Music streaming service Spotify has removed the pages and songs of several Russian artists who supported the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Among them are Shaman (Yaroslav Dronov), Chicherina, Polina Gagarina, Grigory Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, and rock group Lyube, according to Telegram channel Rodnoy Zvuk. The European Union imposed sanctions against Gagarina and Shaman earlier this week. Chicherina, Gazmanov, and Lyube leader Nikolai Rastorguev were placed under EU sanctions in October 2022, followed by Leps in December the same year. Spotify, the world's largest streaming service, ceased its Russia operations in April 2022, due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Iranians are casting ballots in an early presidential election triggered by the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash at a time of growing frustration among many over a lack of freedoms, declining living standards, and a faltering economy.

All four names on the ballot have been vetted and approved by the Guardian Council, an unelected constitutional watchdog whose members are directly and indirectly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

No candidate is expected to secure enough votes on June 28 to be declared the outright winner in the tightly controlled contest.

A candidate needs to win at least 50 percent of the votes to win the race. A potential run-off election has been scheduled for July 5.

The election appears to be a three-way race between conservative Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, and reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian.

Last-ditch efforts by conservatives to rally behind a consensus candidate failed on the eve of the election, with neither Qalibaf nor Jalili willing to drop out in favor of the other.

Conservatives have expressed concern that the lack of unity could split the vote, benefiting the lone reformist hopeful Pezeshkian.

SEE ALSO:

Iran's 'Highly Engineered' Race For Presidency Dominated By Hard-Liners

Qalibaf is a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Air Force and is the longest-serving mayor of Tehran.

He is a traditional conservative who is running for president for the fourth time in the past 20 years. Qalibaf has faced many corruption allegations throughout his career, though none has dented his relationship with Khamenei.

Jalili serves as Khamenei’s personal representative on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). He was the SNSC’s secretary between 2007 and 2013, during which time he led the Iranian delegation in failed talks with the West on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Jalili represents the hard-line sect of the conservative camp and has never held elected office.

Pezeshkian has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as deputy speaker between 2016 and 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.

He has questioned Iran’s methods of enforcing the hijab, the Islamic head scarf for women, and spoken in favor of negotiating with the West.

But he also supports the principles of the Islamic republic and says he will follow Khamenei’s policies if elected.

The outcome of the election is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, but it could have an impact on the succession to the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989.

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Opinion polls project a slightly higher voter participation than in the last presidential election in 2021, which saw a record-low turnout of just under 49 percent. Critics say the real number was likely even lower.

Iran has long maintained it derives its legitimacy from strong voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and deadly protests against the political establishment have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.

Khamenei has been calling on eligible voters, which number at just over 61.4 million people, to show up in droves to project an image of “a strong Iran.”

“The Islamic republic’s durability, strength, dignity, and reputation depend on the presence of people,” Khamenei told reporters after casting his ballot on June 28.

Dissidents at home and abroad have called for a boycott, arguing that voting in past elections has failed deliver change.

In Iran, the supreme leader has the final say on all state matters and the president does not have much sway on many key issues.

Polls will close at 6 p.m. local time. Historically, voting hours have been extended through the evening but never past midnight.

Raisi, who many Iranians refer to as the "Butcher of Tehran" for his alleged role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was Tehran's deputy prosecutor, died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials when their helicopter crashed on May 19.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, clashed over foreign policy and Russia’s war against Ukraine in a televised debate between the two oldest candidates ever to seek the U.S. presidency.

After taking the debate stage on June 27 without shaking hands and with no audience in the hall, the current president and his predecessor laid out starkly differing views on Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

Trump, who in the past has called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tactics in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “very savvy,” attacked Biden saying that if the United States had a “real president,” Putin would not have attacked Ukraine.

“He knew not to play games with me,” Trump said referring to Putin.

Biden, 81, countered by calling Putin a “war criminal” and warning that if Russia is allowed to succeed in its war, Putin would not stop at Kyiv.

"He's killed thousands and thousands of people," said Biden, whose voice sounded raspy for most of the debate.

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Since the beginning of the war, the Biden administration has staunchly backed Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The United States has been the largest single contributor of military and financial aid to Kyiv during the conflict, though the most recently approved package of aid totaling $61 billion was delayed for some six months as Republican lawmakers held up the process demanding deep changes to border policy in exchange for their support.

The aid package was eventually approved though no deal on the border was reached.

Biden noted in the debate -- which was dominated by domestic policy issues such as the economy, immigration, and abortion -- that while Washington has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, he has rallied leaders from more than 50 countries around the world in a coalition to help Ukraine repel Russian troops.

“This is a guy who wants to pull out of NATO,” Biden, who at times appeared halting and unfocused in his responses, said of Trump.

Earlier this month, Putin offered an immediate cease-fire with Ukraine, setting out conditions that Kyiv had already rejected several times.

When asked about Putin’s offer, Trump, 78, said the conditions recently laid out by the Russian leader to end the war “are not acceptable.”

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But Trump, who voiced a litany of falsehoods during the 90-minute debate, also called Zelenskiy the “greatest salesman ever” for the Ukrainian leader’s military aid requests.

"Look, this is a war that never should have started if we had a leader," Trump said, claiming again he would be able to "settle" the war if re-elected in November.

He gave no details of how he would achieve such a result.

Concerns Over Age

Biden’s at times stumbling performance in the debate underscored concerns about his age and whether, at 81, he is too old to serve another four-year term, and prompted questions among some Democrats over whether he should step aside as their party’s nominee.

At one point, Biden seemed to confuse Trump with Putin; at another point, in a section on immigration and border security, he gave a meandering answer, prompting Trump to counter: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said."

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Biden “did get stronger as the debate went on but by that time, I think the panic had set in,” David Axelrod, an adviser to former President Barack Obama, said on CNN. “There are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”

Elsewhere in the debate, Trump also slammed Biden for failing to gain the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been in Russian detention for more than a year on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government have rejected as politically motivated.

The former president said Biden should have had Gershkovich, whose trial began on June 26 and is being held behind closed doors, “out a long time ago” and that Putin is “probably asking for billions and billions of dollars” for the reporter’s release.

Trump didn’t elaborate or substantiate his assertion, but it appeared to be a reference to a 2023 deal that saw the release of five detained Americans in Iran in exchange for the transfer of billions of dollars worth of frozen Iranian assets from banks in South Korea to Qatar.

Washington has said several times the funds are being held in special accounts with restricted access that allow for them to be used by Iran solely for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food.

Trump also accused Biden of being responsible for the "most embarrassing moment in the history of our country" for the U.S.-led withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan in August 2021.

While Trump himself had agreed to the withdrawal of international troops with the Taliban leadership a year before he left office, he did not finalize the plan and it fell to Biden to oversee the operation several years later.

Biden said that when Trump left office after losing the November 2020 election, “things were in chaos.”

With reporting by Reuters

Russian hackers who broke into Microsoft's systems and spied on staff inboxes earlier this year also stole emails from its customers, the tech giant said on June 27, around six months after it first disclosed the intrusion. The disclosure underscores the breadth of the breach as Microsoft faces increasing regulatory scrutiny over the security of its software and systems against foreign threats. An allegedly Chinese hacking group that separately breached Microsoft last year stole thousands of U.S. government emails. The Russian government has never responded to the Microsoft hacking allegations, but Microsoft has said the hackers targeted cybersecurity researchers who had been investigating the Russian hacking group's actions. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Ahmadshoh Komilzoda, a well-known journalist and the first deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, has been arrested, a Tajik law enforcement source told RFE/RL on June 27.

The details surrounding his arrest remain murky as law enforcement authorities have not made any official statements and his family members were unavailable for comment.

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The source, who spoke with RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, said Komilzoda has been held in the a temporary detention center since June 15. The source declined to provide further information.

Another source close to the Tajik Prosecutor-General's Office confirmed the arrest and disclosed that on June 16 Komilzoda's residence was searched, resulting in the confiscation of his computer, notes, and a phone.

According to the source, Komilzoda's arrest is linked to the case of Saidjafar Usmonzoda, a former chairman of the Democratic Party and a member of parliament. Usmonzoda was arrested on June 12 under suspicion of "attempting to usurp the government."

In early May, a group claiming affiliation with the Democratic Party dismissed Usmonzoda and elected Shahboz Abror, a journalist and owner of several print media outlets, as its leader.

Komilzoda, who previously served as Usmonzoda's deputy, was subsequently elected as the first deputy to Abror. Komilzoda also was expected to replace Usmonzoda as a member of parliament on behalf of the party.

Komilzoda has a background in journalism and politics. He was a board member of the national movement Rastohez and served as a manager at Tajikistan National Television in the late 1990s.

In 1993, he was arrested along with several other journalists and spent time in prison. Following the signing of the Peace Agreement and the establishment of the National Reconciliation Commission, Komilzoda became its spokesman.

Until 2011, he worked as a correspondent for Voice of America in Tajikistan.

RFE/RL has reached out to the Prosecutor-General's Office seeking an explanation of the situation but has not received a response.

The United States on June 27 denounced Hungary's implementation of a new sovereignty act and actions by the recently established Sovereignty Protection Office to target civil society and independent media organizations.

The Sovereignty Protection Office, which has been tasked with defending the country's sovereignty against foreign influence, this week launched an investigation into the Hungarian branch of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International.

The organization said on June 25 it had received a six-page letter announcing "a specific and comprehensive investigation" into Transparency International Hungary's activities and requesting financial and operational information.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on June 27 said in a statement that the United States was "deeply concerned" by the office's "draconian actions."

The Hungarian government's attempt to “harass, intimidate, and punish independent organizations runs counter to the principles of democratic governance rooted in the rule of law," Miller said in the statement.

He said the new law, known as the Defense of National Sovereignty Act, “places no limit" on the Sovereignty Protection Office's ability to target the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Hungarians "and puts at risk any country, business entity, or individual that chooses to engage with them.”

Miller said the United States “will continue to advocate for the protection of civil society organizations and media freedom in the face of these anti-democratic measures."

It was the third time in two days that the State Department criticized the leadership of Hungary, which takes over the European Union's rotating presidency next week.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, unveiling a global report on religious freedom on June 26, accused Hungary of engaging in anti-Semitic tropes, and on June 27 he singled out Hungary in remarks about Pride month.

"In Hungary, the government is smearing, scapegoating, stigmatizing LGBTQI+ persons -- vilifying them with degrading labels, denying them equal rights, normalizing violence against them," Blinken said at a Pride reception at the State Department.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's administration in 2021 banned the "promotion of homosexuality" among under-18s despite strong criticism from rights groups and the European Union. Gay marriage is not recognized in Hungary and only heterosexual couples can legally adopt children.

Orban has been an outspoken critic of the European Union's policies on migration and clashed with Brussels over judicial and academic independence in addition to LGBT rights. Brussels, in turn, has frozen billions of euros in funds.

With reporting by AFP

Germany's armed forces are to continue their deployments in Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and off the coast of Lebanon as part of international missions, lawmakers in Berlin agreed on June 27. Germany's parliament extended the mandate for NATO's KFOR mission in Kosovo, the EU mission Eufor Althea in Bosnia, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The KFOR mission will continue to have up to 400 German soldiers. At 25 years, KFOR is the German military's longest continuous overseas mission. In Eufor Althea, up to 50 German soldiers are to help ensure compliance with the Dayton agreement, which ended the Bosnian War in 1995. The Bundeswehr can also continue to support the UNIFIL mission by contributing up to 300 soldiers.

The United States on June 27 issued fresh sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran further expanding its nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose," Blinken said. "We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome."

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The new sanctions take aim at three companies based in the United Arab Emirates and 11 vessels used in the export of Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products, Blinken said.

Earlier this month, the Group of Seven nations warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment program and said it would be ready to impose new measures if Tehran were to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.

Iran rebuked the statement, calling on the G7 to distance itself from "destructive policies of the past."

Blinken in his June 27 announcement also cited the G7 statement, saying Iran “must cease its escalations with regard to its nuclear program as well as its other destabilizing actions.”

Blinken said Iran’s actions to increase its enrichment capacity are all the more concerning in light of statements by Iranian officials suggesting potential changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes, but government officials caused alarm recently by saying it could change its "nuclear doctrine" if it is attacked or its existence is threatened by Israel.

Blinken also said Tehran’s “continued failure to cooperate" with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was worrisome. The board of governors of the IAEA on June 5 passed a resolution calling on Iran to step up cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and reverse its decision to bar inspectors.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry slammed the vote, describing it as a “political and unconstructive” move.

With reporting by Reuters

BELGRADE -- The Serbian government banned a contemporary art and cultural festival that promotes Serbian-Kosovar relations just hours before it was due to open on June 27 in Belgrade, citing security concerns.

Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who is also the Serbian interior minister, announced the festival was canceled “due to the danger of jeopardizing the safety of people and property, as well as the danger of disrupting public order and peace on a larger scale.”

The three-day Miredita, Dobar Dan festival uses the name of a region of northern Albania and the greeting “good day” or "hello" in Albanian and Serbian. The annual festival began in 2014 and was supposed to take place this year from June 27-29.

Although opposition to the festival is common, several officials had called for it to be postponed given that it coincides with the religious and national holiday Vidovdan. Vidovdan, celebrated on June 28, commemorates the Battle of Kosovo in which Serbian and Turkish armies clashed in 1389.

Festival officials refused to postpone the festival since it was rescheduled twice for Serbian elections.

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic had called for the festival to be canceled, saying it “undermines the constitutional and legal order,” referring to the Serbian Constitution, which considers Kosovo a part of Serbia. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia has refused to acknowledge.

The ban went into effect after Kosovars had already begun to arrive in Belgrade. Local media reported that protests at the site of the festival had blocked the entrance to the event. Nationalist protesters taunted the festivalgoers with banners saying “No Surrender” and shouted, “Welcome to your capital!”

Among those protesting the festival, which alternates between Pristina and Belgrade, were Serbian Action and People’s Patrol, two groups that are known for their ties to the Russian far right.

Serbian and Kosovar political parties joined organizers of the festival in condemning the ban.

"It is incomprehensible that 25 years after the conflict, Serbia is still unable to accept progressive ideas of tolerance for discussion," the Serbian opposition party Green-Left Front said in a statement. “This ban is an essential attempt to silence dissident voices, which throughout history mostly came from the fields of art and culture.”

The ban “constitutes a violation of freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and freedom of expression,” the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), a regional network of NGOs, said in a statement.

"It also extinguishes any illusions that this government prioritizes a peaceful resolution to the Kosovo issue or Serbia's European integration," it said, adding that it would appeal the ban.

The decision to cancel the festival shows that there is a ban on cooperation between the art scenes of Serbia and Kosovo, Marko Milosavljevic, program director of the YIHR, told RFE/RL.

"This ban also means that there will be no peaceful solution to the dispute with the Kosovo side. This should worry not only the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo but also the international community, which should understand this as a big step backwards," Milosavljevic said.

With reporting by AFP

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev will not lead or participate in the country’s delegation to the NATO summit in July, his press service said on June 27. The press service said Radev's refusal is due to differences over the country's positions on the war in Ukraine. Radev “does not accept some provisions of the framework positions adopted by the Council of Ministers relating to commitments that our country undertakes regarding the war in Ukraine," Radev's press service said. The announcement came shortly after acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said that Radev should lead the Bulgarian delegation. The government's press center said earlier that both Radev and Glavchev would participate in the summit in Washington, but it was not clear who would lead the delegation. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.

Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka reshuffled key positions in the government and presidential administration on June 27. Lukashenka was quoted by state news agency BelTA as saying "efficiency must be increased" and bureaucracy reduced. The new head of Lukashenka’s presidential administration is the former ambassador to Russia, Dmitry Krutoi. The position has been vacant since March. Lukashenka also replaced the first deputy head of the presidential administration, the foreign minister, the deputy prime minister, the minister for agriculture, and the minister of industry. All those appointed are under international sanctions. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 27 signed security agreements with the European Union, Estonia, and Lithuania at the start of a two-day EU summit in Brussels.

The security deal with the European Union reinforces the bloc’s support for Kyiv in nine areas of security and defense policy.

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.

A draft of the agreement obtained by RFE/RL reiterates the “resolute condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” and reaffirms the EU’s “unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” Kyiv's right to self-defense against the Russian aggression, and its pursuit of a just peace.

The draft says that the EU supports Ukraine’s reforms and EU accession path, noting that overall EU assistance to Ukraine amounts to almost 100 billion euros ($107 billion), including 35 billion euros in military support.

“The European Union is determined to continue providing Ukraine and its people all the necessary political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed,” the document says.

The draft stresses that "Russia must not prevail" in its full-scale war launched in February 2022 and says Ukraine must get back territory annexed by Moscow. It also lists commitments to providing military equipment, military training, and cooperation between the European and the Ukrainian defense industries.

The agreements Zelenskiy signed with Lithuania and Estonia while at the EU summit are intended to complement other similar agreements sealed between Ukraine and its allies. They are not mutual defense pacts but do amount to pledges to provide Ukraine with weapons and other aid and deter any future invasion.

The signing ceremony opened a meeting of the European Council attended by the leaders of the 27 EU countries who are in Brussels for their first formal meeting since European elections on June 6-9.

Apart from the defense matters, the summit is poised to approve Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa, and Kaja Kallas in leadership roles. Von der Leyen is expected to be confirmed for another five-year term as president of the European Commission; Costa is expected to become president of the European Council; and Kallas, who is currently Estonia’s prime minister, is expected to become the EU’s foreign policy chief.

With reporting by Reuters

ASTANA -- The chairman of Kazakhstan's parliament, Maulen Ashimbaev, said his country will not extradite to Ukraine Altai Zhaqanbaev, one of two Kazakh citizens suspected of the attempted murder of Kazakh opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadyqov in Kyiv.

"According to our country's laws, our republic gives a priority to our citizens' rights.... Kazakhstan does not extradite its citizens to other countries," Ashimbaev said on June 27, adding that Kazakh investigators are ready to cooperate with Ukrainian officials to investigate the attack on Sadyqov.

Sadyqov, an outspoken critic of Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and his government, was shot on June 18 while he was in his car in the Ukrainian capital and is currently in intensive care.

His wife, Natalya Sadyqova, who is also a journalist, was in the vehicle during the attack but was unharmed.

On June 26, Kazakh Deputy Interior Minister Marat Qozhaev told RFE/RL that if Ukraine requests the extradition of the two suspects from Kazakhstan, "everything will proceed in accordance with the law."

Earlier on June 25, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office said it had started the extradition process for two Kazakh nationals suspected of the attempted assassination of Sadyqov.

On June 19, just one day after the attack, Ukrainian police said investigators established that Sadyqov had been shot by two Kazakh suspects -- Altai Zhaqanbaev, born in 1988, and Meiram Qarataev, born in 1991 -- who were added to an international wanted list.

On June 22, Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General's Office said the Central Asian nation's police had detained Zhaqanbaev and that they were trying to establish the whereabouts of Qarataev.

Natalya Sadyqova has said that Qarataev worked as a police officer in the northern Qostanai region. The Kazakh Interior Ministry, however, claimed that Qarataev had been sacked from the police force in 2019.

The Sadyqovs, along with their children, moved to Kyiv in 2014 after Kazakh authorities launched a case against Sadyqova, who worked as a journalist for the independent Respublika newspaper at the time. She was accused of slander.

Natalya Sadyqova said the attempted assassination against her husband appeared to be a "professional" operation.

On June 19, Sadyqova told RFE/RL that, hours before the attack, she and her husband had issued a new video titled Toqaev Is Putin's Puppet on their YouTube channel.

The video criticizes Toqaev's "pro-Russian politics" and looks at the activities of Russian oligarchs and agents of influence in Kazakhstan, some of whom obtained Kazakh citizenship after Russia launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

She added that Toqaev would have stood to gain from her husband's killing but did not present any evidence that connected the president in any way to the shooting.

Toqaev's spokesman, Berik Uali, said on June 21 that the Kazakh president "had ordered law enforcement entities to find the two suspects' whereabouts and undertake corresponding measures."

"Kazakhstan's side is ready to cooperate with Ukraine's law enforcement structures, including via Interpol," Uali said.

Sadyqov used to lead a branch of the opposition Azat Social Democratic Party in his native Aqtobe region in Kazakhstan's northwest until 2010.

He later headed a group that was a major force for establishing a union to defend the rights of Kazakh workers at the Chinese-owned CNPC-Aktobemunaygaz oil company.

Montenegrin authorities announced on June 27 an investigation into the country's ex-special prosecutor over his alleged links to war crimes committed during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Milivoje Katnic was arrested earlier this year. According to a statement from the Special State Prosecutor's Office, Katnic is “accused of inhumane treatment of certain civilians of Croatian nationality, including attacking, torturing, and physically injuring them.” Katnic is also suspected of lifting entry bans for members of a Serbian criminal gang. Officials in Montenegro have pledged to tackle corruption and organized crime as part of the country's bid to join the European Union.

A military court in Russia on June 27 sentenced a former Justice Ministry official who openly condemned Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine to 14 years in prison in absentia. The court also ordered Maria Mamedova to pay a fine of 600,000 rubles ($6,850). She was found guilty of "facilitating terrorism." It is not clear what the charge stemmed from. Russian officials earlier issued arrest warrants for Mamedova and her husband, Denis Mamedov, on charges of distributing false information about the Russian military. Mamedov was later sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison in absentia. The couple currently resides in the United States. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

A Russian satellite has broken up into more than 100 pieces of debris in orbit, forcing astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelter, U.S. space agencies said. There were no immediate details on what caused the breakup on June 26 of the RESURS-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, which was decommissioned in 2022. U.S. Space Command said on June 27 that there was no immediate threat as it tracked the debris swarm. It occurred in an orbit near the space station, prompting U.S. astronauts on board to shelter in their spacecraft for roughly an hour, NASA's Space Station office said.

Russian authorities on June 27 added Artyom Kriger, a journalist with the independent SotaVision Telegram channel, to the list of terrorists and extremists. The 23-year-old was arrested last week for cooperation with the team of late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, which was labeled extremist and banned in Russia in 2021. Kriger is known for interviews with Russian politicians. In May 2023, his uncle, Mikhail Kriger, was sentenced to seven years in prison on a charge of justifying terrorism, which he and his supporters reject as politically motivated. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

A Moscow court on June 27 issued an arrest warrant for journalist Farida Kurbangaleyeva on charges of justifying terrorism and the distribution of false information about Russia's military. Last week, Russian authorities added Kurbangaleyeva to their wanted list and the registry of terrorists and extremists. Kurbangaleyeva lives in Prague. Through the years, Kurbangaleyeva worked at various leading television channels in Russia and Current Time, the Russian-language TV and digital network run by RFE/RL, in Prague. She has a YouTube channel where she often interviews Ukrainian and Russian politicians and political observers. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, click here.

The U.S. National Press Club -- a professional association of American journalists -- and 18 other media freedom groups have called on President Joe Biden in a public letter to press for the recognition of RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who has been held in a Russian prison since last year, as a "wrongfully detained" person.

Kurmasheva, a Prague-based journalist who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenships, was taken into custody on October 18, 2023, on a charge of violating the so-called "foreign agent" law and distributing false information about Russia's military, a charge that could lead to a 10-year prison sentence.

SEE ALSO:

Who Are The Americans Behind Bars In Russia?

She, her employer, and her supporters reject the charges as politically motivated.

The U.S. government and Biden himself have called for her immediate release, saying the charges are punishment for Kurmasheva's work as a journalist for RFE/RL.

However, the U.S. State Department has so far failed to designate her as a "wrongfully detained" person, a move that would raise the profile of the case against Kurmasheva, effectively labeling it as politically motivated.

A statement issued by National Press Club President Emily Wilkins that accompanied the letter said two previous appeals to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the need to prioritize cases of detained American media workers remained unanswered.

"We have a section of the State Department designed for cases like Alsu’s -- the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs," the signatories of the letter said, adding that for her case to be transferred there, she needs to be declared wrongfully detained.

"She meets all the criteria. This should happen immediately. It should have happened months ago," the letter said.

"We have listened to the State Department twist itself into a pretzel explaining how there are other factors to be considered besides the criteria, but we have yet to hear a clear reason why State cannot declare her wrongfully detained," it continued.

Kurmasheva, who has worked for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service for some 25 years, left the Czech capital in mid-May 2023 because of a family emergency in her native Tatarstan.

She was briefly detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2, 2023, at the Kazan airport, where both of her passports and phone were confiscated.

After five months waiting for a decision in her case, Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 rubles ($112) for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities.

Unable to leave Russia without her travel documents, Kurmasheva was detained again in October and this time charged with failure to register as a "foreign agent." Two months later, she was charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military.

On June 18, Judge Rizvan Yusupov upheld last month's decision by a district court in Tatarstan's capital, Kazan, to extend her pretrial detention until at least August 5.

During the last hearing on May 31, Kurmasheva said that her health had deteriorated and that she needed surgery.

"It has taken Alsu's government far too long to step forward and say that her detention is wrongful," the letter said, calling on Biden to step in.

"Your State Department must declare Alsu wrongly detained now," it said.

Among the signatories of the letter are media watchdogs and professional organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Women Press Freedom, and the Coalition For Women in Journalism.

Two other Americans held in Russian custody, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, have both have been designated as "wrongfully detained" by the State Department.

Gershkovich went on trial on June 26 in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg following his arrest in March 2023 on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. authorities have vehemently rejected as politically motivated.

The chief of Russia's Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, said on June 27 that about 10,000 migrant workers with Russian passports have been sent to the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. Bastrykin called the move "a good feature that led to the situation when migrants started slowly leaving Russia." Bastrykin added that his committee had "caught" more than 30,000 migrants who obtained Russian citizenship but failed to register at military offices, a routine obligation for men in Russia. Central Asian governments have warned citizens working in Russia that they will face mercenary charges at home if they join the war in Ukraine to fight for either side. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Emergency officials in the Siberian region of Sakha-Yakutia said on June 27 that wildfires had spread to 600,000 hectares of land in the region, making it the largest territory in Russia hit by wildfires at the moment. In all, 170 sites in the region have been hit by wildfires since early May, destroying 2.5 million hectares of forest, which is 1 percent of all forest in Sakha-Yakutia. Since May, wildfire emergencies have been announced in other Siberian and Far East regions, such as Buryatia, Zabaikalye, and Khabarovsk. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, click here.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has expressed concern over recently adopted amendments to Tajikistan's law on the regulation of traditions and ceremonies, saying it worsens religious freedom violations in the Central Asian state.

The amendments, signed by President Emomali Rahmon on June 20, among other restrictions bans children's games of "idgardak" during two major Islamic holidays -- Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha -- and forbids the sale, import, promotion, and wearing of clothes that are "foreign to national culture."

That provision is considered as targeting traditional Islamic head scarves for women, known as hijab.

SEE ALSO:

Tajikistan Set To Outlaw Islamic Hijab After Years Of Unofficial Ban

Previously adopted regulations in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic have also imposed restrictions on circumcisions, baby-naming rituals, weddings, religious pilgrimage ceremonies, and funerals.

"The Tajik government, undeterred by the repeated CPC [country of particular concern] designations [by the U.S. government], continues to find new ways to further restrict religious freedom, as evident by its tightening of the already repressive 2007 traditions law," USCIRF Vice Chairman Eric Ueland said in the June 26 statement.

"While the State Department importantly designates Tajikistan as a CPC, naming and shaming is evidently not enough. The designation will only be effective if accompanied by actions, such as targeted sanctions or other consequences."

In an apparent attempt to target hijabs and other Islamic clothing, the Tajik government carried out a campaign to promote national dress in recent years.

In 2018, the government introduced a 376-page manual -- The Guidebook Of Recommended Outfits In Tajikistan -- which outlined what Tajik women should wear for different occasions.

The country has also unofficially banned bushy beards. Thousands of men in the past decade have reportedly been stopped by police and had their beards shaved off against their will.

"It is troubling to witness the recent onslaught of harassment against those who express their faith in ways that do not correspond with the state's preferred interpretation," USCIRF Commissioner Susie Gelman said.

"We urge the U.S. government to condition security assistance to the Tajik government on reform of the traditions law, the 2009 religion law, and all other legislation that criminalizes the peaceful expression of religion in the country," she added.

Russian Railways said on June 27 that two people were killed and one remained missing after nine of 14 passenger cars of the Vorkuta-Novorossiisk train derailed a day earlier in Russia's Komi region. The Health Ministry said 40 people were injured, while the railway had said the number of injured was 46. The head of the Komi region, Vladimir Uiba, said 10 people were hospitalized, including a 14-year-old girl, whose state was described as "very serious." In all, 215 passengers and Russian Railways workers were aboard the train when the accident occurred. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Kyrgyz lawmakers on June 27 approved the second and third readings of a bill requiring all judges in the Central Asian country to speak Kyrgyz at no less than the B1 intermediate level. Those without that proficiency will not be eligible to serve as judges. In July 2023, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed into law a bill that obliges all officials to be able to speak Kyrgyz for official purposes. Kyrgyz, a Turkic language, is Kyrgyzstan's state language, while Russian has the status of an official language. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

Chisinau has confirmed that Russian journalist Timofei Ilyushin has been released by the separatist authorities of Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region. Ilyushin, a reporter with the independent Russian online publication Sotavision (Sota), was released late on June 26, Moldova's Reintegration Bureau said on June 27. Sota reported that Ilyushin had been detained in Transdniester on June 24, while on assignment for an article. Ilyushin was declared an "undesirable" person in Russian-backed separatist Transdniester in March. In Russia, Sota was declared an "undesirable organization" in May, based on a 2015 law targeting NGOs that receive funding from foreign sources. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.