Watchdog

MOSCOW -- The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center issued an updated list of political prisoners in Russia on October 30, the Day of Commemoration of the Victims of Political Repressions.

According to the updated list, there are currently 362 political prisoners in Russia, of whom 297 were persecuted for their religious views and 65 for their political activities.

That is up from 305 people listed as political prisoners last year, with 252 individuals persecuted for their religious views and 53 for political activities.

Memorial's new list was published as special, mainly on-line, events were held across Russia on October 29-30 to commemorate the millions of victims of political repression in the Soviet Union.

October 30 has been marked in Russia as the Day of Commemoration of the Victims of Political Repressions since 2007.

The date was chosen to honor gulag inmates in the regions of Mordovia and Perm who started a mass hunger strike on that day in 1974 to protest political persecutions in the Soviet Union.

There is no data on the exact number of Soviet citizens who became victims of Josef Stalin's Great Purge.

According to Memorial, at least 12 million innocent people were jailed or executed in the Soviet Union between the 1930s and 1950s.

The Gulag History Museum says the number of such people was around 20 million, of whom more than 1,000,000 were executed.

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the Constitutional Court have clashed over a ruling to abolish some anti-corruption laws, as hundreds of protesters gathered in the streets of Kyiv over the decision.

Zelenskiy asked lawmakers on October 30 to annul a court ruling earlier this week that struck down some anti-corruption legislation and curbed the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NAZK).

In its ruling, the court said the punishment for false information on an official's asset declaration, as envisioned by the laws, was too harsh.

But Zelenskiy said the move could jeopardize vital international economic aid and called for lawmakers to dissolve the Constitutional Court because its decisions were "worthless."

Zelenskiy proposed restoring the anti-corruption laws in question and electing new members to the Constitutional Court.

In turn, the head of the court, Oleksandr Tupytskiy, told a news conference that Zelenskiy's moves were "definitely not constitutional" and that they "bear the signs of a constitutional coup," in which the president wants to create an "obedient" court.

Protesters in Kyiv gathered in front of the court demanding the justices explain their decision. No incidents were reported at the site.

Kyiv's slow progress on reforms and anti-corruption efforts has become an obstacle to implementing a $5 billion program agreed in June with the International Monetary Fund.

The European Union's delegation to Kyiv has warned that its financial assistance was tied to Ukraine's performance on corruption.

The court ruling was also controversial because four judges were under investigation by the NAZK for failing to properly declare assets in their declarations.

The four judges did not recuse themselves from the case, despite calls to do so from the government and anti-corruption campaigners.

With reporting by Reuters and UNIAN