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WHO: Pakistan Polio Strain In Syria
The WHO says on its website that closely related wild poliovirus strains have also been detected in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.
The WHO, the United Nations health agency, says emergency plans are being implemented to vaccinate more than 20 million children in the Middle East following the reemergence of polio in Syria during the civil war there.
The vaccinations are to be carried out in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Syria, and Turkey.
Polio, an infectious disease which can cripple a person’s central nervous system, is endemic in three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.
Based on reporting by Reuters, RFE/RL, and AFP
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Ukraine Wins Its First Gold Medal At Paris Olympics
Ukraine has won its first gold medal of the Paris Olympics by defeating South Korea in the final of the women's team saber fencing on August 3. The Ukrainian team, which included individual bronze medalist Olha Kharlan, recovered from six points down to beat South Korea 45-42. South Korea took silver and Japan claimed the bronze medal. Ukraine had two medals before the final: a silver in shooting from Serhiy Kulish and the bronze that Kharlan won on July 29 in the women's saber competition.
- By RFE/RL
Gender Controversy Rages As Khelif Beats Hungary's Hamori To Win Olympic Boxing Medal
Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria beat Hungary's Luca Anna Hamori by unanimous decision in a welterweight quarterfinal fight at the Paris Games on August 3 to ensure Algeria's first Olympic boxing medal since 2000.
But the victory only heightened a controversy that has been brewing at the Paris Olympics and has raised questions from various boxing federations, including those of Hungary and Bulgaria, after two boxers who were disqualified from the World Championships last year were allowed to compete.
Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting have been at the center of the controversy, which came under sharper focus on August 1 when Khelif won her opening bout against Angela Carini of Italy, who tearfully pulled out of the fight after sustaining a series of crushing blows in the first 46 seconds of the bout.
In her bout against Hamori, Khelif let fly flurries of lightning-quick punches to win the first two rounds on every judge's score card as a number of Algerian fans cheered her on while waving the country's flag. Khelif won 5-0 on a unanimous points decision.
The pair hugged after the final bell, but prior to the bout Hamori had expressed her displeasure at having to fight Khelif, and Hungary's boxing federation said it had contacted the International Olympic Committee to object to the Algerian’s participation.
The Bulgarian Olympic Committee said it also had voiced concerns over Khelif's and Lin's presence at the tournament during a meeting with the IOC's Medical and Scientific Commission on July 27.
Both Khelif and Lin were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after failing the International Boxing Association's (IBA) eligibility rule that bars athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women's events.
The boxing tournament in Paris is being organized by the IOC, which stripped the IBA of international recognition in 2023 over governance and finance issues.
In Paris, Lin won 5-0 on points on August 2 against Sitora Turdibekova of Ukzbekistan. She faces Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria in a featherweight quarterfinal on August 4.
Khelif will face Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the welterweight semifinal on August 6. She beat Suwannapheng at the World Championships in 2023 before being disqualified.
IOC president Thomas Bach said on August 3 that there "was never any doubt" that Khelif and Lin were women who had every right to compete at the Paris Olympics.
"We have two boxers who are born as women, who have been raised as women, who have passports as women and who have competed for many years as women. This is the clear definition of a woman," Bach told a news conference.
He also refused to take part in a “cultural war,” adding that social media “hate speech” is “totally unacceptable."
The online outrage has included comments from former U.S. President Donald Trump, author J.K. Rowling, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who have falsely claimed that Khelif is a man or is transgender.
But other commentators have said the controversy is different from previous ones involving runners because boxing is a contact sport and women are put in danger when facing opponents with male traits such as much larger muscles and power.
Bach left open the possibility of changes at future Olympics when it comes to such controversies.
"What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman and there I can only invite them to come up with a scientific base of a new definition of who is a woman and how someone being born, raised and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman,” he said.
Khelif's coach said the controversy has been difficult for Khelif.
"She has suffered a lot -- as a child and now as a champion. She has suffered so much during these games," Mohamed Chaoua said. "Where is the humanity? Where are the associations for women's rights? She is a victim."
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and AP
Ukraine Says It Sank Russian Submarine; Oil Facilities Set Ablaze In Russia
Ukraine's military said on August 3 that it had sunk a submarine in Russian-controlled Sevastopol, attacked a southern Russian airfield, and targeted oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in a number of regions.
"A Russian submarine went to the bottom of the Black Sea," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on X, naming the vessel as the B-237 Rostov-on-Don attack submarine.
The military's General Staff said the attack on the Crimean port also significantly damaged four launchers of the S-400 anti-aircraft Triumf defense system.
There was no immediate comment from Russia on the attack.
Earlier, on the night of August 2, dozens of drones were launched against targets in at least three Russian regions, setting two oil storage facilities ablaze, Russian authorities reported.
Rostov regional Governor Vasily Golubev reported that 55 “Ukrainian drones” had attacked his region overnight, damaging “storage facilities in the Kamensky and Morozovsky districts.” He said no casualties had been reported.
A military airfield in the region’s Morozovsky district has been the target of drone strikes in the past. Video posted by the Astra Telegram channel purported to show fires at the airfield and at an oil-storage facility in the Kamensky district.
Ukraine’s military said on August 3 that it destroyed antiaircraft weaponry and “enemy aviation equipment” at the Morozovsky airfield and had carried out the strikes against the oil facilities.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, reported that an oil reservoir there had been destroyed by a drone strike, but no casualties were reported. He said the fire had been extinguished.
In the Oryol region, Governor Andrei Klychkov wrote on Telegram that three drones had been destroyed while “two drones fell on a residential building.” He said no casualties were reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that 36 drones had been intercepted overnight, 17 in the Oryol region, nine in the Belgorod region, and eight in the Kursk region. Small numbers of drones were reportedly intercepted over the Ryazan region, Krasnodar Krai, the Voronezh region, and the Sea of Azov.
RFE/RL is not able to independently verify combat reports inside Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military reported that 29 Russian drones were launched against the country overnight and 24 were shot down.
Ukrainian authorities also reported that five civilians were killed and 22 injured in Russian shelling in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions.
Despite strong evidence to the contrary, Russia maintains it does not target civilians in its war against Ukraine. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has reported that at least 11,284 Ukrainian civilians have been killed by hostile actions since Russia invaded in February 2022, emphasizing that the real figure is likely to be much higher.
With reporting by Reuters
Iran Says 'Short-Range Projectile' Used In Assassination Of Haniyeh
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on August 3 that a short-range projectile was behind the killing of Ismail Haniyeh and accused the United States of supporting the attack, which it has blamed on Israel.
The IRGC said in a statement that a rocket with a 7-kilogram warhead was used to target the residence of Haniyeh, who was the political leader of Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU.
The IRGC said that, according to its investigation, the rocket also caused heavy damage when it hit Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran on July 31, but the statement didn't include details of the location from which it was fired, the type of projectile, or the identity of the person or persons who fired it.
Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Masud Pezeshkian.
The statement said the action was designed and carried out by Israel with the “support” of the U.S. government. It also reiterated a call for retaliation.
Haniyeh’s killing has triggered fears of an escalation in the region where tensions have already been high since the start of the war in Gaza.
The Israeli government has yet to comment officially, but a photo of Haniyeh with a stamp on his forehead saying "Eliminated" was posted on the Government Press Office's Facebook page. The post, which was later deleted without explanation, did not specifically claim the strike was carried out by Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on August 1 said that Washington was "not aware of or involved in" Haniyeh’s assassination and wouldn’t speculate on the impact it might have on the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas over the group’s October 7 attack inside Israel's territory that killed 1,200 people. Around 250 others were taken hostage, some of whom have since been released.
Some of the hostages have died while in Gaza as Israel carries out a massive military operation that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians as the Israeli military pursues the goal of eliminating Hamas.
- By AP
Georgian Shooter To Call It Quits After A Record 10 Olympic Games
After 10 Olympic Games and 36 years, Nino Salukvadze says she's finally done. The pistol shooter from Georgia has been ever-present at the Summer Olympics since Seoul 1988, when she competed for what was still the Soviet Union. At the 2024 Olympics, she became the first female athlete ever to compete at the games 10 times. Salukvadze considered retiring after her first Olympics 36 years ago, after she'd won gold and silver medals as a 19-year-old. She nearly walked away in the 1990s, when she struggled to support her family financially in newly independent Georgia. She announced her retirement after the Tokyo Games in 2021. This time, though, she says she is done “for sure."
Finding Joy In Small Things: How Alsu Kurmasheva's Prison Letters Kept Hope Alive
"Today I'm crying for the first time since...I don't even know where to begin," Alsu Kurmasheva wrote in her first letter from captivity.
It was October 2023 and just a few days after she had been taken into pretrial detention in Kazan, the regional capital of her native Tatarstan.
It was a care package that made her weep. "Everything touched me," she wrote about the things she had received: the brush and the coffee with the halva (sesame-seed-and-honey paste). "I wasn't expecting any letters or packages.... And when everything arrived unexpectedly, I couldn't [stop the tears]."
Kurmasheva, a 47-year-old mother of two and a journalist for RFE/RL, spent 288 days in Russian detention before her release on August 1, as part of one of the largest prisoner swaps involving the United States and Russia since the end of the Cold War.
During her time in prison, Kurmasheva chronicled her experiences in letters to friends and relatives, provided by the journalist’s family to RFE/RL's Idel.Realities. Her letters from prison show a woman attempting to come to terms with her new life behind bars. But they also show a woman who remained grateful, despite the harsh conditions, and who was still able to find beauty and joy in the smallest things.
Gentle Humor
In the early days of her detention, Kurmasheva spent her time reading, writing, and practicing yoga. With gentle humor, she described her attempts to stay active even with the restrictions of prison. "Today we were taken out for a walk to a four-by-six-meter area,” she wrote. “We ran 40 laps to get at least close to a 1,000-meter run. Then there was stretching and squats. The caretaker was very surprised. Apparently, this happens rarely."
After her October 2023 arrest, Kurmasheva was first charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent" under a punitive Russian law that targets journalists, civil society activists, and others.
WATCH: Alsu Kurmasheva's Husband On Her Release From A Russian Prison
As the weeks turned into months, and as the outside temperatures dropped below freezing, Kurmasheva wrote about the harsh realities of prison life: the overcrowded cells, where new inmates could arrive in the middle of the night; the constant battle against the bitter cold.
"I'm OK more or less. At least everyone has their own bed and the amount of people [in the cell] is as it should be," Kurmasheva wrote. "I am glad that I managed to sleep a little longer today, something better."
'Do It Now'
Sometimes there was a particular urgency about her letters, a sense that when you had lost so much, your only choice was to focus on the present, the here and now. "Everything you do is the most necessary and important thing right now," Kurmasheva wrote to her family. "Whether you drink coffee or make a hole in the wall with a hammer drill to attach a wardrobe, do it now."
By December 2023, Kurmasheva was facing more charges of distributing "fake" news about Russia's armed forces. Those charges stemmed from a book, Saying No To War. 40 Stories Of Russians Who Oppose The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, which was published in November 2022 by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service.
Separated from her family over the holidays, it was hard for Kurmasheva to always keep her spirits up. "I can't even believe that it will already be two months [in prison]," she wrote in December 2023. "Every minute remains a scar on me and on you."
In January, Kazan's coldest month, her letters show flashes of indignation. "No one will give me back the three months of my life that I spent in the wrong place," she wrote. "I am responsible for my family. For my young children, for my elderly mother." It was her mother's ailing health that had prompted Kurmasheva's decision to return to Russia in May 2023.
'I Have Changed'
After the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Kurmasheva started to notice some differences. "I have changed, you have changed, your letters have changed," she wrote to her family. "After a long break, I received dozens of letters that you wrote during the holidays. They are so open, you entrusted me with your fears, you decided not to 'forget' about everything." It was, she said, "priceless."
The winter was particularly bleak in prison. But Kurmasheva's letters -- the ones she wrote and the many more that she read -- were a lifeline, a connection to the outside world. "It's all so sweet. Somehow even unbelievable," she wrote. "They all took a month to be delivered, but they arrived." Not receiving letters, she said, was very, very hard.
Despite the harshness of prison life and the chronic pain of being separated from her family, in her letters, Kurmasheva tried to remain hopeful.
"Where do I get my strength from?" she wondered in one letter, just as everything was "steadily becoming more unbearable." Even though she might not know the answer to that question, she did know exactly what she had to do with that strength: She had to make sure she didn't waste it.
On July 19, the Supreme Court of Tatarstan found Kurmasheva guilty of disseminating "military fakes" and sentenced her to six and a half years in prison. The trial was limited to two court sessions and was held behind closed doors.
Less than two weeks later, on August 1, Kurmasheva was released and flown to a military base outside Washington, D.C., where she was greeted by her family and U.S. President Joe Biden.
In one of the last letters before her release, Kurmasheva wrote, "My greatest wish is to leave here alive and well." And she knew that this "part of [her] life" would one day be history.
Russian Antiwar Musician Kushnir Dies In Custody
Classical pianist and Russian antiwar activist Pavel Kushnir has died in pretrial custody in the city of Birobidzhan, the capital of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast, at the age of 39, friends and supporters reported. Kushnir died on July 27 of the consequences of a dry hunger strike that he launched to protest Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Kushnir was detained in late May and was under investigation on suspicion of issuing public calls for terrorism. In 2023, Kushnir became a soloist with the Birobidzhan Regional Orchestra. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.
Belarusian Trampolinist Is First Neutral To Win Gold At Paris Olympics
Ivan Litvinovich of Belarus has become the first athlete competing as a neutral at the Paris Olympics to win a gold medal. Litvinovich won the men's trampoline final on August 2. The 23-year-old, who also won the event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finished more than a full point ahead of his nearest competitor, Wang Zisai of China, who took silver. Another Chinese trampolinist, Yan Langyu, won bronze. After initially banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from world sports following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the International Olympic Committee adjusted its regulations to allow their participation under a neutral banner subject to strict conditions and excluding team events. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Released Russian Activists Vow To Continue Fighting For A Free Russia
Three of the Russian activists freed in a prisoner swap orchestrated by the United States and Russia thanked all those who helped secure their release and cautioned against believing that all Russians support the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Andrei Pivovarov, and Ilya Yashin, who were imprisoned in Russia for expressing their opposition to the war, spoke on August 2 at a news conference in Bonn, Germany, a day after being freed in the historic exchange.
All three said they would continue to keep fighting for a free and democratic Russia and would also work to secure freedom for the hundreds of political prisoners still held in Russia.
“These are our fellow citizens who, like all of us, oppose the cruel, criminal, aggressive war that the Putin regime unleashed against Ukraine,” Kara-Murza said.
The Kremlin critic -- who had been serving a 25-year prison sentence under harsh conditions, including months of solitary confinement -- said that, before he was suddenly moved out of his Siberian prison, he was asked multiple times to request clemency from President Vladimir Putin, but he refused, telling the penal authorities he did not consider Putin to be the legitimate president of Russia. He also called Putin a "dictator, usurper, and murderer."
A few days later he was told his comments had been recorded on video and he was told to write an explanation, which he did, accusing Putin outright of being responsible for the deaths of Boris Nemtsov in 2015, opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in February, and thousands of Ukrainians who have died in the war, including children. After signing the paper he said he expected to be shot dead.
He said it was "very difficult to shake [the feeling] of absolute surrealism of what was happening" when he found out he was being freed.
Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen, said 16 lives had been saved in the prisoner swap, which also freed U.S. citizens Alsu Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, and Paul Whelan, who arrived in the United States late on August 1 to be reunited with family members.
To win their release, the United States and several of its allies released eight Russian citizens who had been convicted of various crimes, including murder. FSB Colonel Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a former Chechen fighter in Berlin, was the most high-profile among the eight.
Kara-Murza said the difference between dictatorships and democracies is that in a democracy human life is sacred. He also urged the world to distinguish between Russia's people and its president.
"There are many people in Russia who are against the war, who don't believe Kremlin propaganda," said Kara-Murza.
Pivovarov also thanked everyone who helped in facilitating the exchange and cautioned against associating the Russian people with the government's policies. He said the task for him and the other freed dissidents was to "make our country free and democratic, and get all political prisoners released."
Yashin expressed a different view, saying he was bitter about being deported and had stated his wish to return to Russia after landing in Turkey.
"I did not give my consent to being sent outside of Russia," he told reporters in an address in which the anger often showed on his face. "What happened on August 1 is not an exchange. This is my expulsion from Russia against my will. My first wish in Ankara was to buy a ticket and go back to Russia."
But he said an FSB officer told him that if he returned to Russia "your days will end like Navalny's."
He said he was also told there would be no more prisoner swaps if he returned.
Describing himself as a “Russian patriot,” Yashin said he would continue his political activity and his work for a free Russia, though he said he didn't yet know how.
Yashin also acknowledged that the prisoner exchange represented a "difficult dilemma," adding that it encourages Putin to take more hostages."
But Pivovarov said the prisoner swap saved those released from death, while Kara-Murza said that until August 1 he was certain he would die in a Russian jail. He added that he knows that someday he will return to Russia and that the day will come when Russia is free.
With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters
Member Of Russian Upper House Detained Over Alleged Plot To Kill His Business Partner
Dmitry Savelyev, a member of the Russian parliament's upper chamber, was detained on August 2 on suspicion of involvement in a plot to kill his business partner. Savelyev was detained after his colleagues in the Federation Council stripped him of immunity at the request of the Prosecutor-General's Office. He is accused of ordering a would-be assassin to kill his business partner last year, a plot that was not carried out due to the Federal Security Service's intervention. The 55-year-old politician is the former president of the Transneft oil transportation company. He served in the parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, for 17 years before becoming a member of the Federation Council in 2006. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Moldovan Official Accused Of Treason Placed In Preventive Custody
A court in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, has ordered preventive custody for one of the two suspects detained on July 31 in a case of treason and conspiracy that has also led to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat.
Ion Creanga, the head of the Parliament's legal department, will spend the next 30 days in custody, the court ruled on August 2.
Creanga and a border police official were detained when agents of Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) and the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) raided and searched the parliament premises on July 31.
They are accused of collecting and passing information that harms Moldova's interests to an employee of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau.
Judges have yet to rule on the prosecutors' request to place the second suspect in pretrial custody for 30 days as well. Under Moldovan law, suspects can be detained for 72 hours without a court order.
Following the arrests, Moldova's Foreign Ministry on August 1 summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov and informed him that an employee of the Russian Embassy to Chisinau was declared persona non grata and had 48 hours to leave the country.
The ministry said in a statement that the move was prompted by Moldovan authorities obtaining "information and evidence" proving that the Russian diplomat conducted "activities incompatible with diplomatic status on the territory of Moldova."
Neither the Moldovan government nor Vasnetsov identified the Russian diplomat to be expelled. But diplomatic and intelligence sources told RFE/RL that he is Dmitry Kelov, the deputy military attache at the embassy.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called Moldova's decision an "unfriendly step" and vowed to retaliate, without giving details.
"It is paramount that we make sure now that this treason case will be punished in the harshest way according to the law," Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu said in an interview with Moldova's Jurnal TV late on July 31.
Under U.S.-educated Sandu, who came to power in November 2020 after defeating Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon, Moldova, a former Soviet republic, has sought to curb Russia's decades-long ubiquitous influence over its politics.
Last year in August, Moldova expelled 45 of the 70 Russian diplomats from the embassy in Chisinau after a media investigation revealed that the embassy building had an unusually high number of antennas installed on its roof that were suspected of gathering information for Russian intelligence services.
However, despite the sizeable expulsions, an RFE/RL investigation in September 2023 found that at least two of the remaining diplomats have ties to the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's domestic intelligence agency, while two others have been associated with Moscow addresses linked to the Russian military's intelligence directorate.
Since the start of Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova has sided firmly with the West in condemning the invasion and has housed tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
Last month, Moldova opened accession negotiations with the European Union after being granted candidate status together with Ukraine in June 2022.
Kazakh Court Sentences Journalist To 7 Years In Prison
QONAEV, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan's southern town of Qonaev on August 2 sentenced journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim to 7 years in prison for financing an extremist group and participating in a banned group's activities, charges he rejects as politically motivated.
The court also banned Mukhammedkarim from performing public activities for three years.
Mukhammedkarim's lawyer, Ghalym Nurpeisov, said the ruling will be appealed.
A day earlier, Mukhammedkarim reiterated his innocence, stressing he criticized the government "only for the sake of Kazakhstan's further development, which is not a crime," his lawyers said.
While, Mukhammedkarim was delivering his final statement in the courtroom, dozens of his supporters chanted "Liberty! Liberty!" near the court building as the trial was held behind closed doors.
Two of the supporters, Abzal Dostyar and Bekzat Maqsutkhan, were detained then and later sentenced to 20 and 10 days in jail, respectively, on a charge of violating regulations for holding public events.
On July 18, Mukhammedkarim was transferred to a hospital as his health dramatically deteriorated following several hunger strikes to protest the secrecy of the trial.
Mukhammedkarim, whose Ne Deidi? (What Do They Say?) YouTube channel is extremely popular in Kazakhstan, was sent to pretrial detention in June 2023 over an online interview he did with fugitive banker and outspoken government critic Mukhtar Ablyazov.
Ablyazov's Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement was declared extremist and banned in the country in March 2018. As Mukhammedkarim's trial started on February 12, he complained of being beaten by jail guards, prompting prosecutors to launch an investigation into the matter.
Mukhammedkarim's trial was then postponed until an unspecified date to allow for the investigation, which was shut down later due to a purported lack of evidence.
The proceedings resumed after that.
Domestic and international right organizations have urged the Kazakh authorities to drop all charges against Mukhammedkarim and immediately release him. Kazakh rights defenders have recognized Mukhammedkarim as a political prisoner.
Rights watchdogs have criticized the authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic for persecuting dissent, but Astana has shrugged off the criticism, saying there are no political prisoners in the country.
The oil-rich Central Asian nation was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from before its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until current President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.
Over the past three decades, several opposition figures have been killed and many jailed or forced to flee the country.
Toqaev, who broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his family left the oil-rich country's political scene following the deadly, unprecedented antigovernment protests in January 2022, has promised political reforms and more freedoms for citizens.
However, many in Kazakhstan describe the reforms announced by Toqaev as cosmetic, and a crackdown on dissent has continued even after the president announced his "New Kazakhstan" program.
Slain Chechen's Family Not Informed Of Deal To Exchange Hitman Krasikov
The widow of the former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who was shot dead in Berlin in late August 2019, told RFE/RL that she and her family had not been informed about the plan to take her husband's killer out of a German prison and send him back to Russia as part of a multinational prisoner swap.
Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to life in prison after a court found him guilty of murdering Khangoshvili in the Tiergarten park in the German capital, was the major piece for Russia in the largest prisoner swap between Moscow and the West since the Cold War that was conducted on August 1.
"I found out after he'd been returned. I felt complete surprise and outrage. It was like a lump in my throat at that moment," Khangoshvili's widow Manana (aka Raisa) Tsiatiyeva told RFE/RL.
"Nobody asked our opinion about the swap. The fact that it took place shows that the opinion of the victim's side is not important for the German authorities," Tsiatiyeva said. "[Krasikov was presented as] a person who deserves the honor of being met by the president himself, who committed such heroism in a foreign country. What can I say? Who cares what we, the little people, think?"
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said late on August 1 at the Cologne-Bonn airport, where a plane carrying some of the prisoners released from Russian custody landed, that the decision to exchange prisoners was "not easy."
Germany's Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann he was "responsible for a particularly bitter concession" made to release U.S., German, and Russian citizens involved in the swap, adding that the principle of "freedom in case of doubt" was decisive.
Krasikov, who was identified by Germany's federal prosecutors as a "commander of a special unit of the Russian secret service FSB" was arrested minutes after he shot Khangoshvili in Berlin on August 23, 2019.
In December 2021, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The second criminal division of the Higher Regional Court in Berlin noted the gravity of the attack by Krasikov, stressing he had acted on the orders of Russian authorities, who gave him a false identity, passport, and the resources to carry out the assassination.
German prosecutors during the trial said evidence showed the murder was also aimed at intimidating other Chechen asylum seekers by making them believe they are not safe from the far-reaching tentacles of Russia's security apparatus.
The 40-year-old Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen, fought Russian troops in Chechnya.
He survived several assassination attempts and continued to receive threats after fleeing Georgia in 2016 to Germany, where he was granted asylum.
Three U.S. citizens -- Alsu Kurmasheva of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, reporter Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan -- were among 16 people released from Russia and Belarus on August 1. Others included five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country.
Bishkek Court Extends Pretrial Detention Of Presidential Niece's Boyfriend
The Birinchi May district court in Bishkek said on August 2 that it had extended pretrial detention of the boyfriend of a niece of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on a charge of producing illegal drugs. The decision to hold Aftandil Sabyrbekov and his brother Tariel until at least October 3 was made three days earlier. Aftandil Sabyrbekov is the boyfriend of Lazzat Nurgojoeva, who is a daughter of Japarov's younger brother, Davletbek. In June, Japarov publicly apologized after a video showing Sabyrbekov proposing to Nurgojoeva in a lavish ceremony circulated on the Internet and sparked a public outcry. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.
Ukraine Obtains Bodies Of 250 Soldiers Killed In Russian-Occupied Regions
The bodies of 250 Ukrainian soldiers killed in action in Russian-occupied parts of the country have been handed over to the Ukrainian authorities, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported in a message on Telegram on August 2. The message said the bodies belonged to Ukrainian soldiers killed in Luhansk, Bakhmut, Maryinka, Avdiyivka, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Mariupol, and Horlivka. The transfer of bodies was carried out in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Conventions, the headquarters said. After identification, the bodies will be given to their relatives for burial, it said. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
EU Voices Concern, Asks Hungary For Clarifications On Plan To Ease Entry For Russians, Belarusians
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has voiced concern about Hungary's recent decision to make it easier for Russian and Belarusian citizens to enter the country and asked Budapest for clarifications.
At the start of last month, after Hungary took over the European Union's rotating presidency, Budapest published details of a so-called National Card, a new fast-track visa system for citizens of eight countries including Russia and Belarus to enter Hungary without security checks or other restrictions.
Budapest has said many would be employed in the building of a nuclear power plant that is contracted to Russia’s Rosatom but the move sparked criticism it could open the doors to spies and saboteurs.
In an open letter addressed to Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter and published on X late on August 1, Johansson said Russia is a security threat for the European Union, and pointed to the need of "more, not less vigilance."
Russian citizens do not face a ban on entering the EU and the border control-free Schengen zone, which also includes non-EU members Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland if they possess a valid visa and have no ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, following Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the West imposed sanctions that include a ban on Russian-owned airlines operating in EU airspace, making it more difficult for Russian nationals to travel to the bloc.
Although rules on issuing working permits remain a matter for each EU member state, "the extension of the facilitated processing of residence and work permit applications for citizens of Russia and Belarus could lead to a de facto circumvention of the restrictions the Union has imposed," Johansson wrote.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has maintained friendly relations with President Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, was subjected to widespread criticism after traveling to Moscow to meet with the Russian leader shortly after taking over the EU's presidency.
Orban said the visit, and a subsequent trip to China, were part of a peace mission, but EU leaders made clear he did not represent them on his travels.
Many countries have since refused to send their ministers to meetings held in Hungary, prompting them to be rescheduled in Brussels.
Warning that "we need more, not less vigilance," Johansson asked Budapest for clarification.
"Given the potential security threat for the Schengen area of these unilateral measures, I invite your authorities to contact my services and reply to a number of questions annexed to this letter no later than August 19," the EU commissioner wrote.
"Giving potential Russian spies and saboteurs easy EU access would undermine the security of us all. If [the Hungarian] easy access scheme is a risk, we will act," Johansson wrote on X.
Her letter came after a similar warning by Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s party (EPP), the European Parliament's largest political bloc. Weber, in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, said the Hungarian move raised "serious national security concerns."
Prosecutors Seek Prison Term For Kazakh Activist For Online Talk With Opposition Figure
Prosecutors asked a court in Kazakhstan's southern city of Turkistan on August 1 to sentence activist Nurlybai Tataev to 12 months in prison over an online conversation he had in 2021 with the self-exiled leader of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, Mukhtar Ablyazov. Tataev is accused of taking part in a banned group's activities. His lawyers insist the charge is illegitimate, citing the statute of limitations. The DVK was banned in Kazakhstan in 2018. Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed prison terms or parole-like restricted freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in DVK activities. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
Former Member Of Tajik Opposition Group Gets 6 Years In Prison
Sulaimon Jobirov, a former member of Tajikistan's Group 24 opposition movement, was sentenced to six years in prison on a charge of cooperating with a banned organization, a relative told RFE/RL on August 1. Jobirov went missing in Russia, where he has resided for years, in April. He was subsequently located at a detention center in Dushanbe. Group 24 was labeled as a terrorist organization and banned in Tajikistan in 2014. The group's current self-exiled leader Ubaidullo Saidi, has said Jobirov quit the banned movement eight years ago. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.
Gas Explosion Death Toll In Russia's Nizhny Tagil Rises To 6
Emergency officials in the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil said on August 2 that three more bodies, including that of a child, were found amid the debris of a residential building that partially collapsed after a gas explosion, bringing the number of people killed in the accident to six. Rescue teams continue to search the rubble as three people remain missing. Some 15 apartments were destroyed in the blast, which occurred in an apartment on the third floor of the five-story building on August 1. Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a probe into the deadly explosion. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Kosovar President Involved In Security Incident At Airport In North Macedonia
Kosovo has accused security staff at the airport in neighboring North Macedonia's capital of violating international practices after an incident during which President Vjosa Osmani refused to allow her mobile phone to go through a security check.
Osmani and her detail were en route to Slovenia when the August 1 incident occurred.
"The Macedonian airport officials' behavior is contrary to all international practices that say heads of state are protected by diplomatic privileges and immunities when traveling. In violation of these rules, the Macedonian side took the personal handbag of the president," said Osmani's political adviser, Bekim Kupina, after the August 1 incident.
"Although this was against the rules, the president's team allowed it so that the president could enter the airport, specifically the VIP lounge, which was reserved by a verbal note from our Embassy, as is the practice for heads of state.
"However, for security reasons, the president did not allow her phone to be taken, since that would have been a serious violation," said Kupina, adding that a member of airport security "tried to physically push the president, prompting Kosovar police [protecting the president] to intervene to clear the way" for Osmani.
The incident was solved when the speaker of North Macedonia's parliament, Afrim Gashi, personally arrived at the airport and helped Osmani and her detail to continue their trip.
Macedonian authorities have rejected accusations of an intentional violation but said they have started an investigation.
The airport security company said its employees carried out a standard security check at the airport on August 1.
Kosovo and North Macedonia have diplomatic relations and so far there have been no similar incidents. Last month, Osmani traveled to Skopje where she met with North Macedonia's newly elected President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.
- By RFE/RL
Kurmasheva, Gershkovich, Whelan Back In U.S. After Prisoner Swap With Russia
Alsu Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, and Paul Whelan -- three of the 24 detainees involved in the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War ended – have returned to the United States where they were greeted by President Joe Biden and family amid cheers from those gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C.
Arriving from Turkey where part of the exchange took place on August 1, the three were part of a group of 16 prisoners Russia and its close ally Belarus released in exchange for eight Russians held in the United States and several other countries.
Biden, who earlier in the day hailed the historic exchange at a White House news conference, was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris to welcome the three as family members, colleagues, and media looked on.
Kurmasheva, a journalist for RFE/RL, Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, are all U.S. citizens.
Emotional Reunions With Family As Released Prisoners Greeted By Biden
Whelan, a former Marine, was the first to emerge from the plane and saluted Biden as he came down the steps and onto the tarmac. After saluting back and shaking hands, the president took off his lapel pin and gave it to Whelan, who had been in Russian detention for more than five years, the longest period of the three returnees.
Gershkovich, who also received applause as he embraced the president, followed, while Kurmasheva was the last of the three to come off the plane, also hugging Biden amid applause from the crowd.
The 32-year-old Gershkovich was detained in Russia in March 2023 while out on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg. He was sentenced in July to 16 years in prison on spying charges that were rejected by the United States and his employer, the Wall Street Journal.
"Not bad," he replied as he greeted fellow journalists who asked how it felt to finally be home after spending 491 days in detention.
Kurmasheva, a 47-year-old mother of two, was arrested in Kazan in October 2023 and first charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent" under a punitive Russian law that targets journalists, civil society activists, and others. She was subsequently charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military and sentenced to 6 1/2 years.
In announcing the swap earlier in the day, Biden slammed Russia for conducting "show trials" that led to the imprisonment of Gershkovich, Whelan, and Kurmasheva, saying "all three were falsely accused of being spies."
When asked what he would say to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the swap, the president replied: “Stop,” a reference to taking Americans into custody on dubious charges.
Biden noted earlier that the prisoner swap required "significant concessions" from Germany, which released FSB Colonel Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of the murder in 2019 of a former Chechen militant in Berlin.
The trade came even with relations between Washington and Moscow eroding to their lowest point in decades after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The prisoner swap included dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen who was imprisoned for making critical remarks about the invasion.
Kara-Murza also holds a green card, which allows a person to live and work permanently in the United States, but traveled first to Germany where he and two other Russian activists, Andrei Pivovarov and Ilya Yashin, held a news conference in which they vowed to continue fighting for a free Russia.
"Alsu, Evan, Paul, Vladimir and others, you belong home with your families and loved ones!" European Council President Charles Michel said in a post on X. "I thank all those, also in Europe, who helped to make the diplomatic deal possible. EU will continue supporting and standing for all those illegally detained in Russia and elsewhere."
After spending time with family and friends, Kurmasheva, Gershkovich, and Whelan traveled on to San Antonio, Texas, for medical treatment and debriefing by U.S. officials.
The release of 16 people from Russia and Belarus included five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country.
In an interview with RFE/RL's North.Realities service, the parents of Ksenia Fadeyeva, another of the Russian activists released by Moscow in the exchange, said the first time they suspected something was in the works was when they began hearing more and more about the topic of prisoner exchanges in the media.
"She certainly didn’t think she’d be released like this. Neither did we. It's just some kind of miracle," said her mother, Iryna Fadeyeva.
Ksenia Fadeyeva, 32, is a former local lawmaker and the former head of the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's regional office in the Siberian city of Tomsk. In December 2023, she was convicted on charges including organizing activities of an extremist group and was handed a nine-year prison term. She is now in Germany after the exchange but did not appear at the news conference in Bonn with Kara-Murza, Pivovarov, and Yashin.
"We don't know anything for sure yet, but we are ordinary citizens, not military personnel, without restrictions on entering and exiting the country. I think they will let us see each other," her father, Vladislav Fadeyev, said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the decision to release Krasikov, a convicted hit man, had been difficult.
"Nobody took this decision to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years...lightly," Scholz said, speaking in Cologne, Germany, on August 1.
"The state's interest in seeing him punished had to be weighed against the danger to the bodies and in some cases the lives of innocent people in prison in Russia and political prisoners," he told reporters.
Biden said Germany asked for nothing in exchange. The president added that the prisoner swap was "a powerful example of why it is important to have friends in the world."
While those released celebrated, they also said they remained concerned for others who weren't included in the swap.
Marc Fogel, a 62-year-old English teacher, is one such case.
He was arrested at an airport in Moscow in 2021 for carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana he said he had been prescribed to manage severe pain following surgeries on his back, shoulder, and knee. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison after prosecutors claimed he intended to sell the drugs to his students.
Senior U.S. officials said they tried to include Fogel in the exchange, but Russia rejected his inclusion.
That did little to help calm the despair Fogel's family felt after word came that he would not be returning home with the others. In a statement after the deal was made public, his family said it was "inconceivable" that he had not been part and urged the Biden administration to make his release a priority.
Poland, Slovenia, and Norway also played roles in the swap by releasing Russians back to Moscow that they held.
Turkey, a NATO ally that also has warm relations with Moscow, was heavily involved in facilitating talks on the swap, with Ankara hosting the actual exchange of the prisoners.
Russian Court Issues Arrest Warrant In Absentia For Kremlin Critic
Moscow's Lefortovo Court on August 1 issued an arrest warrant in absentia on a charge of treason for lawyer Ilya Novikov, an outspoken Kremlin critic who has openly criticized Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Novikov, who currently lives in Ukraine and has Ukrainian citizenship, on June 11 was sentenced in absentia to 8 1/2 years in prison for spreading false information about Russia's military. "Hey, what's wrong with you? You can't arrest me in absentia! I'm already sitting in prison in absentia," Novikov ironically commented on the court's decision on X. Novikov has also been added to the registry of "foreign agents." To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Kurmasheva, Gershkovich, Whelan, Kara-Murza Included In Historic U.S.-Russia Prisoner Swap
Russia, the United States, and several other countries have carried out the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War, freeing 16 people -- including RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan -- from Russian and Belarusian prisons, while eight Russians were returned home.
U.S. President Joe Biden hailed the historic exchange on August 1 at a White House news conference with several family members of the Americans who had been jailed at his side.
"Their brutal ordeal is over," Biden said, calling the deal that made the exchange possible "a feat of diplomacy."
Biden slammed Russia for conducting "show trials" that led to the imprisonment of Gershkovich, Whelan, and Kurmasheva, saying "all three were falsely accused of being spies."
The prisoner swap also included dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen who was imprisoned for making critical remarks about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. government released a photo showing Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Whelan on a plane, saying they were on their way back home. Kara-Murza was to fly to Germany, but he told Biden in a call that he hopes to visit the United States soon.
The family members who joined Biden for the news conference included Kurmasheva's husband, Pavel Butorin, who also works for RFE/RL, and their two daughters, Bibi and Miriam. Biden said the prisoner swap was an "incredible relief" for all the family members present, adding that they had spoken to their freed loved ones by phone from the Oval Office right before the news conference.
The White House released a photo showing Kurmasheva's daughters in the Oval Office leaning over a telephone and speaking to their mother.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Butorin said he and his daughters are "overwhelmed with emotions, still trying to process what actually happened to us today, being in the White House, hearing Alsu's voice from the Oval Office, next to President Biden. That was something very special.
"But it's been an incredibly difficult year for us, and I'm glad we're at the end of this journey, and now we look forward to hugging Alsu, and to helping her reintegrate into the free world after so many months of unjust imprisonment in Russia."
During the news conference, Biden motioned for Kurmasheva’s daughter, Miriam, to come closer, telling reporters that August 2 was her 13th birthday and then asking everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her. The teen was emotional as Biden put an arm around her shoulders and then wiped away a tear before walking back to her sister and father, who embraced her.
“Now she gets to celebrate with her mom,” Biden said. “That’s what this is all about -- families able to be together again. Like they should have been all along.”
Biden said the prisoner swap required "significant concessions" from Germany, which released FSB Colonel Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of the murder in 2019 of a former Chechen militant in Berlin.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the decision to release the convicted hit man had been difficult.
"Nobody took this decision to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years...lightly," Scholz said, speaking in Cologne, Germany, where some of the released prisoners were due to arrive.
"The state's interest in seeing him punished had to be weighed against the danger to the bodies and in some cases the lives of innocent people in prison in Russia and political prisoners," he told reporters.
Biden said Germany asked for nothing in exchange. The president added that the prisoner swap was "a powerful example of why it is important to have friends in the world."
Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey "stood with us," Biden said. "They made bold and brave decisions, released prisoners being held in their countries who were justifiably being held, and provided the logistical support to get the Americans home."
Biden said earlier in a statement that all told, the United States and its partners, in particular Germany, negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia and Belarus -- including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country.
Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) said on August 1 it played "a major mediation role" in the swap involving 26 people from prisons in seven countries, "which is the most comprehensive in recent times."
It said the negotiations allowed for the exchange of "Russian citizens and citizens of Western countries imprisoned in the U.S.A., Germany, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, Russia, and Belarus,” adding that German mercenary Rico Krieger imprisoned in Belarus and Russian dissident Ilya Yashin and Kraskiov imprisoned in Germany were also released.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel called the exchange "the largest multi-country swap of its kind." Speaking at a briefing on August 1, he said the Americans would be back in the United States within hours to be reunited with their families.
The White House announced that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic party's presumptive presidential nominee in the November 5 election, would welcome them at 11:30 p.m. local time.
The eight freed Russians arrived in Moscow late on August 1. Putin welcomed them after they landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
"I want to congratulate you on your return to the motherland," Putin said in comments broadcast on state TV. Addressing those who had served in Russia's military, he added: "I want to thank you for your loyalty to the oath, duty, and the motherland, which did not forget about you."
William Courtney, a career U.S. foreign service officer who worked on U.S.-Soviet arms talks before becoming U.S. ambassador to Georgia and Kazakhstan after the breakup of the Soviet Union, spoke with RFE/RL about the latest swap.
"I think it sends a message to the world that the Kremlin really would like to offload some of these internationally prominent prisoners because detaining them doesn't help Russia's image," said Courtney, now an analyst at the Washington-based think tank Rand Corp.
He said Russia didn't want Kara Murza to die in prison, like opposition politician Aleksei Navalny did in an Arctic gulag in February, "because Russia got only bad publicity" out of that.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by TASS as saying the Kremlin hoped those who had left Russia would stay away.
"I believe that all our enemies should stay [abroad], and all those who are not our enemies should return. That's my point of view," TASS cited Peskov as saying.
News of the prisoner swap was also welcomed by U.S. lawmakers; however, some Republicans questioned the "steep price" that the United States had to pay.
"Those returning to Russia are some of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s most valuable assets who will be glad to return to their villainous ways," said Senator Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Representative Michael McCaul (Republican-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on X that he celebrated the news but remains "concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage taking."
Speculation of a swap had grown in recent days as defense lawyers for several high-profile people being held in Russian prison facilities said the whereabouts of their clients were unknown, a situation that often arises when inmates are being moved.
One of the first signs that the swap had started on August 1 came from a group of Russian lawyers and rights defenders known as Pervy Otdel, which posted a message on Telegram noting the flight track of an Antonov plane that had been previously involved in prisoner exchanges.
Data from the flight-tracking site Flightradar24 confirmed the plane's movements, while the Russian media outlet Agenstvo reported that several special Russian government planes in recent days had traveled to and from regions where prisons holding dissidents are being held.
Meanwhile, four Russians who have been charged or jailed in the United States disappeared from a database of inmates operated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons prior to the announcement of the prisoner swap.
- By RFE/RL
White House Confirms That Navalny Was Part Of Prisoner Exchange Talks
White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said on August 1 that the United States had been working on a prisoner exchange to include Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny prior to his death.
It was the first time a U.S. government official publicly confirmed that negotiations for a prisoner swap with Navalny had been under way prior to his death on February 16.
Shortly after Navalny died, his allies said that Moscow had been in talks with the West about a prisoner exchange involving the politician. Weeks later, Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that he was prepared to release Navalny in a prisoner swap on condition that he never return to Russia.
Sullivan, speaking to reporters at the White House after the announcement of a prisoner swap involving 16 people released from prisons in Russian and Belarus in exchange for eight Russians, said that at the time of Navalny's death, officials were discussing a possible exchange involving Vadim Krasikov.
Krasikov, one of the eight Russians released in the prisoner swap announced on August 1, 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.
After Navalny died in an Arctic prison under suspicious circumstances on February 16, senior U.S. officials made a fresh push to encourage Germany to release Krasikov. In the end, a handful of the prisoners Russia released on August 1 were either German nationals or dual German-Russian nationals.
Some of Navalny’s associates were freed, including Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeyeva, and Vadim Ostanin. The swap also included Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, a prominent critic of the Kremlin.
Navalny's closest ally, Leonid Volkov, lamented that the historic exchange came too late for his friend.
“Today, we’re reveling in the release of political prisoners, Putin’s hostages who were suffering in Putin’s gulag,” Volkov said on X. “But it still will be joy with tears in our eyes. ‘The Navalny swap’ has taken place…but without Navalny. It hurts a lot.”
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, also reacted to the prisoner swap, saying it was a "joy" to see almost a dozen Russian activists and opposition politicians freed.
"Every released political prisoner is a huge victory and a reason to celebrate," Navalnaya said on X, adding those released had been "saved from Putin's regime."
Navalnaya also spoke by phone with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Navalnaya's spokeswoman said.
Harris called to “express her support, noting Aleksei and Yulia's contribution to the fight for a democratic Russia," spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on X.
Yarmysh said Navalnaya thanked Harris "for the U.S. assistance in organizing the exchange."
She also "called on the international community to facilitate the release of other Russian political prisoners," Yarmysh said.
Harris, the Democratic party's presumptive presidential nominee in the November 5 election, was set to welcome Kurmasheva, Gershkovich, and Whelan upon their arrival in Washington at 11:30 p.m. local time.
William Courtney, a career U.S. foreign service officer who worked on U.S.-Soviet arms talks before becoming U.S. ambassador to Georgia and Kazakhstan after the breakup of the Soviet Union, told RFE/RL that the prisoner exchange will be beneficial to the Biden administration's image.
It shows that the administration “knows how to deal with great powers who are adversaries [and] knows how to do complex negotiations,” he said.
Russia gets “nothing but bad publicity internationally” for holding high-profile prisoners like the ones freed on August 1. By releasing them, the Kremlin also avoids the risk of another political prisoner dying on their watch, he added.
Pakistan Adds 2 More Militant Groups To Its 'Terror' List
Pakistan's National Counterterrorism Authority (NACTA) on July 31 added Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Majid Brigade to its list of terrorist organizations, raising the number of Pakistani groups on the list to 81. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group is active in the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The group stopped its attacks against the Pakistani government after an agreement in 2006 but resumed attacking from Afghanistan, where the Pakistani Foreign Ministry says the group has “thousands of associates.” The Majid Brigade is the “special force” of the Baluch Liberation Army, a Baluch militant group which has recently intensified attacks on Pakistani military bases and Chinese nationals in Balochistan. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal, click here.
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