A Baku court ruled that partially paralyzed Azerbaijani activist Famil Xalilov must remain in detention as preliminary hearings into his case began on August 29. Xalilov was arrested in early May on a charge of possessing a large amount of illegal drugs with a goal to sell them. Xalilov rejects the charge as politically motivated. The activist, who has been known for criticism of the South Caucasus nation's government, has been on hunger strike since August 15, protesting his arrest. His lawyers have insisted that their client must be transferred to house arrest due to his medical condition. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, click here.

The Specialized Inter-District Court in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, on August 29 sentenced the already imprisoned ex-wife of a convicted nephew of the Central Asian nation's former authoritarian president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, to 12 years in prison.

Gulmira Satybaldy was found guilty of forcibly holding her relative and former business partner Abai Zhunusov in isolation against his will for 165 days in 2019 to force him to give up his stakes in several businesses.

Her former driver Madi Batyrshaev was convicted of assisting to forcibly hold a person in isolation and sentenced to nine years in prison.

Satybaldy is concurrently serving two sentences -- eight years for embezzlement and the illegal appropriation of shares and assets of several enterprises, and seven years for abduction and actions aiding the commission of a crime.

The sentences were handed down by a court in May and June last year.

The court ruled that Satybaldy must serve the new 12-year sentence concurrently, meaning that the total time to be spent in prison by Satybaldy would be 12 years.

Gulmira Satybaldy was arrested along with her ex-husband Qairat Satybaldy in March 2022. He was tried separately in September 2023 and sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of fraud and embezzlement.

On August 16, a court in Kazakhstan's eastern city of Oskemen replaced Qairat Satybaldy's six-year prison sentence with a suspended sentence.

Court No. 2 in the capital of the East Kazakhstan region ruled on August 16 that Qairat Satybaldy must be released with a suspended 40-month sentence, saying the once powerful businessman and politician had returned all the money he was accused of embezzling to the State Treasury.

The probes launched against the couple were part of a series of investigations targeting relatives and allies of Nazarbaev following unprecedented anti-government protests that turned into deadly mass disorders in early January 2022.

After the deadly events, the Kazakh regime began to quietly target Nazarbaev, his family, and other allies, many of whom held powerful or influential posts in government, security agencies, and profitable energy companies.

With reporting by Vlast.kz

Georgian national Viktor Kipritidi was killed last week in Ukraine while fighting alongside Ukrainian armed forces against Russia's ongoing invasion, his son told RFE/RL on August 29. The body of the 49-year-old Kipritidi is expected to be repatriated to Georgia on August 30. Kipritidi, a native of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, joined Kyiv's armed forces right after Russia launched its full-scale aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. He initially joined the Georgian Legion and later became a soldier of the Ukrainian armed forces. Kipritidi is the 70th Georgian national known to have been killed in the war. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Georgian Service, click here.

A court in Moscow has extended the detention and released the names of five more men suspected of being involved in the terror attack at the Crocus City entertainment center that claimed 145 lives near the Russian capital in late March.

The press service for Moscow's courts of common jurisdiction said on August 29 that the pretrial detention of Shahromjon Gadoev, Zubaidullo Ismoilov, Husein Hamidov, Mustaqim Soliev, and Umedjon Soliev had been extended until at least December 1.

Their names in the high-profile case had not been made public previously.

The men are accused of membership in a terrorist organization, preparing and implementing a terrorist attack, illegally possessing firearms, and illegally manufacturing explosive devices.

The attack at the Crocus City hall took place on March 22, 2024. A group of armed men rushed into the entertainment center where a concert was to be held, opened fire on civilians, and set the building on fire before fleeing.

Some 145 people, including six children, died in the attack, while more than 550 were wounded or injured.

In May, the chief of the Federal Security Service, Aleksandr Bortnikov, said more than 20 people suspected of involvement into the attack had been detained.

Later, the authorities said 12 men had been arrested in the case.

On August 16, a Moscow court extended the pretrial detention of four Tajik citizens -- Dalerjon Mirzoev, Saidakram Rajabalizoda, Shamsiddin Fariduni, and Muhammadsobir Faizov, who are suspected of carrying out the attack.

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Three other natives of Tajikistan, all members of one family -- Isroil Islomov, Dilovar Islomov, and Aminjon Islomov, as well as an ethnic Uzbek from Kyrgyzstan and Russian citizen Alisher Kasimov, were arrested for allegedly providing the attackers with accommodation, transportation, and communication.

An offshoot of the extremist Islamic State group known as Islamic State-Khorasan claimed responsibility for Russia’s worst terrorist attack in two decades.

Tajik authorities have officially condemned the treatment of the Tajik suspects amid allegations that the detainees were tortured in custody.

SEE ALSO:

What A Missed Terror Warning Says About U.S.-Russian Ties And Putin's Thinking

The Kremlin has insisted without evidence that Ukraine, with the help of the United States, was responsible for the attack. Both Kyiv and Washington have dismissed the accusation.

The attack was seen as a major failure for Russia's security and intelligence services. The United States has said it gave specific information ahead of time, warning of a possible terrorist attack. Iran also reportedly provided a tip ahead of time.

French President Emmanuel Macron starts a landmark visit to Serbia on August 29 during which he is expected to tackle Belgrade's progress toward integration into the European Union, the sale of French Rafale war aircraft to Belgrade, and cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.

The two-day visit will include a meeting between Macron and populist nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic, who has also maintained good relations with Serbia's traditional ally, Russia, despite Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Despite Vucic's ambiguous stance on Western sanctions against Russia, Macron's visit is "positive news," according to Emanuele Giaufret, the head of the EU delegation to Belgrade, who on August 28 said the visit was an important step on Serbia’s path to eventual integration into the European Union.

Macron and Vucic are expected to meet in Belgrade in the evening, when the signing of a deal worth 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) for 12 Rafale multipurpose fighter jets is expected to be announced.

Along with the signing, Macron will unveil a plaque marking the completion of modernization works at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport; travel to Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city, to visit the Gallery of Matica Srpska, one of the largest and oldest art galleries in Serbia; and give a speech at the Forum on Youth and Artificial Intelligence.

"It is part of the engagement of the member countries working to strengthen bilateral relations with Serbia, and it is also important in the context of Serbia's European path," Giaufret told reporters at a school exchange program event in Belgrade, Beta agency reported.

The Elysee Palace previously announced that Macron will confirm his support for Serbia's European integration and that his visit will be an opportunity to talk with Vucic about the economy, health care, energy, culture, and artificial intelligence.

Macron's visit comes less than five months after he hosted the Serbian president in Paris. It will be the second visit of the French president to Serbia in the last five years, following the strengthening of relations between the two countries.

Serbia, which has been a candidate for membership in the European Union since 2012, has irritated the European Union by maintaining ties with Russia during its war of aggression against Ukraine and by refusing to impose sanctions on Moscow over its war.

The European Union told Serbia on August 15 that this behavior is not compatible with EU values and the accession process. Brussels also said the EU "wants to count on all candidate countries as reliable European partners for common principles, values, security, and prosperity."

The reaction followed meetings between Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Kremlin officials in Moscow along with claims of intelligence cooperation with Russia.

While in Moscow, Vulin repeated that he is proud that Serbia is "not part of the anti-Russian hysteria" and has not joined the Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Macron's speech at the Forum on Youth and Artificial Intelligence is seen as recognition of Serbia's progress in the burgeoning AI industry.

"Serbia's international credibility in the field of AI was recognized through its successful candidacy for the presidency of the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence 2025," the French Embassy told RFE/RL on August 29.

The Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) is an international initiative founded in 2020.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on August 29 that it has launched a probe on fraud charges against former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov, part of an ongoing campaign against top military officials.

The Investigative Committee added that Popov, who is a general in the Russian Army, was detained.*

Popov, who was sacked from the post in June after serving 11 years as a deputy defense minister, is suspected of illegal enrichment via fraudulent activities linked to his supervision of the operations of the Defense Ministry's Patriot Park near Moscow in 2021-24.

Investigators say Popov carried out his alleged illegal activities along with Patriot Park Director Vyacheslav Akhmedov and the deputy chief of the Defense Ministry's Department for Innovative Development, Major General Vladimir Shesterov.

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Both Akhmedov and Shesterov were arrested in early August on embezzlement charges.

According to the Investigative Committee, Popov is suspected of organizing construction and repair works at his property near Moscow using finances allocated for the Patriot Park.

"Investigations revealed that...Popov and members of his family also own multiple properties in prestigious sites in Moscow, the Moscow region, and the Krasnodar Krai," the committee said.

The value of the buildings involved is more than 500 million rubles ($5,463,000), the Investigative Committee's statement said, adding that the legality of the ownership of the buildings is being investigated.

Several top military and Defense Ministry officials have been arrested on corruption charges since President Vladimir Putin dismissed close ally Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May and replaced him with former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.

Patriot Park was launched in 2016 and occupies more than 3,500 hectares. It includes military museums, a site for the reconstruction of historic battles, and the military's main Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection.

Some media reports said the construction and development of the park was supervised by Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov.

Ivanov, who holds the rank of major general, was arrested in April on bribe-taking charges. He pleaded not guilty. Shortly after his arrest, two businessmen -- Sergei Borodin and Aleksandr Fomin -- were also arrested in the case.

In mid-May, the chief of the Defense Ministry's Main Human Resources Department, Lieutenant General Yury Kuznetsov, was also arrested on bribe-taking charges.

On May 21, Major General Ivan Popov (no relation to Pavel Popov), the former commander of Russia's 58th Army who once complained about his forces' lack of support from Moscow, was arrested on fraud charges. Last month, he was transferred to house arrest.

On May 22, a Moscow court sent to pretrial detention the deputy chief of the armed forces' General Staff, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, on bribery charges.

Also in May, investigators arrested Vladimir Verteletsky, a top official of the Defense Ministry's Department for Handling Armament Orders, on a charge of abuse of power.

Last month, Russian officials confirmed the sudden death of Ivanov's direct subordinate, Magomed Khandayev, in June.

*CORRECTION: A previous version of this story identified Popov as a former defense minister. He was a deputy defense minister.

The Netherlands has allowed the use of F-16s it donated to Ukraine to be used on Russian territory, the commander of the Dutch armed forces told public broadcaster NOS on August 29. "We have not imposed any restrictions on the use and range of the F-16s, provided that the laws of war are observed," General Onno Eichelsheim told NOS. Speaking from the United States, Eichelsheim said his American colleagues "partly" agreed with his position. The Netherlands has pledged 24 F-16s to Ukraine, with the first due to arrive soon. Eichelsheim declined to say if any are currently in operation.

Two senior officers with Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed in a gas leak in the central province of Isfahan, the IRGC's Sahib al-Zaman regional center announced in a statement on August 29.

Another 10 people were taken to the hospital with injuries after the incident at an IRGC workshop on the evening of August 28, the statement added, without specifying whether an explosion or gas inhalation caused the deaths and injuries.

The statement identified the two officers who were killed as Captain Mojtaba Nazari and Lieutenant Colonel Mukhtar Morshidi.

The statement did not say what activities were under way at the workshop affected by the incident and did not give its precise location nor the region of Isfahan Province where the incident occurred.

Iranian authorities usually give only skeletal details of such incidents.

The statement came amid heightened regional tensions following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran.

Iran has accused Israel of killing Hanyieh, who was the political leader of the radical Islamist group Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Israel, which has been engaged in a war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage, has not admitted officially that it was behind Hanyieh's death.

On April 19, Israel launched a limited air strike on a defense facility near the city of Isfahan, prompting Iranian air defenses to open fire.

The Israeli strike reportedly targeted an air-defense radar system at the defense facility, and satellite imagery suggested that an Iranian surface-to-air missile battery was struck.

The Israeli strike came in apparent response to an Iranian drone and missile strike in Israel, which was prompted by a strike by the Jewish state on the Iranian Consulate in Syria's capital, Damascus.

A court in Russia on August 28 extended the pretrial detention of saxophonist Andrei Shabanov, who has a very serious medical condition, for another six months over his anti-war stance. Shabanov, who has several autoimmune diseases, as well as a serious spinal condition, accused the judge of ignoring his state of health and removed his shirt, revealing severe lesions all over his body. Shabanov was arrested in April and charged with making online calls for terrorism, which he and his supporters reject. The charge stems from Shabanov's online posts condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union have held their first international "memory marathon" to raise awareness of the deportation and persecution of the group under brutal dictator Josef Stalin and through into post-Soviet Russia.

The chairman of the Association of Ethnic Germans of Ukraine Vyacheslav Bodrov (aka Redekopp) told RFE/RL that the event, which began on August 26 and ended on August 28, was held in Germany, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the United States.

"This is the first [international] event held by ethnic Germans from the post-Soviet space to express solidarity in different countries and attract attention to the big problem," he said of the single largest and one of the oldest diaspora groups in the former Soviet Union that is connected to a foreign state.

"Through the marathon, we remind about the suffering of the German minority in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, and also focus on the destinies of the successors of those who survived the deportation," Bodrov added.

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According to Bodrov, before Russia launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the major problem faced by ethnic Germans in Russia was assimilation.

But since the Kremlin launched its offensive, ethnic German males have been actively recruited to the war in Ukraine.

Bodrov said more than 500 ethnic Germans recruited to Russia's aggression have been killed in Ukraine.

German organizations in Russia are currently divided over the war, with one part openly condemning the full-scale aggression against Ukraine, while the other is trying to keep a low profile and avoid the war, Bodrov said.

"People in Germany very often have no idea about our problems. German authorities responsible for solving problems faced by ethnic Germans in post-Soviet countries report that there are no problems. But it is a big problem to enter Germany for ethnic Germans from the post-Soviet states because of German law," Bodrov added.

As part of raising awareness over the situation, ethnic Germans held pickets in front of the German Consulate in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty; the UN Office in Bonn; the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg; Amnesty International's headquarters in Dusseldorf; the Federal Administrative Office in Cologne; the White House in Washington; and in several U.S. cities.

At least one single-person picket was held in Russia.

The picketers held placards with slogans saying: "Kremlin Sends Russia's Germans to Die," "80 Years of Assimilation and Ethnocide," "Save German Minority in the Former Soviet Union," and "Russia's Germans Are Hostages Of Russian-German Business."

Bodrov said he and his organizations have sent letters of awareness to several European institutions, urging them to help ethnic Germans from the post-Soviet space obtain refugee status in Germany and other European nations.

"Germany and Russia have been unable to solve the problem of ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union in the last 30 years. It means the problem is now international," Bodrov said.

Ethnic Germans in the post-Soviet space are successors of Germans invited to the Russian Empire in the 18th century by Russian empress Catherine the Great, who was German herself.

In the autumn of 1941, shortly after Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Soviet authorities dissolved the German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Volga area and deported at least 400,000 ethnic Germans to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Siberia.

In the late 1980s and early '90s, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans emigrated from the former Soviet Union, mostly from Kazakhstan, to Germany.

Human rights groups and media reports have said that since Russia started its invasion against Ukraine, Moscow has been mostly recruiting representatives of ethnic minorities to the war.

A Pakistani Army colonel and several members of his immediate families have been abducted, authorities said early on August 29. The officer, two of his brothers, and a nephew were kidnapped while attending a family funeral in the Kalach area of Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, security sources told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal. The banned Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in a message to Radio Mashaal, adding that those kidnapped were safe. The incident comes after the government launched an operation against militants that it says are coming into Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.

KYIV -- Ukraine on August 29 commemorated those who have fallen defending the country's independence as Russia unleashed fresh strikes on Kyiv and across the country.

Ukraine's air defenses shot down more than 10 Russian drones over Kyiv in the third large-scale attack on the Ukrainian capital in four days, the city's administration reported.

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"The third air attack on Kyiv in the last four days! A mass attack again! This time, they used exclusively attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)," Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Telegram, adding that the attack came from the occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson region and from Russia's Kursk region.

Popko said drone debris ignited a fire that was put out by firefighters and added that there were no immediate reports of casualties or material damage.

The latest attacks on Ukraine came as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with the EU foreign ministers in Brussels and urged them to expedite deliveries of promised air defense systems.

"I conveyed a sense of urgency regarding the delivery of already pledged military aid, including air defense systems," Kuleba said on X on August 29 as Ukraine marked the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine.

The holiday marked the 10th anniversary of the battle of Ilovaisk, in the Donetsk region, when hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed by Russian troops on August 24, 2014, as they began to withdraw from the Russia-encircled town, despite the Russian military giving assurances that the withdrawal would be allowed to proceed peacefully.

General Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said the holiday serves as a perpetual warning about what he called the treachery of the Russian aggressor.

"Ilovaisk is not only a tragic event in the history of Ukraine but also a page of Ukrainian indomitability. It is an act and feat of the Ukrainian military. Let's remember that despite the loss and deception of the enemy, our soldiers did not give up but kept attempting to break out of the trap and fight," Syrskiy said in a message on Telegram.

"This day will always remind us of the treachery of the Russian aggressor [and will remind us] that any negotiations with terrorists and murderers are a mortally dangerous business, and that they cannot be trusted," he added.

Separately, Ukraine's General Staff on August 29 confirmed that it was behind three drone strikes the previous day that targeted Russian oil depots and an ammunition storage facility.

The General Staff said that the strike on the oil depot in the Kamensky district of Russia's Rostov region was carried out by units of the Special Operations Forces of the military and the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) in cooperation with other branches of Ukraine's defense forces.

It also claimed responsibility for a strike on the Zenit oil depot in the Kirov region, some 1,500 kilometers northeast of the Ukrainian border, and one on the ammunition depot of the artillery group Zapad in Russia's Voronezh region.

In Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on August 29 that one person had been killed and two wounded by Ukrainian strikes.

Gladkov said on Telegram that "the town of Shebekino was targeted by Ukrainian forces" and "unfortunately, one person was killed."

Ukraine has not commented on the claim, which could not be independently confirmed.

The Romanian government on August 28 approved the start of negotiations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the purchase of a major stake in Moldova's Danube River port of Giurgiulesti.

The port, located near Moldova's borders with Romania and Ukraine, is 134 kilometers from the Black Sea and can be accessed by river and sea vessels.

Two different port infrastructure entities operate in Giurgiulesti -- Giurgiulesti State Port and Giurgiulesti International Free Port. The Moldovan government said on August 28 that it does not intend to sell the state port.

The negotiations will take place with the operator of the Giurgiulesti International Free Port, Danube Logistics SRL, which was acquired by the EBRD in 2021.

The Romanian government approved a memorandum to form a negotiation commission and begin talks with the EBRD to acquire Danube Logistics SRL. The purchase would be made through a company controlled by the Romanian state through the Transport Ministry.

"The Romanian state has expressed interest to buy the shares given competition between Constanta port and the other Black Sea ports and those of other EU states, as well as the expansion of Constanta port and its transformation into a market leader for central and southeast Europe," the memorandum said.

A Moldovan government spokesperson said EBRD is negotiating with several potential investors, including from Romania, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

The Romanian government did not specify when it expected negotiations to take place or how much it was willing to pay, but it appears to be under pressure to start negotiations because the Bulgarian company MBF Port Burgas has already shown interest in Giurgiulesti.

MBF Port Burgas operates two terminals in the Port of Burgas in southern Bulgaria and is part of Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar). Until 2008, Navibulgar was the largest shipping company owned by the government in Sofia.

After the privatization, Navibulgar ended up in the portfolio of billionaire brothers Kiril Domuschiev and Georgi Petrov Domuschiev, who are close to former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

RFE/RL contacted MBF Port Burgas for comment but didn't receive a response.

An EBRD official confirmed to RFE/RL that the bank wants to sell its stake in the port of Giurgiulesti and is interested in making the process transparent.

"EBRD wants to find a reputable buyer for the port. We are often approached by various interested buyers, but we are currently focusing on working with the government of the Republic of Moldova to pave the way for a transparent sale process," the EBRD official said.

Romania's main Black Sea port of Constanta has seen an influx of investment, including EU funds to increase its capacity, since becoming Ukraine's biggest alternative grain export route following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

According to the memorandum, taking into account the competition between the Port of Constanta and the other ports of the Black Sea basin and of the EU member states, the purchase of Giurgiulesti International Free Port would help to expand the port of Constanta and transform it into a market leader for Central and Southeastern Europe.

The Romanian state's interest in the port was announced last year by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Through this investment, Romania will become one of the most important international hubs for the reconstruction of Ukraine after the end of the war, he said at the time.

With reporting by Reuters

It is "positive news" that French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Serbia, said the head of the Delegation of the European Union, Emanuele Giaufret, in Belgrade on August 28, assessing the visit as an important step in Serbia’s path to the European Union.

The two-day visit, set to begin on August 29, will include a meeting between Macron and President Aleksandar Vucic and is also expected to see the signing of an armament deal to sell French fighter jets to Serbia.

Along with the signing, Macron will unveil a plaque marking the completion of modernization works at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport, visit the Matica Srpska Gallery in Novi Sad, and give a speech at the Forum on Youth and Artificial Intelligence.

"It is part of the engagement of the member countries working to strengthen bilateral relations with Serbia, and it is also important in the context of Serbia's European path," Giaufret told reporters at a school exchange program event in Belgrade, Beta agency reported.

The Elysee Palace previously announced that Macron will confirm his support for Serbia's European integration and that his visit will be an opportunity to talk with Vucic about the economy, health care, energy, culture, and artificial intelligence.

Macron's visit comes less than five months after he hosted the Serbian president in Paris. It will be the second visit of the French president to Serbia in the last five years, following the strengthening of relations between the two countries.

SEE ALSO:

Serbian Deputy PM Discusses Improving Belgrade's Ties With Russia In Lavrov Meeting

Serbia, which has been a candidate for membership in the European Union since 2012, has irritated the European Union by maintaining ties with Russia during its war of aggression against Ukraine and by refusing to impose sanctions on Moscow over its war.

The European Union told Serbia on August 15 that this behavior is not compatible with EU values and the accession process. Brussels also said the EU "wants to count on all candidate countries as reliable European partners for common principles, values, security, and prosperity."

The reaction followed meetings between Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Kremlin officials in Moscow along with claims of intelligence cooperation with Russia.

While in Moscow, Vulin repeated that he is proud that Serbia is "not part of the anti-Russian hysteria" and has not joined the Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 28 that it had added 92 people, most of whom are U.S. citizens, including journalists from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, to its sanctions list. The ministry said the move was in response to what it called Washington's "Russophobic policies" and sanctions imposed on Russian politicians, businesspeople, scholars, entertainers, and journalists following Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The total number of American citizens added to Russia's sanctions list is now 2,078.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to mount a counteroffensive to try to retake territory in the Kursk region captured by Ukrainian troops, Deputy CIA Director David Cohen will on August 28. "We can be certain that Putin will mount a counteroffensive to try to reclaim that territory," Cohen said at a national-security industry conference. "Our expectation is that that will be a difficult fight for the Russians." While Kyiv has said it has no intention of annexing the area it has captured, Ukrainian troops are building defensive lines and it appears that they intend to retain "some of that territory for some period of time," Cohen said at the conference held in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said late on August 27 that Russian singers Stas Mikhailov, Filipp Kirkorov, and Lyusya Chebotina, who openly supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will perform at Kyrgyzstan's Independence Day celebrations on August 31. There has been opposition to the performances because of the singers' support for Russia's war in Ukraine, as many say it violates another former Soviet republic's sovereignty and independence. Protesters also demanded authorities reveal how much the Russian entertainers will be paid. Japarov, however, said the performances are being done for free. Earlier in the day, Culture Minister Altynbek Maksutov also defended the Russian singers' participation in the celebrations. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

A Russian court on August 28 sentenced a supporter of late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to 30 months in prison on charges of "taking part in an extremist group's activities" and "vandalism." Twenty-year-old Artemy Perevozchikov was arrested in March 2023 after he painted graffiti slogans demanding Navalny's release from prison and an end to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Navalny's organizations were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in 2021. The Kremlin critic died in February while serving a 19-year term in an Arctic prison on charges his supporters and human rights groups called politically motivated. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Idel.Realities, click here.

At least nine people were killed by fresh Russian attacks on two Ukrainian regions on August 28 as Kyiv's drones struck three Russian regions, setting an oil depot on fire in Russia's Rostov region.

Several of those killed were in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, where fighting has been going on for several months as Russian troops press their offensive toward the regional hub of Pokrovsk.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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"This morning, Russians killed four people and destroyed a house in Izmaylivka in the Kurakhove community," Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

Filashkin said that two more people were killed by Russian shelling in Chasiv Yar, in the region's Bakhmut district, which was the scene last year of a monthslong clash between Ukrainian forces and attacking mercenaries from the notorious Wagner Group.

A total of 16 houses and two high-rise buildings were also damaged in the shelling, Filashkin said.

In the Kharkiv region, Russian forces launched a guided aerial bomb on the center of Kupyansk, injuring 14 people, including three police officers, the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office said.

The head of the regional military administration, Oleh Synyehubov, said hundreds of windows in residential and municipal buildings were damaged as a result of the shelling. Other administrative buildings, shops, and civil infrastructure were also damaged, Synyehubov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the air strike on Kupyansk had resulted in several deaths but didn't say how many. He also again urged Western leaders to allow Ukraine to use the weapons their countries have provided for long-range strikes against Russian targets.

Zelenskiy in his evening video message said the situation in Pokrovsk and other areas in Donetsk region was "extremely difficult."

"The key Russian efforts and the largest forces are concentrated there, and the stability of each of our units, our ability to destroy the occupier, is very important now," Zelenskiy said.

In Ukraine's southern region of Zaporizhzhya, a Russian drone attack killed three people -- two women and a man -- the region's Governor Ivan Fedorov said.

"Two women aged 83 and 86 and a 61-year-old man died, three more women aged 19, 30, 56, and a 59-year-old man were wounded as a result of a Russian drone attack," Fedorov said.

Kryviy Rih, in the southern region Dnipropetrovsk region, was again targeted on August 28 by a Russian missile strike that wounded three people, regional Governor Serhiy Lysak reported, a day after another Russian Iskander missile hit a hotel in the city, killing four people.

Lysak said infrastructure and cars also sustained damage in the city.

Meanwhile, Russian officials and Telegram channels reported Ukrainian drone strikes on three regions of Russia, including a first attack on a remote Russian region.

Ukraine, whose civilian and energy infrastructure has been battered by relentless Russian strikes since the start of Moscow's unprovoked invasion in February 2022, has in turn resorted in recent months to targeting oil and fuel installations inside Russia that mainly work for the military.

The governor of the southern Russian region of Rostov, Vasily Golubev, confirmed reports on Russian Telegram channels of a fire at an oil depot in the Kamensky district.

A strong explosion occurred before the fire broke out at the depot located close to the village of Molodezhny, reports on Telegram said.

"In the Kamensky district, as a result of a drone attack, a fire broke out at a fuel depot. There are no casualties. Emergency response forces are involved in the extinguishing the blaze. There is no threat of fire spreading to residential buildings," Golubev wrote on Telegram.

Golubev said earlier that four drones had been shot down by Russian air defense systems above his region.

Baza, a Telegram channel with close ties to Russia's security services, said debris from two drones ignited a fire at three storage tanks in the Kamensky district.

Videos posted on Telegram purported to show what appeared to be large fuel tanks burning in the dark.

Ukraine has not commented on the information, which could not be independently confirmed immediately.

In another Rostov district, Proletarsk, fuel tanks were reportedly still on fire some 10 days after they were hit by Ukrainian drones.

In the southwestern Voronezh region, Governor Aleksandr Gusev reported a fire "near explosive objects," likely an ammunition depot.

He said there were no casualties among civilians, but the residents of two nearby villages had been temporarily evacuated by bus as a precaution before being returned to their homes.

Suspected Ukrainian drones also attacked the Kirov region, some 1,500 kilometers northeast of Ukraine's border. The drones targeted an oil storage facility in the regional city of Kotelnich.

Kirov Governor Aleksandr Sokolov reported that there were no casualties as a result of the attack and no fire ensued. According to him, "the situation is under control."

The government in Russia's Kursk region said on August 28 that it would introduce additional security measures in the Kurchatov district and at the Kursk nuclear plant from August 29.

Aleksei Smirnov, governor of the Kursk region, said entry to the town of Kurchatov, where the plant is located, would be temporarily restricted.

Ukrainian forces began an incursion into the Kursk region on August 6, and fighting has taken place within about 40 kilometers of the nuclear facility.

The Ukrainian military said it had shot down a Russian Su-25 plane in Kramatorsk, in the eastern region of Donetsk.

"In the direction of Kramatorsk, our military shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft that was trying to fire at the positions of units of the Defense Forces. Antiaircraft forces employed "a well-aimed shot from a MANPADS system," to destroy the plane, the military said in a statement.

MANPADS (Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems) are lightweight and highly mobile antiaircraft weapons.

NATO members meeting in Brussels on August 28 reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen Ukraine's defenses.

"Ukraine continues to intercept Russian missiles on a daily basis, saving countless lives. But Ukraine's ability to maintain their defenses requires increased supply and more support," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.

"In the wake of the latest Russian assault, Allies today reaffirmed they are stepping up their military aid to Ukraine," Stoltenberg said. "We must continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment and munitions it needs to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. This is vital for Ukraine’s ability to stay in the fight."

Telegram chief Pavel Durov has been indicted on charges of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app and placed under judicial supervision, the Paris prosecutor's office said on August 28.

Durov is required to report to the police station twice a week and is prohibited from leaving France, the prosecutor's office said in a statement posted on X. Investigative judges in Paris also ordered the Russian-born co-founder and CEO of Telegram to pay 5 million euros bail.

Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on August 24 and held for questioning. According to French media reports, this was done at the request of a special unit within France's Interior Ministry in charge of investigating crimes against minors.

The allegations against Durov include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators as required by law.

The first preliminary charge against him is for "complicity in managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organized group,'' a crime that can lead to sentences of up to 10 years in prison and a 500,000 euro fine, the prosecutor's office said.

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Preliminary charges under French law mean magistrates have strong reason to believe a crime was committed but allow more time for further investigation.

Telegram said in a statement on August 25 that Durov had nothing to hide, adding it was absurd to hold an owner responsible for the abuse of the messaging and social media platform.

His lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, echoed that statement after the preliminary charges were announced on August 28.

"It is totally absurd to think that the head of a social network...could be involved in criminal acts" that could be committed on the messaging service, Kaminski said, adding that Telegram "complies in all respects with European rules concerning digital technology."

In addition to Russian and French citizenships, Durov holds passports from the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The U.A.E. Foreign Ministry said it was "closely following the case" and had asked France to provide Durov "with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner."

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 27 that the allegations against Durov were "very serious" and that "they require evidence that is just as serious" to erase the suspicions of many that the billionaire's arrest was politically motivated.

Without substantial evidence, "we are witnessing a direct attempt to restrict freedom of communication and, one might even say, direct intimidation of the head of a large company," Peskov said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to allay such suspicion, saying on August 26 that Durov's arrest was solely part of an independent investigation.

In a post on X, Macron said France is "deeply committed" to freedom of expression but that "freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights."

Telegram was founded by Durov and his brother in 2013 in the wake of the Russian government's crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow in 2011 and 2012.

One of its main advantages is the encryption of communications and the anonymity of users. In groups, the user's phone number is not visible.

In his first major interview in seven years, which he gave to U.S. conservative media figure Tucker Carlson on April 17, Durov vowed that Telegram aims to be a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics."

Critics in Ukraine, however, say it spreads misinformation and facilitates illegal actions. Some accuse Telegram of having ties to the Russian state and of contributing to its war effort.

Telegram, based in Dubai, boasts more than 900 million users, the majority of them in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics, and is the third-largest communication platform worldwide after WhatsApp and Messenger.

But Telegram has proved to be a powerful tool in spreading disinformation. A 2023 investigative journalism report found it to be the largest platform for disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2022 it ran it afoul of authorities in Germany, who issued fines of 5.1 million euros ($5 million) against the operators of Telegram for failing to comply with German law.

A third member of a Belarusian family has been told to leave Sweden by September 3 after a relative was arrested in Belarus following his deportation after being denied political asylum.

Family members told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on August 28 that the man, along with his mother, was deported on August 21. The detained man's sister, meanwhile, is scheduled to be deported to Belarus by next week.

The family arrived in Sweden in 2022 saying a probe had been launched in Belarus against them over their participation in mass protests in 2020 against the official results of a presidential election that handed victory to authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid opposition claims the vote was rigged.

The father of the family died in a Belarusian prison, the relatives said, asking that their family name not be published. All of them had taken part in anti-Lukashenka rallies in Belarus that lasted for months after the election, they said.

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After the father was arrested in fall of 2022, the mother and son fled Belarus for Sweden using Italian visas. The daughter joined them afterward, with all three requesting political asylum in Sweden.

The father had been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of insulting Lukashenka, inciting hatred, and organizing mass unrest. RFE/RL obtained documents confirming the man's death in Belarusian custody in August 2023.

The daughter told RFE/RL that the Swedish authorities were reluctant to consider their applications for asylum because they entered Sweden on Italian visas. The woman said her mother and brother were sent to Belarus via Lithuania.

"They deported them by plane. Mom said it all was carried out with violence against them. My brother resisted a little; my mother was handcuffed -- like some sort of murderer," the woman said.

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According to her, Lithuanian officials then brought her mother and brother to the neutral zone along the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. The brother was then arrested on unspecified charges, while the mother was allowed to travel on to Minsk.

Her brother's exact whereabouts and the exact charges he faces remain unknown.

Swedish human rights defender Martin Ugla told RFE/RL that his country's legislation regarding political asylum is very complex, and while the case is "outrageous, it's not a surprise."

"The fact is that in order to get asylum in Sweden, you need to prove very clearly that you are in danger of being detained at home. And it is difficult, including in cases concerning Belarus. We know what is happening there, but it is very difficult to prove that it is you who will be detained," Ugla said.

According to the Swedish human rights defender, after 2020, only about 3 percent of Belarusians who applied for asylum in Sweden received it. The rest were forced to look for other ways of legalization or ask for asylum in other countries.

The former editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov has called on the Red Cross to intervene to alleviate the situation of Aleksei Gorinov, who is serving a 7-year sentence that rights groups and his supporters say is politically motivated.

Gorinov, 63, a former Moscow municipal lawmaker, was sentenced in July 2022 for spreading "fake news" about the Russian military because of his stance in opposition to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

In November 2023, a new criminal case was opened against him for "justifying terrorism."

Muratov sent the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric-Egger, a request to assist in providing medical assistance to Gorinov.

"The consequences of inaction are obvious. I ask you, Ms. Spoljaric, to facilitate the provision of medical assistance and to intervene to stop the torture of Aleksei Gorinov by authorities. I again ask you for an urgent inspection by the Red Cross into places where internationally recognized political prisoners are held in Russia and Belarus," Novaya Gazeta quotes Muratov's letter as saying.

Novaya Gazeta writes that Gorinov was not issued a mattress or blanket, does not have hot water or a working toilet, and is deprived of books, letters, and phone calls. The publication says that due to his complete isolation, Gorinov has begun to forget words.

"He is facing a second sentence -- in a case regarding conversations he had with cellmates in which he allegedly justified terrorism," Novaya Gazeta writes, adding that the accusation is based on false testimonies by other prisoners.

"The word of a criminal against the word of a political prisoner is, of course, more significant; Gorinov will be given an extra sentence. He will certainly not live to see the end of it," Novaya Gazeta writes.

Gorinov was the first individual to receive a prison term under the article on the dissemination of "fake" information about the Russian military, which was added to the Russian Criminal Code after the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Gorinov underwent surgery to remove part of one lung in 2016. His support group has repeatedly reported on his health problems in prison.

Afghanistan is one of the largest recipients of humanitarian aid from the European Union, EU officials said on August 27, one day after saying it was appalled by a new decree issued by the Taliban-led government further restricting the lives of women.

The European Union this year has provided 125 million euros ($139 million) to Afghanistan for humanitarian-aid purposes, Balazs Ujvari, European Commission spokesman for budget, human resources, humanitarian aid, and crisis management, said at a European Commission news briefing in Brussels.

In addition to classic aid distribution, the EU has also organized 35 “air-bridge” flights carrying 1,600 tons of aid since 2021.

“This shows that in a broad variety of areas, we are deploying a variety of humanitarian and civil-protection tools as well to try and alleviate the ongoing difficulties in the country," Ujvari said.

European Commission chief spokesman Eric Mamer added that when the EU distributes humanitarian aid, it works with partner organizations, not the government.

Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said the EU reacted very quickly on August 26 to the Taliban’s so-called Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, but at the same time she defended keeping ties with the Taliban.

“When it comes to the engagement with the Taliban, we do maintain contact...to allow the dialogue for political priories of the EU and to ensure that the EU can provide support to the Afghan people, and this is very important,” she said at the briefing. “The EU engagement with the Taliban is not an acknowledgement of legitimacy.”

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In addition to saying it was appalled by the August 26 decree, the EU statement called it a “serious blow undermining the rights of Afghan women and girls, which we cannot tolerate.”

The decree imposes further restrictive dress codes for women and says that voices of women must not be heard in public, “which effectively deprives Afghan women of their fundamental right to freedom of expression,” the EU statement said.

The European Union said the decree, issued on the third anniversary of a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 13 U.S. soldiers and scores of Afghans during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal, also gives the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice a mandate to enforce it.

“This, together with the restrictions imposed, punishable under Taliban law, violates legal obligations and treaties to which Afghanistan is a state party, including by undermining Afghan people’s right to due process,” the EU statement said.

It also noted that the decree creates another obstacle to normalized relations and recognition by the international community -- goals that the Taliban publicly aspires to.

The German War Graves Commission held a ceremony on August 27 in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas to mark the 1 millionth German war dead reburied since the end of the Cold War. The commission buried the remains of World War II soldier Max Beyreuther along with the remains of 78 other fallen soldiers at the Kaunas German War Cemetery. Beyreuther, a medical officer in the German Army, died in October 1944 at the age of 32. He has been identified as the 1 millionth German soldier to be reburied since the Volksbund gained access to sites in Eastern Europe more than 30 years ago. Germany and Russia in 1992 signed the War Graves Agreement to allow for the exhumation and proper reburial of soldiers killed in action, primarily in World War II.

Kyrgyz Culture Minister Altynbek Maksutov in a televised interview on August 27 defended the participation of Russian entertainers who have openly supported Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine in celebrations of Kyrgyzstan's upcoming Independence Day. There has been online opposition to the scheduled performances of Russian singers Filipp Kirkorov, Stas Mikhailov, and Lyusya Chebotina at public celebrations on August 31. The protesters oppose their participation, saying their support for the war violates another former Soviet republic's sovereignty and independence. Maksutov said the protesters should not attend the Russian singers' performances if they do not like them. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.