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Lithuania Celebrates Restoration Of Independence
Lithuania is celebrating the restoration of its independence on February 16, with leaders in the Baltic nation saying the country will defend itself amid growing threats in the region.
It is 98 years since Lithuania's independence was restored, shortly after the end of the World War I during which the country was occupied by Germany.
"If Lithuania needs to defend itself again, we will not be alone as we were in some fatal historical moments," Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said in a televised address.
The former Soviet republic has expressed growing concern over Russia's actions in neighboring Ukraine and an apparent increase in Russian military activities close to its borders.
The Baltic states -- Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia -- officially call their time within the Soviet Union a "Soviet occupation" and all have since joined both the European Union and NATO.
Based on reporting by the Baltic Times and Xinhua
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- By RFE/RL
Astana Hosts Sixth Consultative Meeting Of Central Asian Leaders
The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan convened in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on August 9 to hold the sixth consultative meeting of the leaders of Central Asian states, the Kazakh president's office said.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev greeted his counterparts and stressed that the regular meetings of the regional leaders indicate the Central Asian states' commitment to strengthen "centuries-long ties of friendship and further develop cooperation between the neighboring nations."
Toqaev said thanks to the five countries' joint efforts "enormous progress has been achieved" in developing the meetings since the first such gathering was held in 2018 in Astana.
"The results of the previous five meetings, at which important agreements were concluded, clearly demonstrate that," he said.
Toqaev also called on his colleagues to take into account global challenges when reaching mutual agreements on the Central Asian region's further development.
Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Serdar Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan arrived in Astana on August 8.
The presidents signed several documents, including a joint statement on the results and the Central Asia -- 2040 development concept, outlining the priorities for regional convergence, primarily aimed at expanding five-party interaction and strengthening Central Asia's international subjectivity.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Kakha Imnadze, head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, attended the meeting as guests.
Kazakh Businessman Convicted In Banker's Murder Case Gets Early Release
The Qonaev City Court in Kazakhstan's southeast said on August 9 that businessman Muratkhan Toqmadi, who was sentenced in 2018 to a lengthy prison term for his alleged involvement in the killing of a banker, has been granted early release.
Kazakh media reports quoted sources on August 9 as saying that Toqmadi was expected to be released on August 10 -- the day a court decision made in late July will come into force.
The announcement came almost 2 1/2 years after Toqmadi called on President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to review his case after he retracted his testimony against Mukhtar Ablyazov, a fugitive outspoken critic of Kazakhstan's government and former banker.
In a letter made public in March 2022, Toqmadi said he confessed to the killing of Erzhan Tatishev on a hunting trip in 2004 and falsely testified in 2018 that he killed Tatishev at the behest of Ablyazov because he was tortured and faced psychological pressure imposed on him by the National Security Committee.
Tatishev at the time was the head of TuranAlem bank, which was later renamed BTA. After Tatishev's death, which was ruled an accident at the time, Ablyazov became the bank's chief. He has been living abroad since 2009.
It remains unclear if Toqmadi was granted an early release because he had served a significant part of his term and used his right to apply for early release or because his case was revised.
Toqmadi’s letter to Toqaev came after deadly unrest in January that resulted in the removal of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his clan from the political scene.
In February 2018, Toqmadi, who was initially sentenced in 2017 to three years in prison for extortion and illegal firearms possession, entered a guilty plea at the murder trial, which ended with him being sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison.
In November that year, Ablyazov was tried in absentia, convicted of murder based on Toqmadi's testimony, and sentenced to life in prison.
In a separate trial in absentia that ended in 2017, Ablyazov was convicted of embezzlement, abuse of office, and organizing a criminal group and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ablyazov has denied all the charges, saying they are politically motivated.
With reporting by KazTAG, Tengrinews, and Aq Zhaiyq
- By Reuters
U.S. Joins Britain, Other Countries In Issuing New Sanctions On Belarus On Anniversary Of 2020 Election
The United States and Britain unveiled new sanctions against Belarus on August 9 to mark the fourth anniversary of the country's disputed presidential election that returned authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka to power.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 19 people and 14 companies involved in supporting Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine by producing resources used by the military, shipping goods to Russia, evading sanctions, and generating revenue for Belarusian oligarchs in Lukashenka’s inner circle.
It also took aim at Lukashenka’s “luxury airliner,” a Boeing-767-300 owned by the Belarusian government that the Treasury Department said he uses “professionally and for his personal leisure.”
Paval Latushka, head of the People's Anti-Crisis Directorate, said the sanctions meant the plane is barred from maintenance by authorized Boeing service providers, and this will create problems if it tries to land at airports outside Belarus.
Bradley Smith, the Treasury Department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement that the sanctions were in response to the regime's "blatantly corrupt, destabilizing, and anti-democratic acts -- along with its continued support for Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine."
The U.S. designations followed fresh sanctions announced earlier on August 9 by Britain against four individuals and three businesses "in response to human rights violations and ongoing facilitation of Russia's illegal invasion in Ukraine."
The Foreign Office noted that it issued the sanctions on the anniversary of "the deeply flawed 2020 presidential elections in Belarus." It also noted that the action was taken in coordination with international partners and took the total number of sanctions imposed by Britain against Belarus to more than 200.
All four people sanctioned by Britain are present or former commanding officers of Belarusian prisons. The businesses sanctioned are involved in the country's defense and military sector.
The European Union targeted Belarusian authorities involved in human rights abuses earlier this week, and Canada on August 9 also announced additional sanctions on the Lukashenka regime.
The U.S. Treasury Department said that since the 2020 election, Lukashenka’s actions “have eroded Belarusian civil society and enabled Lukashenka, his family, and his inner circle to enrich themselves at the expense of Belarus’s citizens and sovereignty.”
It said the regime continues to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting Russian military bases and allowing Russian forces to use Belarus as a staging point for military operations, the department said.
Among the 14 entities designated by the U.S. is Laboratory of Additive Technologies, which the department said provides Russia with components for satellite communications systems and optical equipment.
Three other entities -- AlYurTekh, Diskoms, MOT, Grosver Grup, and Tochnaya Mekhanika -- were hit with sanctions for supporting what Washington said was a sanctions-evasion network supported by Peleng JSC, one of Russia’s most important industrial partners. Peleng was designated by for U.S. sanctions in December 2021.
Among the other entities are Aviakompania Rada and UE RubiStar, which the Treasury Department said are two private Belarusian cargo airline companies that have provided support to Russian defense activities, including transporting Wagner Group personnel to and from Africa.
The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets owned or controlled by the individuals and organizations. They also block financial transactions with those designated and prohibit the contribution of funds, goods, and services to them.
The U.S. State Department also took steps to impose visa restrictions on 19 regime officials and their affiliates for their involvement in undermining democracy in Belarus, the Treasury Department said.
Russian City Plans Military Parade To Mark Victory Over Japan In 1945
The acting governor of Russia's Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk, Dmitry Demeshin, said on August 9 that a military parade will be held next month in the region's capital, also called Khabarovsk, to mark the victory over Japan in 1945. It will be the first event of its kind to mark the date on September 3. Last year, Russia adopted a law on mentioning the victory over Japan at events related to the end of the World War II. The move came after Japan imposed sanctions on top Russian officials, their relatives, as well as on Russian banks and companies, over Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Death Toll In Supermarket Strike Rises To 12, Ukrainian Interior Ministry Says
The death toll from a Russian strike on a supermarket in Kostyantynivka, a town in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, has gone up to 12, the Interior Ministry in Kyiv announced, adding that dozens of people have been wounded.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strike amounted to a terrorist attack.
"Russian terrorists hit an ordinary supermarket and a post office. There are people under the rubble. A rescue operation is under way, and everything will be done to save them," Zelenskiy said on X.
"The number of dead in Kostyantynivka has increased to 12. It is also known about 44 wounded people," the ministry's press service said in a post on Telegram, adding that rescue teams were still working at the site of the strike.
Vadym Filashkin, the head of the regional military administration, wrote on Telegram that a Kh-38 missile had been used in the strike.
"This is another targeted strike on a place of gathering of people, another act of terror by the Russians," Filashkin wrote on an ealier post on Telegram.
Images from the scene showed black smoke rising over the smoldering remains of the supermarket.
Moscow's forces hold large areas of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian-held areas regularly come under Russian shelling and air strikes.
The region is one of the hottest areas of fighting as Russia targets places in the direction of the strategic eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Meanwhile, in Kherson, the Russian military attacked a civilian car with a drone, the press service of the regional military administration reported.
"Russian troops attacked a civilian car from a drone in the Dnipro district of Kherson. As a result of an enemy attack, a 29-year-old woman received an explosive injury and a shrapnel wound on her forearm," the press service said.
Earlier, local Ukrainian officials reported that six people had been killed in Russian attacks on four regions over the past 24 hours.
With reporting by Reuters
Russia Declares 'Federal Level' Emergency In Kursk Amid Ukrainian Incursion
Russia declared what it described as a "federal level" emergency on August 9 in the Kursk region, the site of a four-day incursion by Ukrainian forces. The announcement came hours after a Ukrainian military strike on an airfield there.
In response to the incursion, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on August 9 that it was transferring extra forces to the region, including Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery, and tanks, Interfax reported.
State-run media quickly reported on troops and armor being redeployed to Kursk, including video of Russian military on the move, much of it reposted on social media.
The cross-border action in Russia's Kursk region has been described as the biggest attack on Russian soil since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his country's unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
WATCH: Scenes of destruction in Russia's Kursk region continue to be shared online following a surprise cross-border incursion. Residents of the region shared videos that appear to show dead Russian soldiers among destroyed military vehicles scattered along a local road.
Much remains unclear, including the number of Ukrainian soldiers taking part, although the Russian military has claimed it involves some 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks.
Since the start of the incursion on August 6, Ukrainian troops have seized control of about 600 square kilometers of territory, and more than two dozen settlements, according to local officials, pro-war bloggers, and open-source intelligence reports.
Ukrainian officials have not officially confirmed the operation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address on August 8 that Russia needed to "feel" the consequences of its invasion.
"Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done," Zelenskiy said, without directly referring to the offensive.
The Ukrainian military said it had hit the airfield in the Lipetsk region of southern Russia overnight, damaging guided bomb stockpiles.
"Several sources of ignition were recorded, a large fire broke out and multiple detonations were observed," Kyiv's military said on the Telegram messaging app.
It said Russian Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft were based at the airfield.
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.
Earlier, official Russian media, including TASS, reported a fire at the military airfield in the Lipetsk region, which is west of the Kursk region, the site of the ongoing incursion. The reports gave no cause for the blaze.
Those reports came hours after regional Governor Igor Artamonov said on social media that Lipetsk had "been subjected to a massive UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack. He later added that a local power installation had been damaged and six people had been wounded.
Artamonov first urged residents to ignore calls on social media to evacuate, saying they were being “spread by the enemy in order to sow panic.” Hours later, he said a state of emergency had been declared in the Lipetsk district and that four outlying settlements of Lipetsk city had been ordered to evacuate.
Elsewhere, unconfirmed reports spoke of a Russian column having been destroyed in the Kursk region with many casualties. Video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be many burned-out military transport vehicles on the side of a road in or near the town of Rylsk.
Separately, the governor of the Russian-held city of Sevastopol on Ukraine's occupied Crimea Peninsula, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram that Russian forces destroyed three drones and three drone boats near the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a total of 75 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over Russia overnight, according to the RIA news agency, most of them over the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Rights Watchdog Concerned About Pressure Faced By Stand-Up Comedians In Kazakhstan
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concerns about the pressure faced by stand-up comedians over their performances in Kazakhstan.
In its statement on August 8, HRW said "the crackdown on freedom of expression, including prosecutions of comedians, should end."
In recent months, many stand-up comedians in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic complained about the situation following the jailing of two stand-up performers over their performances.
On July 26, stand-up comedian Aleksandr Merkul, who often tells jokes about the Central Asian nation's current government and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sentenced to 10 days in jail on a charge of hooliganism.
The charge stemmed from his performance in a restaurant in Astana in June, where he said, "Kazakhstan is new, poverty is old," presumably referring to "Zhana Qazaqstan" (New Kazakhstan), a slogan that is used regularly by President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.
Merkul, 31, was charged with swearing during the performance, a video of which went viral on the Internet. Merkul pleaded guilty.
Earlier in May, another Kazakh comedian, Nuraskhan Basqozhaev, was also sentenced to 15 days in jail on the same charge after he joked about the authorities' efforts to tackle floods in spring caused by an abrupt wave of warm weather that led to a massive snowmelt.
The HRW statement also said that imposing pressure on comedians appears to be part of a wider crackdown on free speech in Kazakhstan.
Noted Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, who has been known for his articles criticizing the government, was sentenced to seven years in prison on August 2 on charges of "financing extremist activities" and "participating in the activities of a banned extremist group." Mukhammedkarim and his supporters have rejected the charges as politically motivated.
"People in Kazakhstan should be able to express critical opinions and commentary, not least through satire, without fear of retribution. Freedom of expression is not absolute, but international human rights law sets clear boundaries on legitimate government measures to regulate it. Kazakhstan is acting well beyond those boundaries, and it is past time it starts respecting them," the HRW statement said.
Azerbaijani Opposition Leader Faces Criminal Charges
BAKU -- The chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (AXCP), Ali Karimli, said on August 9 that a criminal case had been filed against him on charges of slander and insult, which he called "a falsification" by the authorities.
Karimli added that he was summoned to a Baku court, which will hold a preliminary hearing in the case on August 13.
He said later that the case was based on a lawsuit filed by Aydin Aliyev, who was expelled from the AXCP in 2019, but had his membership restored by a court decision.
Karimli told journalists that he expected that the authorities will try to trump up some charges against him amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent.
"Twelve members of the AXCP are currently serving prison terms. Following our party's last congress (in June 2023), the authorities have intensified pressure against our party.... The same person [Aydin Aliyev] filed another lawsuit earlier that may lead to the AXCP's being shut down. And now, the same plaintiff targets me, filing a lawsuit against me," Karimli said.
Karimli has been under pressure from authorities for decades. In 1994 he had to fight a charge of illegally possessing explosives. Since 2006 he has been unable to travel internationally, as the authorities have refused to issue him a passport.
Also on August 9, political analyst Sahin Cafarli said he was officially banned from leaving the country over his links to the Toplum TV channel.
In March, nine staff members at Toplum TV and its affiliated Democratic Initiatives Institute were charged with smuggling foreign currency. Seven of them were arrested and two were placed under police supervision.
Cafarli, who used to work as a presenter at Toplum TV, has been summoned for police questioning several times since the arrests.
All nine suspects reject the charges, while human rights groups have recognized them as political prisoners and demanded that the authorities release them immediately and drop all charges.
Azerbaijani officials have insisted that there are no political prisoners in the tightly controlled country.
The president of the oil-rich South Caucasus state, Ilham Aliyev, has ruled with an iron fist since 2003 after taking over from his father, Heydar, who was president for a decade.
Former Bodyguard Of Ex-President Detained In Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security said on August 9 that Erkin Mambetaliev, a former bodyguard of ex-President Almazbek Atambaev was detained a day earlier on suspicion of being an active member of a criminal group led by Rysbek Akmatbaev and late kingpin Kamchy Kolbaev. Kolbaev, who was killed during a police operation in Bishkek in October, was a leader of the so-called Brothers' Circle, a Eurasian drug-trafficking network. In 2014, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the disruption of Kolbaev’s financial mechanisms. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.
Tajik Prosecutor-General Confirms RFE/RL's Reports About Recent Series Of High-Profile Arrests
DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's Prosecutor-General Yusuf Rahmon has confirmed recent reports by RFE/RL's Tajik Service about a series of arrests of noted public figures and politicians.
RFE/RL reported earlier, citing its sources close to the Central Asian nation's law enforcement, that former Foreign Minister Hamrohkhon Zarifi, former parliament speaker Akbarshoh Iskandarov, Democratic Party of Tajikistan deputy chairman Ahmadshoh Komilzoda, and Social Democratic Party deputy chairman Shokirjon Hakimov had been arrested on unspecified charges.
The arrests came after the state-run Khovar news agency cited the Prosecutor-General's Office in June, saying that the lawmaker and ex-chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Saidjafar Usmonzoda, was arrested on suspicion of plotting to forcibly seize power.
Yusuf Rahmon said at the time at a parliamentary session that Usmonzoda was suspected of collaborating with the National Alliance of Tajikistan -- a group uniting self-exiled opposition politicians and activists that had been banned in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.
Yusuf Rahmon, who is an in-law of President Emomali Rahmon, said on August 9 that all the arrests are linked to the case against Usmonzoda, adding that those arrested had been charged with high treason.
He declined to elaborate further, saying that details of the investigation are classified.
It is not clear how the arrested men pleaded as neither their relatives nor lawyers have made any public statements.
Sources told RFE/RL that only two of those arrested, Akbarshoh Iskandarov and Shokirjon Hakimov, had managed to get private lawyers, while the others are represented by state-appointed attorneys. However, none of the lawyers has ever been able to meet with their clients, the sources said.
The Tajik government has brutally cracked down on dissent over the years, jailing opposition politicians or forcing them into self-exile. Dozens of independent journalists, activists, and government critics were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
President Rahmon, who has run Tajikistan for almost 30 years, has been criticized by international human rights groups over his regime's stifling of political pluralism, independent media, religious freedoms, and civil society.
In recent years, several Tajik journalists, rights activists, and opposition politicians have been handed lengthy prison terms on charges seen by rights groups as trumped-up and politically motivated.
Bulgarian President Names Caretaker PM Ahead Of Another Snap Poll
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has selected Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, the deputy chairwoman of the Audit Chamber, to serve as acting prime minister and tasked her with forming an acting cabinet. Radev's announcement on August 9 comes after political parties failed in three efforts to form a cabinet, following an inconclusive June 16 election. Radev also said that another snap poll will likely take place on October 20. It will be the seventh general election in three years in the European Union's poorest country. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.
'Just Walking Down The Street Is Happiness': Freed Russian Rights Activist Orlov Speaks Of Life Outside Prison
Veteran Russian human rights defender Oleg Orlov said he hasn’t adjusted to freedom yet after being released last week from a Russian jail in the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries since the Cold War ended.
Orlov, one of Russia’s most experienced and respected human rights activists, told RFE/RL that he’s done interview after interview since his release on August 1 and arrival in Germany and has had no time for reflection.
“I haven't felt like anywhere yet. Neither in emigration completely, nor in freedom,” he said. “I have spent all day talking, talking, talking, [but] of course just walking down the street is happiness.”
Orlov was one of 16 people released in the historic exchange that also saw eight Russians returned to their homeland. He spoke with RFE/RL from Berlin, where he is now living in exile and getting used to a life that is completely different from anything he thought it would be.
When he imagined his freedom, it was always somewhere in Russia, where he pictured himself visiting a lake or another favorite place in nature, picking mushrooms, or lying down at his dacha and looking at the sky.
“That was my idea of freedom,” he said, still imaging that he will someday go to the lakes of Karelia, a region in northwestern Russia, where he will sit and watch the sunset.
He said that he and fellow inmate Aleksei Malerevsky, whom he identified as a political prisoner, had several conversations in the prison cell they shared about the prospect of a prisoner exchange. They knew about calls for a prisoner swap but were dubious it would ever happen.
“Yes, that's why, of course, no one really believed in the exchange,” said Orlov, who was convicted in February of repeatedly discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to 30 months in prison, a ruling that was upheld in July.
He recounted his refusal to sign a petition requesting a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin that was presented to him shortly before his release, saying this was “internally traumatic” for him because he believed that by refusing to sign he closed the door definitively on ever being released.
He explained that when the prison official asked if he was sure he wouldn’t sign the pardon request, he said he was, and he believed this meant he would have to serve out his entire sentence.
Asked what he missed while in prison, he said there was a “great lack of movement” and it was colorless except for gray and brown. He added that the food could be “so tasteless, monotonous, and sometimes, apparently, prepared with bad oil, that it caused an upset stomach.”
He said he had good relations with fellow inmates and considered that lucky. They were “very different people,” but he was able to find a common language with them and it was always possible to talk about something or play board games.
While cruel and rude treatment occurred often, this was not deliberate cruelty aimed at the prisoners, he said. It was a traditional “practiced cruelty dictated by the system itself.”
The system is not aimed at humane treatment, much less correction, he said. It is a correctional system, but “there is no correction there.”
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Charges 2 Iranian Brothers, 1 Pakistani In Deadly Weapons Smuggling Case
Two Iranian brothers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps face terrorism charges in the United States in connection with deaths of two U.S. sailors during the interception of a vessel in the Arabian Sea earlier this year. The indictment announced on August 8 by federal prosecutors charges Shahab and Yunus Mir'kazei and Pakistani boat captain Muhammad Pahlawan with providing material support to Iran’s weapons-of-mass-destruction program and other charges. The brothers are at large. Pahlawan and three of his crew members have been in custody since the Navy SEAL team intercepted their small vessel in January.
Former Kazakh Minister Gets Suspended Sentence Over Deadly 2022 Unrest
A court in Astana on August 8 handed a suspended five-year prison term to former Kazakh Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev, who pleaded guilty to a charge of abuse of office and power during nationwide antigovernment demonstrations in 2022 that turned deadly after police and security forces opened fire at protesters. The court also banned Turghymbaev from holding public office for 10 years. Several former top officials in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation were sentenced to lengthy prison terms following the January 2022 protests that left at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
- By Current Time
Any Foreign Organization Can Be Labeled 'Undesirable' Under New Russian Law
Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 8 signed into law a bill allowing any foreign entity, including those established by state organs of third countries, to be declared "undesirable." The law does not affect international intergovernmental organizations of which Russia is a member or organizations incorporated into the government structures of foreign countries. In June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it labeled several foreign organizations operating in Russia, including RFE/RL, as "undesirable." To read the original story by Current Time, click here.
Navalny's Widow Says He Should Have Been Released In Recent Prisoner Swap
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, says her late husband should have been among those released from Russian jails and prisons last week in a major prisoner swap between Moscow and the West.
In a video statement released on YouTube on August 8, Navalnaya said she and Navalny's associates had said shortly after Navalny's death that a prisoner swap involving her husband was in the final stages before he died in a remote Arctic prison in February.
"My husband, Aleksei Navalny, should also have been aboard the plane that first flew in to Ankara and then to Cologne. We said about that half a year ago, right after he was murdered in the correctional colony in Kharp. It was he who was supposed to be exchanged for FSB killer [Vadim] Krasikov, who was serving a life term in Germany," Navalnaya said.
"Just a thought that Navalny could be out free seemed terrifying for [President Vladimir] Putin, and that is why he killed him," Navalnaya said, adding that, nevertheless, she was very happy to see many wrongfully imprisoned people released last week.
"It's been a long time since I felt such relief and happiness, but at the same time I felt bitter," Navalnaya said.
She mentioned that many other Putin critics remain in Russian prisons, including Aleksei Gorinov; Daniel Kholodny; Navalny lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, Antonina Favorskaya, and Aleksei Liptser; sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky; co-chairman of the Golos (Voice) movement Grigory Melkonyants; and other political prisoners.
On August 1, 16 people were released from prisons in Russia and Belarus, including three U.S. citizens -- Alsu Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, and Paul Whelan -- in exchange for eight Russians, including Krasikov.
Krasikov was convicted in Germany in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison for killing a former Chechen separatist in a Berlin park two years earlier.
In March, shortly after securing a new six-year term, Putin said he agreed to swap Navalny on the condition that he not return to Russia.
- By Current Time
Estonia Starts Full Customs Controls At Border With Russia
Estonia's government said on August 8 that full customs controls have been introduced at the Baltic country's border with Russia, replacing random border checks. The measure was introduced with immediate effect at the road and rail border crossings in Narva, Koidula, and Luhamaa. For those crossing the border on foot, full control will mean checking each person and their luggage. For those traveling by car, both the vehicle and the items inside it will be checked. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the move was aimed at preventing the transport and transit through Estonia of goods subjected to European Union sanctions. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.
UN Official Says 95 Percent Of Ukrainian Soldiers In Russian Captivity Face Torture
Danielle Bell, the head of mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told the NOS television channel in the Netherlands that 95 percent of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia face torture. “[Ukrainian soldiers] are subjected to torture during initial interrogation, and that includes being beaten with metal rods, sticks, [they are] stripped, brutally beaten, [tortured] with electric shocks," Bell said, adding that it is "certainly the worst that I have seen in my career of 20 years in the UN, visiting places of detention." Bell said her conclusion was based on information she received from Ukrainian soldiers released from Russian captivity. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
- By Current Time
Russia Imprisons Ukrainian Man For Alleged Attempt To Kill Mariupol Official
A Russian military court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Mykola Zabirko on August 8 to 6 1/2 years in a high-security prison for an alleged assassination attempt on Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, Mariupol’s former Russia-installed mayor. Zabirko was accused of attempted terrorism and illegally possessing explosives. Prosecutors alleged that Zabirko was tasked by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) with monitoring Ivashchenko and bombing his vehicle. Explosives and a grenade were reportedly found in Zabirko's possession. The attempted attack on Ivashchenko occurred in August 2022, but Ukraine has not commented on the incident. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.
Another Kazakh Activist Faces Pressure Over Support For Imprisoned Journalist
A Kazakh court ordered activist Baibaq Bilalov on August 8 to pay a 77,500 tenges ($162) fine over attending a rally in support of journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim who was sentenced to seven years in prison on August 2 for financing an extremist group and participating in a banned group's activities, charges he and his supporters reject as politically motivated. Bilalov was found guilty of violating regulations for attending public events. Nine other supporters of Mukhammedkarim were detained before and after his sentence was pronounced on August 2 and sentenced to jail terms of between 10 and 20 days on the same charge. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh story, click here.
Zelenskiy Says Russia 'Must Feel' War As Moscow Claims To Have Repelled Incursion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on August 8 said that Russia brought war to his country and "must feel what it has done" after Russia claimed to have repelled a surprise cross-border advance by Ukraine into its Kursk region.
Zelenskiy did not directly refer to the incursion, which Russia said is in its third day and involves up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops supported by tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery.
He said he has received reports from Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine’s top military commander, and called the military action "effective" and "exactly what our country needs now."
Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy, commented indirectly on the operation earlier on X, saying the root cause of any escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuations, and destruction of normal life, "including within Russia's own territories like #Kursk and Belgorod regions, is solely Russia's unequivocal aggression."
"This includes attempts to seize foreign territories and disregard for international law norms that clearly uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity," Podolyak said on August 8.
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.
Zelenskiy also commented indirectly on the incursion, saying on Telegram, "Russia has brought war to our land and must feel what it has done."
Without mentioning Kursk he said there had been three reports from Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine’s top military commander, and, "The reports are effective. Exactly what our country needs now."
Russia claimed earlier that Kyiv's forces fired rockets at civilian and residential targets in the Kursk region amid reports by Russian pro-war bloggers that a number of villages have been captured by Ukrainian forces as they advance into Russian territory.
The acting governor of Kursk, Aleksei Smirnov, declared a state of emergency on August 7 after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the military operation "another large-scale provocation."
The Russian Defense Ministry in a statement on August 8 said Russia's Battlegroup North and border guard units had thwarted Ukrainian forces' attempts to break through the districts of Sudzha and Korenevo.
Earlier, the ministry claimed to have downed six drones and five missiles over the Kursk region and 14 drones in the Belgorod region.
Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that a man died and one person was injured in Ukrainian shelling of Shebekino.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, two civilians were killed on August 8 by Russian shelling of Kostyantynivka, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
Russian air strikes in the Sumy region killed two people, including a child, and two more were wounded, said the governor of Sumy, Volodymyr Artyukh.
Russia also said Ukrainian forces penetrated its border near the major natural gas transmission hub at Sudzha. The Sudzha gas transfer and measuring stations in the Kursk region are the only entry point for Russian natural gas into the Ukrainian gas transmission system for onward transport to Europe.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on August 8 that Ukraine had not been contacted by Russia about the situation with gas transit, but the transit route for Russian gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine is still functioning.
In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on August 8 that it is aware of developments around Russia's Kursk nuclear plant and is monitoring the situation, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former president who is now deputy chief of Russia's Security Council, has called for Russian troops to press deeper into Ukraine as Moscow claims to have intercepted Ukrainian drones and missiles targeting the Kursk region.
Commenting on the Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region, Medvedev said Moscow should aim beyond securing the territories that Russia considers its own and urged further advance into Ukraine's Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolayiv, and Kyiv regions.
EU spokesman Peter Stano told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that while the bloc does not comment on battlefield operations, it believes "Ukraine has a legal right to defend itself, including striking an aggressor on its territory."
Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on August 7 said the White House had reached out to Ukraine to "get a little better understanding" of the situation in the Kursk region.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed on August 7 that Washington's policy on the use of U.S. weapons by Ukraine across the border or against Russian military facilities had not changed.
The actions taking place "are not a violation of our policy," Miller added.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
Tajik Official Confirms Arrests Of Almost 30 Residents Of Volatile Gorno-Badakhshan Region
DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's First Deputy Interior Minister Abdurahmon Alamshozoda has confirmed reports by RFE/RL's Tajik Service that 27 residents of the Yazgulom community in the volatile Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) have been arrested.
Alamshozoda told journalists in Dushanbe on August 8 that the residents had been arrested on suspicion of being members of the Ansarullah Islamic group, which is banned in the Central Asian nation.
"Four more people have been added to the wanted list," Alamshozoda added.
It was the first official confirmation of the arrests.
Details of the investigation and the charges stemming from it remain unclear.
RFE/RL's Tajik Service has been reporting about the arrests of residents of Yazgulom for months, citing relatives of those arrested and sources close to law enforcement agencies in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.
The majority of those arrested have been detained and held incommunicado for months after they were extradited from Russia earlier this year.
Residents of GBAO have been under pressure for years. A crackdown on the restive Tajik region intensified in 2022 after mass protests in May that year were violently dispersed by security forces.
Tajik authorities said at the time that 10 people were killed and 27 injured during the clashes between protesters and police.
Residents of the remote region's Rushon district have told RFE/RL that 21 bodies were found at the sites of the clashes.
Dozens of the region's residents have been jailed for lengthy terms on terrorism and extremism charges since then.
Deep tensions between the government and residents of the volatile region have simmered ever since a five-year civil war broke out shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Still, protests are rare in the tightly controlled state of 9.5 million where President Emomali Rahmon has ruled with an iron fist for nearly three decades.
YouTube Not Accessible Across Russia
The YouTube video-hosting site and app have stopped being accessible across Russia, thousands of Internet users in the country said online on August 8.
The Downdetector website registered the majority of complaints coming from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg.
Two weeks ago Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Khinshtein announced that in several days the speed of video uploads to YouTube in Russia will decrease by 70 percent, saying that YouTube "violates and ignores the law with impunity."
In early July, YouTube blocked the channels of several Russian singers and artists over their support of Russia's war in Ukraine.
To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Jailed Member Of Banned Tajik Political Party Moved To Prison Hospital
An imprisoned member of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has been transferred to a prison infirmary. An official of the Tajik Penitentiary Service told RFE/RL on August 8 that Zubaidulloh Roziq, 82, is being treated for heart problems. Roziq was arrested in 2015 along with 13 other members of the IRPT and later sentenced to 25 years in prison on a charge of involvement in a failed armed attempt to seize power. He and his supporters rejected this charge, saying it was politically motivated. Tajikistan outlawed the IRPT in 2015, branding it a terrorist organization, a claim the party denies. Two members of the IRPT have died in prison since January 2024. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.
NOTE: An earlier version of this article wrongly stated that Zubaidulloh Roziq had died in prison. The text has been amended to clarify that he is still alive, but has been transferred to a prison infirmary with health issues.
Mexico Rejects Ukraine's Request To Arrest Russia's Putin During Visit
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has rejected a request from Ukraine to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he attends the October 1 inauguration of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum. "We can't do that. It's not up to us," Lopez Obrador said at a news conference on August 8. The Ukrainian Embassy in Mexico made the request. In a statement on August 7, the embassy said Kyiv was "confident that the Mexican government would comply" with an international arrest warrant for Putin, referring to a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in March 2023 for alleged war crimes. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
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