allowing Gender Transition
Russian lawmakers on September 25 approved the first reading of legislation that would ban the adoption of Russian children by citizens from countries where gender transition is legal in a nod to the Kremlin's crusade to protect what it views as "traditional family values."
The bill is moving through the State Duma -- led by the legislature's chairman, Vyacheslav Volodin -- along with two other pieces of legislation that would ban "propagating child-free ideology" and impose large fines for "propagating childlessness."
If approved in two subsequent readings and by the Federation Council, the ban would hit prospective parents from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland, all of which allow for gender transitioning.
Last year, Russia adopted a law banning surgical operations "aimed at changing the sex of a person" and the changing of gender in documents. Separately, the Supreme Court decided in November to ban the nonexistent "International Public LGBT Movement."
Over the past decade, Russian President Vladimir Putin, with support from the dominant Russian Orthodox Church, has portrayed himself as a champion of what he describes as traditional values, a theme that plays well among many of his supporters in Russia.
In November 2022, less than nine months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, Putin signed a decree supporting a 2021 document on Russia's "traditional spiritual-moral values," including "service to the fatherland," "strong families," and "the priority of the spiritual over the material."
Among his initiatives, in July 2023 he signed into law a ban on gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy done as part of the gender-transition process.
Other bills that year aimed against "Western anti-family ideology" annulled marriages where one of the parties had "changed gender," while also banning transgender people from adopting.
Russia had already banned adoptions from the United States in 2012 in retaliation to a U.S. law imposing asset freezes and visa bans on Russians accused by Washington of human rights abuses, including those believed involved in the death of a whistleblowing Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Moscow jail in 2009.
Russian authorities also have raised the issue of "traditional family values" to stressing the need to increase the birth rate in the country amid an ongoing decrease of the country's population.
Earlier on September 25, lawmakers in the Far Eastern region of Primorye adopted in all three readings a bill banning the "inducement to abortions."
Similar laws have been adopted since 2023 in several other Russian regions, including Mordovia, Tver and Kaliningrad.
Russian rights activists have expressed concern over moves to restrict access to abortions.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
At UN, Zelenskiy Claims Russia Plans Attacks On Ukraine's Nuclear Plants
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 25 said he has received reports saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attack nuclear power plants and infrastructure in Ukraine with the goal of disconnecting the plants from the power grid.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Zelenskiy said he recently received "yet another alarming report from our intelligence" saying that Russia is using satellites to gather images and detailed information about Ukraine's nuclear infrastructure.
"Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster, a day like that must never come," Zelenskiy said.
Moscow "needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the annual UN meeting in New York.
"If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders," he said.
Zelenskiy also appealed to world leaders to keep his country's fight against Russia's invasion a top priority and warned that Putin is intent on seizing more territory, calling "more land" for a country the size of Russia an "insane" proposition.
"I think every leader, every country that supports us...sees how Russia, a country more than 20 times larger than Ukraine in territory, still wants even more land," he said.
Zelenskiy has been on an intensive diplomatic mission since his arrival in the United States for the annual UNGA event, meeting with key U.S. lawmakers and appearing on U.S. media to urge Washington to maintain its crucial support for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president plans to lay out a "victory plan" to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on September 26 amid relentless strikes on Ukraine's cities and a grinding Russian offensive that is making slow but continuous advances into the eastern part of the country.
He dismissed efforts by China and Brazil to end the war, questioning why the pair were proposing an alternative to his peace formula.
Proposing "alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles" would give Putin the political space to continue the war, he said.
China has been trying to enlist developing nations to join the six-point peace plan it issued with Brazil in May.
Their proposal calls for an international peace conference "held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advocated for the plan when he addressed the General Assembly on September 24.
"Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," Zelenskiy told the 193-member assembly.
"When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices -- with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa -- saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises, what is the true interest? Everyone must understand, you will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense," he said.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
The Ukrainian president told the UN Security Council on September 24 that Russia can only be "forced" into peace, and denounced Iran and North Korea as "accomplices" who have helped Moscow by providing weapons it has used in attacks on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed: forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelenskiy said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 25 that Zelenskiy's stance was "a fatal mistake" that would have grave repercussions for Ukraine.
"A position based on an attempt to force Russia into peace is an absolutely fatal mistake, because it is impossible to force Russia into peace," Peskov said in a call with reporters.
"This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime."
Details about Zelenskiy's victory plan remain unknown, but he said the blueprint will be a "bridge" toward ending the conflict.
Media reports say the plan will ask for stepped-up U.S. military and financial backing and security guarantees, as well as further sanctions on Russia.
The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has said the main security guarantee that Kyiv wants is NATO membership, a demand Kyiv has been advancing for years but which has been met with skepticism by the West, including Washington.
Zelenskiy has also indicated he will again seek permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia, a move Ukraine's allies are divided upon.
WATCH" Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Entire Speech At The UNGA
On September 24, he called on Washington to take "decisive" action to bring the end of the war closer. In a meeting with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, Zelenskiy voiced Kyiv's gratitude for what he called Washington's unwavering support for Kyiv and highlighting the critical U.S. role in defending Ukraine's freedom.
"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our victory plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the meeting.
"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said.
Even without the details of Zelenskiy's plan, some of Ukraine's most stalwart Western allies have pointed to the need to find a compromise solution to the conflict.
Czech President Petr Pavel, whose country has been one of Kyiv's strongest backers and the driving force behind a multibillion-dollar program known as the Czech Ammunition Initiative that has provided Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, told The New York Times in an interview published on September 23 that Ukrainians "will have to be realistic" about their chances of recovering all territories occupied by Russia.
"To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen," the newspaper quoted Pavel as saying. "So the end will be somewhere in between."
Pavel added that Ukrainians also need to be "realistic about the support that they can achieve" from allies who are increasingly under domestic pressure to scale back help against Russia after more than 2 1/2 years of war.
Kyiv, which has around a fifth of its territory occupied by Russia, has repeatedly opposed such a possibility.
"There can be no half-hearted solutions when it comes to human lives, freedom, common values, justice for Russian crimes, restoration of international peace, and security," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a post on Telegram after Pavel's interview was published.
"Temporary solutions will not restore full-fledged peace but will only postpone war."
Kharkiv Glide Bomb Aftermath Highlights Horror Of Ukraine War
Zelenskiy's diplomatic offensive came as Russia stepped up its strikes on Ukraine. On September 25, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 28 drones and four missiles launched by Russia at 10 regions, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram.
Russian drones and missiles were downed over the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson. Four more drones were "locally lost" in several regions of Ukraine, the statement said.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on the Donetsk stronghold of Vuhledar as they seek access to the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, some 80 kilometers to the north.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said on September 25 that fighting was ongoing in Vuhledar, although the Ukrainian military said the city was not yet surrounded by Russian forces.
Moscow's advances in the east appear to be the fastest over the past two years, despite a shock Ukrainian counteroffensive into Russia's Kursk region last month.
- By Reuters
Trump Briefed On Alleged Assassination Threats By Iran, His Campaign Says
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was briefed on September 24 by U.S. intelligence officials on alleged threats from Iran to assassinate him, Trump's campaign said in a statement. The campaign said intelligence officials have identified that Iranian threats have "heightened in the past few months" and U.S. government officials were working to protect Trump and ensure the elections were not impacted. Iran has previously denied U.S. claims of interfering in American affairs. Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York did not respond to a request for comment late on September 24.
Kosovo Says Indictments Ignore Serbian Role In Deadly Siege
Senior Kosovo officials on September 24 honored an ethnic Albanian policeman killed by a commando-style group of armed Serbs last year in northern Kosovo, while the country's interior minister said on the eve of a trial for suspects in the attack that the indictments were "incomplete" because they ignored official Serbian involvement.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said during a visit to the slain police sergeant's hometown that Serbia "is responsible and must be held accountable" for what he and other officials have described as a "terrorist" attack.
Belgrade has denied involvement in the ambush by dozens of heavily armed paramilitary gunmen near the Serbian Orthodox Banjska Monastery complex in September 2023 that killed the policeman and injured another. Three gunmen were killed before the group escaped into rugged terrain near the Kosovo-Serbia border.
The incident alarmed observers already concerned about stalled normalization efforts and escalating tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs are in the majority in four northern regions along the mutual border.
A trial is scheduled to begin in Kosovo on September 25 of the group's alleged ringleader, fugitive former Kosovar Serb politician Milan Radoicic, and 44 unnamed subjects of indictments announced earlier this month.
Serbian officials have said Radoicic confessed his involvement last October and is complying with court reporting requirements, but they are continuing their own investigation. They say any legal process will take place "before domestic courts" and categorically reject extradition.
Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told RFE/RL in an extensive interview that the Banjska indictments were "late but also incomplete, since we know that there were somewhere around 100 terrorists directly involved in this attack…[and] organization and support from the institutions of Serbia has been evident."
Svecla insisted there is "indisputable evidence" that the Banjska attackers trained at an official Serbian Army barracks in Pasulanske Livade, about 100 kilometers from the Kosovar border.
Kurti has led a sweeping crackdown on the unofficial ties that have kept tens of thousands of Serbs in northern Kosovo heavily dependent on Belgrade, including use of the Serbian dinar, banks, and post offices.
The United States and European Union have repeatedly criticized Kosovar government actions over the past 18 months as "uncoordinated," "unilateral," and a potential obstacle to progress on decade-long talks to normalize the Balkan countries' relations.
In remarks as he dedicated a local road to the late policeman, Kurti accused Western officials of "appeasement" toward Belgrade out of "caution or fear" of actions by Russia with which Belgrade has maintained trade and diplomatic relations despite unprecedented U.S. and EU sanctions since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kurti added that "there are no more internal sources of insecurity or instability that we can't control or manage."
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said the Banjska incident was "not terrorism at all."
Serbia's Higher Public Prosecutor's Office told RFE/RL that its investigation into the Banjska events was not complete, but it is treating Radoicic as a suspect in three crimes, including endangering security and weapons charges.
Pristina says Belgrade has ignored its request for Radoicic's handover despite an Interpol warrant issued at its request in December.
Radoicic is a former vice president of the Serbian List party that dominates political life and many parallel institutions for ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo. He resigned from that post and relinquished control of a Serbian business around the time he was said in October to have acknowledged responsibility for the Banjska incident under questioning by Serbian authorities.
The United States imposed sanctions on Radoicic and several associates in 2021 for alleged corruption and their suspected involvement in the 2018 murder of Kosovar Serb businessman and Serbian List critic Oliver Ivanovic.
Kurti has alleged that Radoicic has held multiple meetings with Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA) in the past year.
The U.S. State Department has urged Serbia to hold all participants in the deadly attack accountable.
Trump's Son Meets Serbian Businessmen In Belgrade To Discuss Investment
Donald Trump Jr., son of Republican U.S. presidential candidate and ex-President Donald Trump, met with Serbian businessmen at a dinner to discuss the prospect of investments in Serbia. Slavko Caric, former chairman of the executive board of Erste Bank, confirmed to RFE/RL that he attended the dinner, held in Belgrade on September 23. The main topic was "investments and the attractiveness of the business environment in the region and Serbia from the perspective of U.S. investors," Caric said. He added that the discussion also covered the similarities and differences between investing in Southeastern Europe and the United States and "the advantages of this region and how to fully realize the potential for mutual business cooperation."
- By RFE/RL
Biden Tells UN Assembly That Putin Has 'Failed' In Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a blunt message to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 24, telling the gathering that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine had "failed at its core aim," and he urged members of the world body meeting to continue supporting Kyiv.
Putin "set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free," Biden said in his last address as U.S. president to the annual UNGA in New York City.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
"The world has to choose whether to sustain support for Ukraine or walk away from that aggression. My answer is we will not let up on our support for Ukraine," Biden said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was among the leaders present as Biden spoke, previously called for the UNGA to discuss Russia's attacks on his country.
"We just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future. We need Russia to end this criminal and unprovoked aggression that violates all global rules," Zelenskiy said.
Biden also spoke about the war in Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, to finalize a cease-fire proposal that Washington has worked on for months with partner countries in the region.
"Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms," he said of the deal brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.
Biden said the world "must not flinch from the horrors of October 7" -- the date that Hamas raided southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, who Biden said are "going through hell" along with innocent civilians in Gaza.
But at the same time it must recognize that the deal put forth by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt will "bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza free from Hamas's grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war.
He also warned against "full-scale war" in Lebanon, where hostilities have shifted and where hundreds of people were killed the day before in Israeli strikes aimed at rooting out militants belonging to Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and their ammunition stocks.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said, also stressing that the UN must work to ensure that Iran "will never, ever obtain a nuclear weapon."
Biden, 81, who in July decided against seeking a second term as president, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, struck a note of optimism during his speech.
He said he had seen much despair in the world over his time as a U.S. senator, vice president, and president, but the world has the capacity for reconciliation.
"There will always be forces pulling us apart," he said. "Our test is that the forces that are holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart."
Belarus Reeducating Ukrainian Children Into 'Enemies Of Their Own People,' Report Says
Rights groups have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Belarus and Russia, saying they have proof that hundreds of Ukrainian children were forcibly taken to Belarus during Russia's full-scale invasion and are being "reeducated" to turn against their homeland.
The Ukraine-based Zmina human rights center said on September 23 that its experts, along with colleagues from Freedom House and Ukraine's Regional Human Rights Center, filed a report with The Hague-based court documenting the "political indoctrination and military reeducation of Ukrainian children on the territory of Belarus."
The groups said documents and exclusive data confirm the "participation of Belarusian agents in the eradication of the Ukrainian ethnic identity of children, turning them into enemies of their own people."
The report says 18 entities in Belarus were identified as being involved in exposing at least 2,219 Ukrainian children aged 6 and older to forms of "discriminatory pressure."
Russia has come under heavy criticism for transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant in March 2023 for President Vladimir Putin over the issue.
Earlier this year, evidence gathered by RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, found similar evidence to the report from the rights groups on September 23.
RFE/RL found that Belarus was organizing "vacations" for children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine where the children were taught to identify with concepts that both Moscow and Minsk promote.
According to the United Nations, Russian agents have taken at least 19,546 children to that country from Ukraine since February 18, 2022.
The report by the rights groups also gives a detailed look at the financing and ways the "reeducation program" was being implemented.
The rights organizations said the "indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children" carried "elements of crimes against humanity."
Zmina did not disclose the identities of the Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian citizens implicated in the crimes.
The authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, said last week while speaking with the Russian-installed leader of occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk region that Ukrainian children in Belarus "are provided with medical treatment and resting."
Jailed Belarusian Activists Reportedly Worked On German Lawmaker's Plantations
Belarusian activists jailed by Minsk on administrative charges in 2020 were sent to work at onion plantations belonging to a company led by a German lawmaker who belongs to the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party, an investigation by Reform.news revealed. According to the report, jailed Belarusians were paid five euros ($5.60) per day on a voluntary basis to work in the fields in the western Belarusian district of Lida. One of the activists told Reform.news that the German lawmaker, Jorg Dornau, who represents a district in the state of Saxony, visited the plantations to check the activists' work. Dornau has not commented on the investigative report. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Pezeshkian Says Tehran Ready To Cooperate To End Nuclear Standoff
Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian has told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Iran is ready to end its nuclear standoff with the West and called for an end to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East through dialogue.
"We are ready to engage with JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) participants if JCPOA commitments are implemented fully and in good faith. Dialogue on other issues can follow," Pezeshkian said in his first address to the annual gathering on September 24.
Pezeshkian, who was sworn in as president in July after being elected following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, has previously said Tehran would be open to holding talks with the United States to restart the 2015 nuclear deal.
President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally pulled the United States out of the deal, which was also signed by China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany, and the European Union, and reimposed crippling financial sanctions against Tehran.
President Joe Biden has sought to restart the agreement, but Washington and Tehran have disagreed on terms.
Pezeshkian said Iran hoped to see an easing of sanctions, which he called "destructive and inhumane weapons designed to cripple a nation's economy."
He called for a new global paradigm that focuses on opportunities "rather than being obsessed with perceived threats," saying there is an opportunity to transcend limitations and enter a new era.
"This era will commence with the acknowledgement of Iran's security concerns and cooperation on mutual challenges," he said.
Relations between Iran and the West have worsened since the Iranian-backed Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and as Tehran has increased its support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
But Pezeshkian emphasized in his UNGA speech that Iran wants "peace for all and seek[s] no war or quarrel with anyone" and the urgent need to end military hostilities in Ukraine.
"We support all peaceful solutions and believe that dialogue is the only way to resolve this crisis," he said.
Pezeshkian also sharply criticized Israel for what he called "its genocide in Gaza" and said it should stop immediately.
"It is imperative that the international community should immediately...secure a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon before it engulfs the region and the world," he said.
Pezeshkian earlier warned that Israel's air campaign in response to attacks by Hezbollah -- designated as a terrorist organization by the United States -- on its territory from southern Lebanon "may turn into a regional war."
Pezeshkian told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired on September 23 that Iran is supporting Hezbollah because the group "cannot stand alone" in the face of the attacks.
"The danger does exist that the fire of events that are taking place [in Lebanon] will expand to the entire region," he said in the interview, given in Persian and translated into English.
Iran has long been Hezbollah's main sponsor.
'Russia's New Elite'? Perm Region Elects Ex-Wagner Fighter Amid Crime Surge
A former Wagner mercenary who fought for Russia in Ukraine has been elected speaker of a local parliament in the Perm region amid controversy over hundreds of reports about crimes committed by returning members of the group.
The head of the Krasnovishersk city district, Yevgeny Vereshchagin, said on September 24 that Mikhail Ostryansky had been voted in as the chairman of the district’s parliament.
The result appears to hand Ostryansky, a 65-year-old former police officer, the highest position currently held by a returning soldier since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said those fighting in Ukraine must become "Russia's new elite" and allowed to occupy state posts.
General elections in early September saw more than 300 people who have taken part in Russia's aggression against Ukraine elected as lawmakers across the country. The majority of them were elected via lists of the ruling United Russia party.
But the reintegration of hundreds of soldiers -- many of whom joined the war as part of a deal to have their prison sentences commuted -- has proven problematic.
Hundreds of cases of violent crimes, including murders and sexual attacks, have been committed by former Wagner mercenaries and other military personnel after returning from the war in Ukraine.
Courts in Russia tend to hand mitigated sentences to such people, citing their "patriotism" and "contributions" they made to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Wagner's late leader and founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in late June 2023 that 32,000 former inmates recruited by his group from prison had returned home after being granted clemency as part of their remuneration for fighting in Ukraine.
In October 2023, the presidential administration urged state-run media outlets to refrain from covering crimes committed by individuals who returned from the war in Ukraine.
In January, amid the increasing number of crimes committed by participants in the Ukrainian conflict, Putin ended the practice of exonerating people recruited to the war from prisons.
Such people instead were officially granted "a release on parole," while their criminal records not cleared.
With reporting by The Moscow Times
Iranian Hackers Behind Attack Urging Revenge For Koran Burnings, Sweden Says
Iran's security service was behind a special operation against targets in Sweden, the Nordic country's Prosecutor's Office said.
The operation saw hackers send thousands of text messages to Swedes calling for revenge over 2023 burnings of the Koran, according to the Prosecutor's Office.
Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement on September 24 that a preliminary investigation showed "it was the Iranian state via the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), that carried out a data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major SMS service."
He added that investigators were able to establish the identities of the Iranian hackers who carried out the data breach.
"The aim was to further tighten the situation and increase the conflict that prevailed between different groups in society," Ljungqvist said, adding that while the conditions for prosecution abroad or extradition to Sweden "are lacking" for those suspected of being behind the breach, the case can be reopened.
It "does not mean that the suspected hackers have been completely written off. As long as the crime is not time-barred, prosecutors can open the preliminary investigation again," Ljungqvist said.
The Iranian Embassy in Stockholm said that the accusations and the act of publishing them "poison and affect the atmosphere of bilateral relations."
The embassy "considers the accusations to be baseless and rejects them," Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted the embassy as saying.
Sweden last summer saw a series of Koran burnings that sparked massive unrest and strained relations between Stockholm and several Middle Eastern countries.
While the Swedish government officially condemned the burnings of a book Muslims consider as the sacred word of God, lawmakers also said they could not stop the actions as they were protected by freedom of speech and assembly laws.
The issue also delayed Sweden's entry to NATO as Turkey raised objections saying it was "unacceptable to allow anti-Islam protests in the name of freedom of expression."
Swedish prosecutors said a group calling itself the Anzu team was the sender of the 15,000 text messages sent to Swedes that called for revenge against Koran burners.
They did not identify the Swedish company that runs the SMS text service.
Russia Can Only Be Forced Into Peace, Zelenskiy Tells UN Security Council
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the United Nations Security Council on September 24 that Russia can only be "forced" into peace, and denounced Iran and North Korea as "accomplices" who have helped Moscow by providing weapons it has used in attacks on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed -- forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said the idea of talking with Putin would be "insanity" as he also criticized Russia for making Iran and North Korea "de facto accomplices in its criminal war in Europe, with their weapons killing us, killing Ukrainians."
Before the meeting, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that the Russian delegation did not intend to listen to "cloned speeches" criticizing Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine. But Nebenzya did not leave the hall during Zelenskiy's speech.
Zelenskiy earlier on September 24 called on Washington to take "decisive" action to bring the end of the war closer as Russia launched a fresh series of strikes on Ukraine's second-largest city, killing three people.
"The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people," Zelenskiy said on X. "Russia is a terrorist, and it proves this every day with its own actions, with its choice to wage war, and attempts to expand it."
He posted a picture showing the severely damaged facade of a nine-story apartment building and debris strewn across the street. He said at least three people were killed and 24 injured.
Earlier, regional officials said one man was killed and six were wounded, including two children, by "massive" Russian air strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya late on September 23.
Zelenskiy, who is in the United States for the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), met with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, voicing Kyiv's gratitude for what he called Washington's unwavering support for Kyiv and highlighting the critical U.S. role in defending Ukraine's freedom.
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The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Russia.
During his meeting with Senators Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Dan Sullivan (Republican-Alaska); Christopher Murphy (Democrat-Connecticut); and Representative Gregory Meeks (Democrat-New York), Zelenskiy said he informed the U.S. lawmakers about the current situation of the conflict and Russia's moves.
"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our Victory Plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the meeting.
"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said.
Zelenskiy, who is due to speak at the UNGA on September 25 and then hold talks with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol on September 26, also held bilateral meetings on the sidelines with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
In an interview with ABC News due to be released in full on September 24, Zelenskiy said that only a "strong position" would allow Ukraine to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin "to stop the war."
"I think that we are closer to the peace than we think," Zelenskiy was quoted as saying in excerpts from the interview. "We are closer to the end of the war."
Although Russia occupies some 20 percent of Ukraine's territory and has been advancing toward the strategically important hub of Pokrovsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, Kyiv has taken Moscow by surprise, launching an incursion into Russia's western Kursk region last month and seizing dozens of villages on Russian soil.
The Kursk incursion, Zelenskiy told ABC, exposed Putin's precarious position.
"He's afraid very much," Zelenskiy said. "Why? Because his people saw that he can't defend -- that he can't defend all his territory."
Russia, however, has kept pounding Ukraine with dozens of drones and missiles.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 66 of the 81 drones launched by Russia at eight regions on September 24, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Telegram, adding that Moscow also fired four missiles during the early morning attack.
The Russian strikes targeted the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Vinnytsya, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, and Mykolayiv regions, the air force said. Separately, regional authorities in the eastern region of Poltava said the Russian attack damaged energy infrastructure.
Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions.
Russia Strikes 8 Ukrainian Regions With 85 Drones, Missiles
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 66 of the 81 drones launched by Russia at 8 regions on September 24, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Telegram, adding that Moscow also used four missiles during the early morning attack. The Russian strikes targeted the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Vinnytsya, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, and Mykolayiv regions, the air force said. Separately, regional authorities in the eastern region of Poltava said the Russian attack damaged energy infrastructure. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions.
Student Activists Injured In Attack At University In Novi Sad
NOVI SAD, Serbia -- Two students at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad in Serbia were injured on September 23 by unknown assailants when they gathered outside the university’s rectorate to oppose the handling of elections to the student parliament.
The two injured students, Mila Pajic and Srdjan Djuric, are affiliated with the informal group Students Against Authoritarian Rule (STAV). They said they were attacked by a group of men dressed in black early in the morning in front of the rectorate building.
The incident occurred as the students and activists voiced opposition to the second round of elections for the student parliament. The STAV group considers the elections illegitimate because only one candidate list is running and because the elections are being held at the rectorate instead of at the Faculty of Philosophy, where the faculty's statute and regulations says they should be held.
Despite the incident on September 23, the elections proceeded as scheduled.
The university has not yet issued a statement on the incident, and it remains unclear when the results will be announced. The first round of voting occurred in April. There were also reports of physical confrontations between two student groups that demonstrated outside the rectorate in May.
Attempts to conduct elections for the student parliament at the Faculty of Philosophy have been prevented multiple times by a group of students demanding changes to the regulations governing the election. They argue that the current rules do not allow for equal participation among all candidates. Currently, only registered student organizations are eligible to run.
Among their demands are rule changes to allow multiple candidate lists and informal student groups to run.
Eligible voters can currently only support one list, which consists of candidates from the Student Alliance, a group that has dominated the student parliament at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad for years.
The students also claimed that authorities, including people associated with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, were involved in efforts to disrupt their movement.
Pajic said the most recent incident started around 5 a.m. when she and the other activists noticed "figures sneaking behind the Rectorate through the bushes wearing caps, black masks, gloves, and dressed entirely in black."
She said she managed to record what was happening, and “that's when they threw some kind of explosive device at us, and we ran."
Djuric told reporters that around 30 young men dressed in black approached the group gathered outside the rectorate.
"They threw an explosive device at our feet, then started pushing and hitting us. They even assaulted a police officer," Djuric said.
"We suspect the attackers were part of private security already stationed inside the rectorate. When we reached the entrance with the police officer, he too was injured in the scuffle. I was kicked in the thigh, and my colleague Srdjan suffered a knee injury,” Pajic said, describing the injuries as minor.
The Serbian Internal Affairs Ministry told RFE/RL that their officials are investigating together with the prosecutor's office in Novi Sad. The case has been classified as a disturbance of public order, according to the Police Department.
A group of professors and associates at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad strongly condemned the violence against their students. They urged the administration to find a solution that would satisfy all students.
NOTE: This article has been amended to correct a mistaken reference to Novi Sad as a city in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Iranian Authorities Confirm 38 Dead In Coal Mine Blast, 14 Still Missing
Iranian authorities on September 23 updated the death toll in a mining explosion to 38, with 14 others still trapped within the mine.
The new death toll was lower that the 51 reported dead on September 22, a day after a coal mine in eastern Iran exploded. Iranian state TV said a methane leak caused the blast late on September 21 at the mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tehran.
The efforts to rescue those trapped are proving difficult due to high levels of methane still present throughout the mine, according to Javad Ghenaat, governor of South Khorasan, the province where Tabas is located.
"The concentration of gas in the tunnel of block C is very high, especially at the end of the mine, which has slowed down the rescue and evacuation operations, but continuous work is being done to reach the workshop," Ghenaat said.
Iranian Interior Minister Iskandar Momeni said on September 22 that rescue forces were "400 meters away" from those still trapped within the mine.
An investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the incident, according to Iranian authorities. The prosecutor of South Khorasan, Ali Nesai Zahan, announced that an investigation was under way. He also said no one was yet arrested in connection to the incident, and that authorities are awaiting expert opinion to better understand the cause of the explosion.
The explosion has led to the announcement of three days of public morning in South Khorasan, with senior officials from across the country going to Tabas to offer their condolences.
Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for mining accidents. Last year, an explosion at a coal mine in the northern city of Damghan killed six people, and in May 2021 two more died at the same site due to a collapse.
Kazakhstan Says Second-Largest Lender Is Compliant With Sanctions Despite Critical Report
ALMATY -- Kazakhstan has defended the country's second-largest lender as being "fully" compliant with sanctions against Russia after a scathing report saw around 20 percent wiped off the Nasdaq-listed Kaspi.kz's stock price.
A September 19 report published by Culper Research poured doubt on the claim by fintech giant Kaspi that it lacks exposure to sanctions-struck Russia and raised concerns about the group's past affiliations to a relative of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev who was convicted by a Kazakh court of major embezzlement in 2022.
In a September 19 statement, Kaspi.kz called Culper's report "misleading" and "inaccurate."
The report, Kaspi.kz (KSPI): The NASDAQ-Listed Fintech Moving Money For Criminals And Kleptocrats, focused on Kaspi.kz's issuance of bank cards to Russians, tens of thousands of whom arrived in Kazakhstan in the wake of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"As the U.S. and other nations continue to broaden sanctions against those found to be aiding Russia's wartime economy, we believe Kaspi now risks secondary sanctions," the report warned, justifying its "short" position on the company.
Kaspi.kz is widely viewed as a success story in Kazakhstan, going from a relatively obscure bank to the country's leader in mobile payments and online marketplace services in some 20 years.
In a September 23 statement, Kazakhstan's Agency for Regulation and Development of Financial Markets called Kaspi "one of the country's systemically important and steadily developing banks, demonstrating sustainable growth and a high level of transparency."
"The bank fully complies with the sanctions regime of the U.S., the European Union, and other foreign countries," the agency said, referring to the sanctions imposed on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The main shareholders in Kaspi.kz are Kazakh billionaire Vyacheslav Kim, Georgia-born Mikheil Lomtadze, and Baring Funds, part of a Commonwealth of Independent States-focused private equity investor.
Kaspi.kz listed in 2020 on the London Stock Exchange to become the its largest international tech public offering that year.
In January it joined the Nasdaq in an initial public offering that saw the business valued at $17.5 billion.
"Being the first company from Kazakhstan to successfully list on Nasdaq has obviously raised our profile amongst short sellers," Kaspi.kz said in its statement.
Nazarbaev's nephew, Qairat Satybaldy, who once held a stake of around 30 percent in Kaspi, exited the company prior to the successful listings.
In August, Lomtadze, who is CEO of Kaspi.kz, declared the company's intention to compete in the forthcoming privatization of Humo, neighboring Uzbekistan's state-backed payment system.
In May, Lomtadze was revealed as the new owner of Wycombe Wanderers, a third-tier English soccer club.
Punishment For 'Russophobia' To Be Added To Russian Criminal Code
Russian authorities plan to amend the Criminal Code by adding punishment for "Russophobia," defined as discrimination against Russian citizens and residents of the Russian Federation by foreigners and foreign officials abroad or calls for such actions.
The Interfax news agency reported on September 23 that it obtained a government document approving a draft law outlined by a group of lawmakers under which the trials of individuals charged with Russophobia can be held in absentia.
The Cabinet approved the draft but said the punishment for persons convicted of Russophobia should be revised.
The draft law says the punishment for Russophobia must be the "barring of convicted individuals from occupying certain posts and conducting certain activities in Russia."
However, the government said such a punishment does not make sense since it would affect individuals residing outside Russia.
The new article in the Criminal Code envisioning punishment for Russophobia will target only cases of Russophobia abroad. The document does not specify what is considered discrimination of Russian citizens and residents of the Russian Federation.
In recent years, especially after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have accused Western officials of what they called Russophobia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly cited what he has called "cancellation of the Russian culture" in the West.
Some Russian authorities, including the Foreign Ministry, have called Western sanctions imposed on Russian officials and entities over Moscow's full-scale aggression against Ukraine an "expression of Russophobia."
The term Russophobia was first introduced by Russian poet and diplomat Fyodor Tyutchev in the 19th century to describe pro-Western Russian liberals.
Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University, during his presentation at the UN Security Council in March 2023 described the term Russophobia as a tool used by modern Russia to justify its armed forces’ alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Telegram To Disclose Phones, IP Addresses At Authorities' Requests
Telegram will disclose users' phones and IP addresses to authorities at their requests, the messenger app's founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, said on September 23.
"To further deter criminals from abusing Telegram Search, we have updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, ensuring they are consistent across the world. We’ve made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules can be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests," Durov wrote on Telegram.
"Over the last few weeks, a dedicated team of moderators, leveraging AI, has made Telegram Search much safer. All the problematic content we identified in Search is no longer accessible," Durov wrote.
Durov, a native of Russia, was detained in Paris last month and later released on a $5.5 million bail for alleged "complicity in the administration of an online platform to allow an illicit transaction, in an organized gang."
French prosecutors accuse the 39-year-old Durov of complicity in allowing drug trafficking and the sharing of sexual images of children on Telegram, and of refusing to share documents demanded by authorities investigating illegal activity on the app.
After his release on bail, Durov -- who has citizenship in France as well as Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean archipelago of St. Kitts and Nevis -- said in early September that his arrest was "misguided."
He acknowledged then that Telegram was "not perfect" and that "growing pains" had "made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform," but Durov said the app was driven by the "intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly where these rights are violated."
Last week, the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity of Ukraine, the country that has been fighting Russia's invasion since February 2022, banned the use of the Telegram for state officials, military personnel, and employees of key infrastructure, citing security issues.
- By Current Time
Russian Women Face Pressure After Demanding Return Of Husbands, Sons From Ukraine
At least two of around 20 wives and mothers of mobilized Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have been charged with holding an unsanctioned public event after their weekend rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Moscow to demand their men be returned home.
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The women were summoned to a police station and questioned after unfurling banners with their demands.
Two of them, Anna Bogatchenko and Anastasia Slavik, were charged, reported OVD-Info, which monitors rights abuses in Russia.
The protest in the Russian capital on September 21 coincided with the date two years ago when President Vladimir Putin signed a decree calling up men to what Russian officials call the "special military operation" in Ukraine.
The women demanded a meeting with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and the demobilization of their loved ones.
After the women said they would camp out in front of the ministry building overnight, police forcibly dispersed them, briefly detaining some of them.
In October 2022, Putin announced the partial mobilization was over, but never signed a corresponding decree, publicly saying that there was no need for that.
He later announced that the mobilized men would remain in the armed forces until the end of the conflict.
The absence of a decree ending the partial mobilization allows the authorities to keep the men deployed in Ukraine as the legal regime continues to be in force.
After Putin announced the mobilization two years ago, hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens left the country, mostly for Kazakhstan, Georgia, Mongolia, and Turkey, to evade being called up.
The invasion of Ukraine has been a disaster for Russia, taking the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, dragging down the county's economy, and ruining relations with the West.
Putin has outlawed criticism of the war and the armed forces to crush any opposition.
With reporting by OVD-Info
- By RFE/RL
Two Russians, American Return To Earth From ISS
Two Russians and an American returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on September 23. The Soyuz capsule carrying them landed on the Kazakh steppe about 3 1/2 hours after undocking from the ISS, Russia's Roskosmos space agency announced. Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub returned after 374 days aboard the space station, the longest continuous stay there. Also in the capsule was American Tracy Dyson, who was in the space station for six months. Eight astronauts remain on the space station, including Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived in June as the first crew from Boeing’s new Starliner capsule. But their trip was marred by problems, and NASA decided it was too risky to return them on Starliner. The two astronauts will ride home with SpaceX next year.
Iranian Grammy Winner Says Security Case Against Him Dropped
Grammy Award winner Shervin Hajipour, who was facing a prison sentence for creating the viral song Baraye, said on September 23 that his case had been closed and he'd been granted amnesty. In a social media post announcing the news, Hajipour expressed hope that his generation would be able to "live the life it deserves." An Iranian court in March sentenced the 27-year-old to three years and eight months in prison for "inciting unrest against national security" and "spreading propaganda against the regime." He was also ordered to write a song about U.S. "atrocities." The song Baraye became the anthem of the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in Iran that followed the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly improperly wearing a head scarf. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.
- By Current Time
Ukrainian Jailed For Espionage In Russian-Occupied Crimea
The Supreme Court in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea region said on September 23 that it sentenced a Ukrainian citizen identified as M. Seleznov to 14 years in prison for espionage. The Mediazona website identified the man as Mykhaylo Seleznov, whose trial was initially held in Russia's Sverdlovsk region in March and later transferred to Crimea. Seleznov was found guilty of collecting data about Russian military equipment in the partially occupied region of Zaporizhzhya for Ukrainian intelligence. It is not known how Seleznov pleaded. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.
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