A Russian nuclear-powered submarine will visit Havana next week, Cuba's communist authorities said on June 6. The nuclear submarine Kazan, which will not be carrying nuclear weapons, and three other Russian naval vessels -- the missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, an oil tanker, and a salvage tug -- will dock in the Cuban capital from June 12-17, Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces Ministry said. The unusual deployment of the powerful Russian submarine so close to the United States comes amid major tensions over the war in Ukraine. During the Cold War, the deployment of Soviet nuclear missile sites on the island triggered the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

A Polish soldier stabbed by a migrant at the border with Belarus has died, the country's army command said on June 6. The soldier, identified only by his first name, Mateusz, was stabbed through a 5-meter-high metal fence while he was patrolling the border, local media said. The Polish Army also reported two other attacks on troops at the border last week, with one soldier stabbed by a knife affixed to a stick and another suffering facial injuries after being attacked with a broken bottle. Poland has accused Russia of orchestrating an influx of migrants into Poland through Kremlin ally Belarus.

ASTANA -- Kazakhstan's Supreme Court has canceled a seven-year prison sentence handed to a man in a high-profile trial related to the death of a 4-year-old girl during deadly unrest in Kazakhstan in January 2022.

The Supreme Court's officials told RFE/RL on June 6 that the case was sent to a court of appeals for assessment, adding that the decision was made at a hearing held behind closed doors.

The man who was sentenced in the case, Arman Zhuman, a member of the military, had been found guilty of abuse of power in November, but on March 28, a military court in Astana annulled the case.

Aikorkem Meldekhan, 4, was shot dead in the Central Asian nation's largest city, Almaty, by what the court concluded was military personnel, when she and other members of her family were in a car on their way to a grocery store on January 7, 2022.

The vehicle was sprayed with at least 20 bullets, also wounding Aikorkem's 15-year-old sister.

Zhuman's lawyer, Oksana Musokhranova, told RFE/RL that her client's defense team is working on his full acquittal.

Aikorkem's father, Aidos Meldekhan, condemned the Supreme Court's ruling, questioning the hearing's being held behind closed doors.

"Our stance has not changed. We demand the charge to be changed into murder, and all persons involved into the crime to be held responsible," Aidos Meldekhan said.

At least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, are believed to have been killed during the January 2022 unrest.

At the time, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev gave police and military troops the controversial order to "shoot to kill without warning." He justified the move by saying "20,000 extremists trained in foreign terrorist camps" had seized Almaty airport and other buildings.

No evidence of foreign-trained terrorists was ever presented.

The order sparked an outcry, and Aikorkem's picture turned into an image symbolizing the victims of the crackdown, many of whom were killed -- some under torture -- by police, security forces and military personnel, including troops of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, whom Toqaev invited into the country "to restore law and order."

German customs investigators and the public prosecutor's office took action on June 6 against the suspected illegal export of luxury cars to Russia. The customs investigation office in the western city of Essen and the public prosecutor's office in Bochum announced that they suspected that managers of a car dealership in Bochum sold a large number of luxury vehicles worth over 5 million euros ($5.44 million) to Russia, violating the existing export embargo. Authorities suspect the dealers pretended that the cars had been legally exported to other countries, when in reality they were sent to Russia. Investigators searched and seized evidence from two properties.

Hungary's state-owned Corvinus and French co-investor Vinci Airports has acquired Budapest airport from its main shareholder, AviAlliance, and minority shareholders, AviAlliance said in a statement on June 6. The acquisition cost 3.1 billion euros ($3.37 billion) with an extension of 1.44 billion euros worth of previously issued loans, the Hungarian Economy Ministry said in a statement. Corvinus became the majority owner of the airport with 80 percent, while Vinci holds 20 percent. The ministry said the Hungarian government and the French co-investor "will work to ensure that Budapest airport will become one of the best airports not only in the region but in the world." Prior to the sale, AviAlliance, owned by Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board, had been the main shareholder in Budapest airport.

Ukraine's hydroelectric company Ukrhydroenerho said on June 6 it had initiated international arbitration seeking damages for Russia's destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam and power station in June 2023. The state-run company declined to say where it had begun the arbitration process but said it had estimated the damage at 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion). The Nova Kakhovka dam was captured by Russia at the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kyiv has blamed Russian forces for blowing it up on the night of June 6, 2023, flooding swathes of arable land and hundreds of houses, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without drinking water, and depriving the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant of water needed to cool its reactors.

U.S. President Joe Biden, marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, said the free world stands with Ukraine and won't cave in to Russian aggression, drawing a parallel with the Allies' fight to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany's subjugation in World War II.

The United States and NATO "will not walk away" and abandon Ukraine, Biden said in a speech at commemorations in Normandy on June 6 to mark the anniversary of the 1944 Allied landing in Normandy, a turning point that contributed decisively to Adolf Hitler's ultimate defeat in 1945.

"Make no mistake: We will not bow down, we cannot surrender to the bullies; it is simply unthinkable. If we do, freedom will be subjugated, all Europe will be threatened," Biden said in Colleville-sur-Mer at a ceremony hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in honor of the dwindling number of surviving World War II veterans and attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Britain's King Charles III, and other heads of state and dignitaries.

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U.S. President Joe Biden marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 by saying that "we will not walk away" from the defense of Ukraine and allow Russia to threaten more of Europe.

Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor any other officials from Russia were invited to the commemoration.

"Ukraine has been invaded by a tyrant, they're fighting with extraordinary courage, suffering great losses but never backing down," Biden said describing Putin as a "tyrant bent on domination."

The U.S. president, meanwhile, hailed NATO as "the greatest military alliance in the world" and said it is "more determined than ever to keep peace."

Drawing again a parallel with World War II, Biden said America's "isolation was not the answer 80 years ago and it's not the answer today," a thinly veiled reference directed at some Republican politicians who are sceptical of U.S. support for Ukraine.

"We must remember that the fact that they were heroes here that day does not absolve us of what we have to do today. Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it, and fight for it. That's the test of the ages."

Macron, speaking at Omaha Beach, also drew a parallel with the war in Ukraine and thanked the Ukrainian people for their bravery in the face of the Russian full-scale invasion launched in 2022.

"Faced with the return of war on our continent...faced with those who purport to change borders by force to rewrite history, let us be worthy of those who landed here," Macron said.

The ceremony was held near Omaha Beach, the code name of one of the two U.S. forces' landing spots, where American troops suffered more than 2,500 deaths -- more than half the total of 4,414 Allied troops killed on D-Day.

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France is set to host world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Russia has not been invited to the June 6 commemorations due to its ongoing war in Ukraine. The ceremonies honor soldiers who fought and died in the 1944 Allied landings that contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany. But over the years, the gatherings have taken on a diplomatic dimension with heads of state coming together to address burning geopolitical issues.

D-Day, the start of the landing in Normandy codenamed Operation Overlord, was the largest amphibious assault in history, with 156,115 troops from 12 countries taking part.

Biden called it a "powerful illustration of how alliances, real alliances, make us stronger," adding it was "a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget."

In a message posted on social media, Zelenskiy said, "This event and today are a reminder of the courage and determination shown for the sake of freedom and democracy."

"Allies defended the freedom of Europe then, Ukrainians defend the freedom of Europe now. Unity won then, true unity is capable of winning even now," Zelenskiy added.

Zelenskiy is due to hold talks with Biden and Macron during his trip to France.

A French man has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of collecting information related to the activities of Russia's armed forces, the Russian Investigative Committee said on June 6. "The data in question may be used by foreign sources against our country's security," the committee said in a statement, adding that the man detained, whose identity was not disclosed, will be charged and any pretrial restrictions will be decided in the near future. The French Embassy in Moscow has yet to comment on the situation. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Serbian authorities have transferred Belarusian journalist, filmmaker, and political activist Andrey Hnyot from jail to house arrest, according to self-exiled Belarusian opposition politician Paval Latushka. Latushka published a video on June 6 of Hnyot thanking those who contributed to his release, saying that his possible extradition to Belarus was pending. Hnyot was arrested in Belgrade on October 30, 2023, based on an Interpol warrant issued at the request of Minsk for alleged tax evasion. Hnyot left Belarus for Thailand in 2020 after criticizing the Belarusian regime and participating in protests following disputed presidential elections that handed victory to authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

A court of appeals in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, has rejected an appeal filed by journalist Zhamila Maricheva against a fine she was ordered to pay for her online article supporting RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Radio Azattyq.

Last month a court in Almaty ordered Maricheva to pay 73,840 tenges ($164) for "distributing false information."

The charge stems from an article she posted on her ProTenge Telegram channel in January where she raised issues faced by Radio Azattyq in obtaining official accreditation from the Foreign Ministry, which had sparked fears that the government was trying to stifle independent media.

Maricheva praised Radio Azattyq for what she called its professionalism, stressing the importance of the broadcaster's programs in Kazakhstan.

Another Kazakh journalist, Askhat Niyazov, reposted Maricheva's article at the time and was charged with slander.

A court in late April acquitted Niyazov and closed the case, stressing that there was nothing criminal in Niyazov's actions.

Maricheva has maintained her innocence, insisting that police violated her rights on April 24 by detaining her for questioning while she was jogging instead of officially summoning her to a police station.

In January 2023, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry denied accreditation to 36 Radio Azattyq journalists. Some of the correspondents had not been able to extend their accreditation since late 2022.

The situation was exacerbated when a group of Kazakh lawmakers approved a draft bill that would allow the tightly controlled former Soviet republic's authorities to refuse accreditation to foreign media outlets and their reporters on grounds of national security.

RFE/RL reached an agreement with the Kazakh Foreign Ministry over the accreditations on April 23.

A court in Kazakhstan sentenced four managers of the Lenin coal mine on June 6 to prison terms for an explosion that killed five miners in November 2022. The mine's chief engineer Pyotr Li was handed a five-year sentence, while two managers -- Talghat Bayakenov and Andrei Zavyalov -- were sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison each. Acting safety and ventilation security chief Dmitry Ablov got 4 years in prison. The men's wives said they will appeal the ruling. Deadly accidents at mines in the central Kazakhstan region are frequent. In 2006, a similar blast at the Lenin mine killed 41 miners. To read the original story from RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, click here.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, who was arrested in the Far East city of Vladivostok in early May, went on trial on June 6 in a case that further complicates relations between Moscow and Washington.

Black was arrested in late May and initially charged with stealing 10,000 rubles [$110] from his Russian girlfriend Aleksandra Vashchuk. He was additionally charged with "forcibly grabbing" Vashchuk by the neck during a quarrel, which she considered as a threat to her life.

If found guilty, the 34-year-old Black faces up to seven years in prison.

Vladivostok's Pervomaisky district court started the trial on June 6, with Vashchuk and a witness questioned.

Vashchuk asked the court not to send Black to prison, saying he needed psychiatric assistance.

"He is just an unhappy person. He does not deserve to be imprisoned. He deserves treatment, which he was not provided by his country, although they knew about his situation...The man needs help. Yes, he committed a crime, but he did not do something so terrible to be sent to prison," Vashchuk said.

After the testimony, the trial was then adjourned until June 17.

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Exclusive: The TikTok Trail Of The U.S. Soldier Arrested In Russia Left By His Russian 'Wife'

U.S. authorities said earlier that Black had been arrested in Russia and accused of stealing from a woman after traveling via China from South Korea -- where he had been assigned before heading back home to Texas -- without informing his superiors.

Weeks later, Russian authorities also said that another U.S. citizen, identified as William Russell Nycum, had been detained in late April on "petty hooliganism" and alcohol charges in a separate case, adding that Nycum was being held in a detention center in Moscow.

The two arrests have once again raised questions over whether Russian authorities are targeting Americans by detaining them and then using them in potential prisoner swaps amid sharp disagreements between Moscow and Washington over the war in Ukraine and other international security issues.

The detentions of Black and Nycum added to a list of U.S. citizens being held in Russia under various circumstances and came as tensions between Moscow and Washington are at their highest levels since the Cold War.

Among those being held are journalists Alsu Kurmasheva of RFE/RL and Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal. Both have been detained on charges they, their employers, and their supporters reject as politically motivated.

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American Paul Whelan in 2020 was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison on espionage charges that he and the U.S. government have repeatedly rejected.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said the cases involving Black and Nycum are not political and neither is accused of espionage.

The State Department in September 2023 issued a "do not travel" warning to U.S. citizens and cited "the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials."

The Vyasna rights group said on June 6 that German citizen Rico Krieger went on trial in Belarus on charges of being a mercenary, terrorism, creating an extremist group, intentionally damaging a vehicle, and illegal operations with firearms, ammunition, and explosives. The details of the case remain unknown. The German Embassy in Minsk confirmed to RFE/RL that a German citizen is on trial at the Minsk regional court but gave no further details. If found guilty, Krieger faces up to 25 years in prison. This is the first mercenary case tried in Belarus. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Iran has criticized a resolution by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calling on Tehran to step up its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

The IAEA’s 35-nation board on June 5 voted 20-2, with 12 abstentions, to adopt the censure resolution tabled by Britain, France, and Germany -- the three Western European nations that are party to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and are known as the E3.

In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said it “strongly condemns” the resolution, which it described as a “political and unconstructive” move.

It added that Tehran is “committed to continue its technical cooperation” with the watchdog under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA.

Ahead of the vote, Iran had warned that it would respond to the censure resolution.

Behruz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said after the adoption of the resolution that Tehran had “started taking steps” in response to the vote. He did not elaborate.

“Past experience should have proved to them [the West] that Iran does not retreat from its inalienable rights in the face of political pressure,” he said.

Nour News, an Iranian outlet affiliated with Ali Shamkhani, senior political adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned on June 6 that applying pressure on Tehran would only encourage it to expand its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, the Kayhan newspaper, whose chief editor is appointed by the supreme leader, on June 6 demanded the expulsion of all IAEA inspectors from Iran. It also alleged that the resolution was meant to influence Iran’s upcoming presidential election by forcing voters to elect a government willing to negotiate with the West.

Despite its adoption, the resolution did not receive as many votes in favor as the last two resolutions. A June 2022 resolution was adopted 30-2, while a November 2022 resolution was passed 26-2.

SEE ALSO:

Going Nuclear: Iran's New Rhetorical Deterrence

Iran responded to the June 2022 resolution by removing IAEA cameras and monitoring equipment from several nuclear sites. In reaction to the November 2022 censure, Tehran started to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity at a second site, the Fordo plant.

In September 2023, despite there being no resolution against Iran, the Islamic republic moved to bar several experienced UN inspectors from monitoring its equipment.

The new resolution calls on Iran to reinstate the veteran inspectors.

Iran insists that it has been cooperative with the IAEA, but the agency’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, maintains that Tehran has failed to provide “technically credible” explanations for traces of uranium found in two old but undeclared sites.

Damon Golriz, a lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that the resolution may be a step by European powers toward “taking a political decision” to trigger a “snapback” of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran.

The “snapback” mechanism is outlined in UNSC Resolution 2231, which enshrined the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. However, the option to reimpose the sanctions expires in October 2025.

“With the activation of the ‘snapback’ mechanism, we go back to how things were 15 years ago, when six UN resolutions obliged the world to put Iran under pressure,” Golriz said.

Written by Kian Sharifi based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda and AP

Bulgarian gas operator Bulgartransgaz on June 6 signed contracts to begin construction of the Vertical Corridor network of gas pipelines. The Vertical Corridor initiative provides an alternative route to ship gas to the EU market from Greece to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine as well as in the opposite direction through EU natural gas and liquefied natural gas systems. It comes ahead of the expected suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine at the end of this year and aims to improve security and ensure diversity of gas transportation means and routes from southeastern Europe to the European Union. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.

Authorities in the Siberian city of Kemerovo said on June 6 that one person died and more than 100 people were injured after a tram driver lost control of their vehicle and slammed into another tram. Seventy-eight people, including five children, were hospitalized. Two people are in a very serious condition, officials said. A video circulated on the Internet showing a tram moving at an extremely high speed, its doors falling off and several people falling out onto a highway. Kemerovo Mayor Dmitry Anisimov said 90 percent of the city's trams are about 40 years old. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities. click here.

Georgia's State Security Service said on June 6 that its officers detained two men in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi for illegal firearms possession and for possible links with the extremist Islamic State group. According to the statement, the suspects' homes were searched and an assault rifle, several pistols, grenades, and flags with Islamic State symbols were discovered. Batumi is the capital of Georgia’s Autonomous Republic of Ajara. Georgia is predominantly Orthodox Christian but Ajara, which borders Turkey in the southwest, is home to many Muslims. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus, click here.

A Russian court on June 5 rejected an appeal filed by imprisoned opposition politician Ilya Yashin against a fine he was ordered to pay over what authorities called a violation of the law on "foreign agents."

Yashin is serving an 8 1/2-year prison term for his criticism of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The former Moscow municipal lawmaker was fined 30,000 rubles ($334) in March for publishing materials online without denoting that they were made by a foreign agent.

Yashin's lawyers insisted that the fine was groundless as their client is serving a prison term and is unable to publish online materials.

Yashin, 40, is an outspoken Kremlin critic and one of the few prominent opposition politicians who stayed in Russia after a wave of repression against those who have condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine since the full-scale invasion was launched in February 2022.

The sentence handed to Yashin in December 2022 was the harshest among the cases against those charged with discrediting Russia's armed forces under a new law introduced days after the invasion commenced.

The criminal case against Yashin was launched in July 2022. The charge against him stemmed from his YouTube posts about alleged crimes committed by the Russian military in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

Yashin was added to the Justice Ministry's foreign agents' registry in July 2022.

In December last year, a Moscow court fined him for failing to label his online materials as made by a foreign agent.

Many critics and rights groups say the so-called "foreign agent" law is used by the Kremlin to crack down on any dissent. Repeated violations of the law on foreign agents may lead to a new criminal case against the politician.

Yashin took part in the June 5 hearing via a video-link. He stated that he does not consider himself a foreign agent and "devoted" all of his life to supporting Russian interests.

"Do not dare to call me a foreign agent," Yashin said.

Yashin is serving his prison term in correctional colony No. 3 in the western Smolensk region.

Since May 22, Yashin has been placed in a solitary confinement, which disrupted a scheduled three-day stay with his parents on the penitentiary's premises.

Judge Aleksei Shteinle allowed Yashin's parents to speak to their son for 25 minutes after the hearing on June 5.

At least four people, two of whom were Ukrainian nationals, were killed, and more than 30 others injured after a passenger train collided with a freight train in the city of Pardubice, about 100 kilometers east of Prague.

The operator of the passenger train, RegioJet, said 380 passengers were aboard the train late on June 5 that was on its way to the Slovak city of Kosice. Part of the train was then to head onward to the town of Chop, just inside the Ukrainian border.

Czech officials said the cause of the accident, which occurred just before midnight, was under investigation.

“We can't and won't speculate about the cause of the accident," Transport Minister Martin Kupka said.

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A passenger train traveling to Chop in western Ukraine collided with a cargo train in the Czech Republic late on June 5, leaving at least four dead, including two Ukrainians, and over 20 injured, the Czech police and Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that several "trailer cars" in the middle of the train were destined for Chop.

"According to preliminary information, 4 people died. Among them are two citizens of Ukraine. the citizenships of the others who died are being clarified," the ministry statement said, adding that the consulate office located in Brno is at the scene of the accident and is liaising with local rescue and law enforcement agencies.

Footage of the crash on the news website idnes.cz showed at least one carriage off the track. A post by the Czech police on its X social media account showed a column of emergency service vehicles and a helicopter.

Thousands of Ukrainians who had to flee Ukraine for EU member states after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 use the connection via Slovakia to visit their homeland.

Suspected Ukrainian drone strikes early on June 6 set Russian oil installations on fire in two regions bordering Ukraine as Russia continued to launch strikes on civilian targets in several Ukrainian regions.

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 drone attack on an oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk in Russia's Rostov region early on June 6 has caused a fire, prompting a temporary halt of operations, regional governor Vasily Golubev said.

“Work was suspended due to a repeated attack, the personnel were evacuated to a safe distance,” local Telegram channels quoted Golubev as saying.

The fire covered an area of 100 square meters, Golubev said, adding that, according to preliminary data, there were no dead or injured.

The SHOT telegram channel, citing eyewitnesses, reported that several loud explosions were heard in Novoshakhtinsk in the early hours of June 6, then fire and smoke became visible in the area of the oil refinery.

The Astra channel published a video of a large fire at a plant the Novoshakhtinsk installation.

The strike was the third on the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, which is located some 10 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Two previous attacks in March and April also temporarily stopped its activity, according to Russian media.

Meanwhile, Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that a drone attack on an oil depot in Stary Oskol, less than 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, started a fire.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces, using a kamikaze drone, attacked an oil depot on the territory of the Stary Oskol urban district. As a result of the explosion, one of the tanks caught fire. Four fire crews quickly extinguished the fire. The blast wave blew out the windows in the security building. There were no casualties," Gladkov wrote.

Kyiv has not commented on the reports, which could not be independently verified.

Ukraine has been subjected to incessant Russian drone and missile strikes on its civilian and energy infrastructure since the start of the war that have caused numerous casualties among civilians and huge material damage.

Kyiv in turn has increasingly resorted to targeting Russian energy infrastructure, mainly oil installations, with its own drone strikes in order to degrade the Russian military's fuel reserves.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said that its air defense systems shot down 17 out of 18 Russian drones over the Mykolayiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, and Khmelnytskiy regions early on June 6.

Separately, Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the southern region of Dnipropetrovsk, said that a Russian drone hit a passenger minibus in the city of Nikopol, injuring four people and triggering a fire.

Lysak posted photos of the burnt-out vehicle on his Telegram channel.

President Emmanuel Macron will attend a Ukraine peace conference later this month in Switzerland, the French presidential office has confirmed. A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Serhiy Nykyforov, said 107 countries and international organizations had confirmed their participation in the June 15-16 summit, at which Ukraine hopes to win broad international backing for its vision of the terms needed to end the war with Russia. The United States will be represented by Vice President Kamala Harris and national-security adviser Jake Sullivan. Russia has not been invited. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on June 5 that Russia could provide advanced long-range weapons to Western adversaries in an "asymmetric" response to Ukrainian missile strikes into Russian territory.

Putin, speaking in rare press conference with foreign news organizations at Russia's annual economic forum in St Petersburg, said Russia was thinking of delivering such weapons to regions of the world from which they could strike the countries that are supplying weapons to Ukraine.

"If someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a warzone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don't we have the right to supply weapons of the same class to regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those [Western] countries?" Putin asked.

"That is, the response can be asymmetric. We will think about it," he told reporters.

His remarks came after U.S. President Joe Biden last week gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending the eastern city of Kharkiv. Germany announced a similar change in policy shortly afterward.

The changes followed pleas from Ukraine to allow its forces to defend itself against attacks originating from Russian territory, and after pressure from some European leaders.

Russia in recent weeks has stepped up strikes on civilian targets in the northeastern region of Kharkiv and in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Putin warned that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine were "a very dangerous step," especially if donors are "controlling" use of the weapons.

He specifically warned Germany, saying that talk of it sending missiles capable of hitting targets on Russian territory "definitively destroys Russian-German relations."

On the use of nuclear weapons, Putin cited Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which says if Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is threatened "we consider it possible for us to use all means at our disposal."

Putin also reiterated his claim that Russia "did not start the war," blaming a pro-Western revolution in 2014.

Putin has falsely claimed that months of massive and mostly peaceful protests that began in 2013 and lasted into early 2014 on Kyiv’s Independence Square were a U.S.-backed coup. The protests resulted in the ouster of Russian-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, but not before a crackdown that left more than 100 people dead.

Russia's response was to illegally annex Crimea and back a separatist rebellion in the east of the country.

Eight years later, in February 2022, despite weeks of warnings that Russia risked isolation and serious financial consequences if it invaded Ukraine, Moscow sent its forces into the country in a full-scale invasion.

Putin was also asked about the U.S. presidential election and what a victory for former President Donald Trump or incumbent President Joe Biden would mean for U.S.-Russia relations.

"For the most part, we do not care" who wins the U.S. election, he said, saying that Russia did not expect the November 5 election to change U.S. policy toward Russia, and Russia will work with any president the American people elect.

Putin also said Russia and the United States were in contact over a possible prisoner exchange that would free jailed U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges last year.

"The relevant services in the U.S. and Russia are in constant contact with one another and of course they will decide only on the basis of reciprocity," Putin said.

There was no mention of other Americans currently behind bars in Russia, including RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

Hossein Shanbehzadeh, an Iranian literary editor and online activist, has been detained for unknown reasons in the northwestern city of Ardabil.

Family sources said on June 4 that Shanbehzadeh confirmed his detention in a phone call.

The case highlights ongoing tensions in Iran regarding freedom of expression, particularly on social media, and adds to the growing concern over the treatment of intellectuals and activists in the country.

Shanbehzadeh, known for his biting criticism of the authorities, said he wasn't informed of the reason for his detention, but it comes after he posted a simple period in a social media response to a tweet by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posing with the Iranian national volleyball team.

The response went viral, garnering more likes than the original tweet by Khamenei.

Soon after, Shanbehzadeh's account on X (previously known as Twitter) was inaccessible, with his last post on it authored by someone else, according to his brother Abbas.

It's not the first time Shanbehzadeh has faced legal issues over his online activities.

In 2019, he was sentenced to prison on charges of "insulting the sanctities and the leader of the Islamic republic" for critical comments about Iran's leadership.

His professional work includes editing prominent literary works such as Naguib Mahfouz's Heritage And Life With Him, in addition to being a well-known social media activist.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he hopes to return to work gradually starting around late June or early July. Fico was shot and seriously wounded in an assassination attempt on May 15. In his first appearance since the shooting, Fico said he will not take legal steps against the gunman, who he claims was "a messenger of evil and political hatred." In a campaign-style video released on June 5, Fico decried what he perceived as attacks on Slovak sovereignty, democracy, and free speech. He stressed that he believes the attack occurred because of political opposition, although Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok described the shooter as a "lone wolf."

France's domestic intelligence agency has detained a 26-year-old Russian-Ukrainian man on suspicion of planning a violent act after he injured himself in an explosion, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office said on June 5. The man was treated for burns on June 3 after an explosion in his hotel room, where the prosecutor's office said "products and materials intended to manufacture explosive devices" were found. The man was arrested close to Paris's Charles De Gaulle Airport. France is on maximum threat alert ahead of the start of the Paris Olympics in July.