A court in St. Petersburg on July 2 labeled one of Russia's best-known TV journalists, Aleksandr Nevzorov, and his wife, Lidia, as an "extremist group" and ordered their property in the northwestern Leningrad region to be confiscated.

Nevzorov’s lawyer, Aleksei Pryanishnikov, said the court ruling orders the confiscation of the self-exiled journalist's property, car, and shares in a private business.

Nevzorov, who openly condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and fled the country for a European Union member state in 2022, wrote on Telegram that Russian authorities had bargained with him for two months, trying to "persuade" him to change his position regarding Russia's aggression against Ukraine in exchange for "a good decision by the court."

"Liberty costs much. But none of its costs can be too high," Nevzorov wrote.

In February last year, a court in Moscow sentenced Nevzorov in absentia to eight years in prison on the charge of discrediting Russian armed forces.

The Investigative Committee launched a probe into Nevzorov in March 2022 over statements he made on Instagram and YouTube that criticized Russia's armed forces for a deadly assault on a nursing home in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and the alleged torture and killing of civilians in the town of Bucha.

In June 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree granting Ukrainian citizenship to Nevzorov and his wife "for transcendental services" to Ukraine.

In the days after launching his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation that calls for lengthy prison terms for distributing "deliberately false information" about Russian military operations as part of the Kremlin's effort to control the narrative about its war in Ukraine.

The law envisages sentences of up to 10 years in prison for individuals convicted of an offense, while the penalty for the distribution of "deliberately false information" about the Russian military that leads to "serious consequences" is 15 years in prison.

It also makes it illegal "to make calls against the use of Russian troops to protect the interests of Russia" or "for discrediting such use" with a possible penalty of up to three years in prison. The same provision applies to calls for sanctions against Russia.

Nevzorov continues to sharply criticize Putin and his government over the war in Ukraine on his YouTube and Telegram channels.

UN human rights experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.” The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, made up of independent experts convened by the UN’s top human rights body, said there was a “striking lack of any factual or legal substantiation” for the spying charges leveled against Gershkovich. The five-member group said Gershkovich's U.S. nationality was a factor in his detention and as a result the case against him was “discriminatory.” Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on June 26 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government vehemently deny.

Two Russian naval ships docked on July 2 in Venezuela after leaving Cuba. Moscow's Defense Ministry said the main aim of the ship's visit to the region was to "show the flag and ensure a naval presence in operationally important areas" of the Atlantic Ocean. It said that the frigate Admiral Gorshkov -- one of Russia's most advanced warships capable of carrying hypersonic missiles -- and oil tanker Academic Pashin, both from its Northern Fleet, docked in La Guaira. The ships visited Cuba last month along with a Russian nuclear-powered submarine.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called relations between Serbia and Russia "very good" following a July 2 meeting with Russian Deputy Foeign Minister Aleksandr Grusko in Belgrade. Vucic posted a photo taken during the meeting on Instagram and wrote that he thanked Russia for supporting the territorial integrity of Serbia, which does not recognize Kosovo's independence. Vucic also thanked Russia for voting against a UN resolution on the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. Grusko also met with Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, who is under fire for canceling a Serbian-Kosovar unity festival, and with the deputy prime minister of Serbia and the former head of the Serbian intelligence agency. To read the full story by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.

The Russian Wrestling Federation said on July 2 that Moscow police detained Alisher Ismatzoda, a coach of the Russian youth freestyle wrestling team, on suspicion of facilitating terrorist activities. Media reports say investigators have asked a court in Moscow to place the 32-year-old native of Tajikistan in pretrial detention on charge of recruiting people to conduct terrorist acts. If convicted, Ismatzoda may face up to 15 years in prison. The Tajik authorities have yet to comment on the situation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.

Authorities in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan said on July 2 that a gas explosion in a residential building killed a woman and injured four people, including two children. The explosion occurred during repair works on a natural gas supply system in the building, authorities said. The blast damaged doors and windows in several apartments. Rescue teams evacuated 80 people from the building. The prosecutor’s office of Bashkortostan has started preliminary investigation into the deadly blast. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, click here.

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned of the “slow death of journalism” in a largely Turkic-speaking autonomous region of northwestern Uzbekistan amid a violent crackdown since local protests two years ago.

RSF said in a July 1 alert that those protests in Karakalpakstan “remain such a taboo topic that journalists who recall the facts today are arrested, imprisoned, and falsely accused of separatism.”

It condemned jail sentences and detentions, including that of a British reporter for The Economist, and said such “censorship…threatens to turn the region into an information desert.”

“RSF is alarmed by this blanket of repression on a subject so vital to public interest and by the criminalization of the work of journalists -- who must be released immediately,” Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said.

SEE ALSO:

Karakalpak Students Face Threats, Arrest In Uzbekistan For Voicing Support For Anti-Government Protests

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev abruptly abandoned plans for a constitutional change to abolish the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic’s right to secede after the protests erupted in Karakalpakstan's capital, Nukus, in July 2022.

The authorities said at least 21 people were killed in the unrest.

Calls for independence have persisted in the region, which is home to around 2 million people.

Dozens of people including journalists have faced trial since the unrest, with some sentenced to lengthy prison terms on security and other charges. Students and others have reported abuse and threats during detention, and a wave of school expulsions followed.

SEE ALSO:

Civil Society The Biggest Casualty Of Crackdowns In Tajikistan And Uzbekistan's Autonomous Regions  

Karakalpaks are a Central Asian Turkic-speaking people whose region near the Aral Sea used to be an autonomous area within the Kazakh and then the Russian Soviet republic in 1930, before becoming part of the Uzbek Soviet republic in 1936.

The government had proposed eliminating any mention in the Uzbek Constitution of Karakalpakstan’s long-standing right to seek independence.

An independent Belarusian publishing house in exile says the British copyright holder of the Harry Potter books has refused to work with it, citing Western sanctions imposed on the Belarusian government.

Andrey Yanushekvich, who registered a branch of the Yanushkevich publishing house in Poland in early 2023 after he fled Belarus, told RFE/RL on July 2 that he and his colleagues had exhausted all possible means to persuade The Blair Partnership company to lift its ban on publishing four books of the Harry Potter series in Belarusian.

"We were unable to find a common language with the rights holders. They do not want to be associated with anything Belarusian while the Republic of Belarus is under sanctions," Yanushkevich said.

Between 2019 and 2021, the Yanushkevich publishing house in Belarus published three Harry Potter books by British author J.K. Rowling in Belarusian -- Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban.

The launching of Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets in Belarusian was scheduled for September 26, 2020, just weeks after a presidential election that was followed by unprecedented monthslong rallies protesting the official result of the poll, which handed authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994, a sixth term.

On September 15, 2020, the Belarusian Customs Service requested an official letter from the publisher confirming that "the book does not call for the overthrow of the existing government" in Belarus, which sparked a reaction from protesters, who placed on the Internet pictures of Harry Potter characters challenging Lukashenka.

Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets eventually did get to the bookstores, but in 2022 Belarusian authorities confiscated the Yanushkevich publishing house's equipment and froze its bank accounts, citing financial misdeeds.

The publishing house's own bookstore, Knihauka, was vandalized and shut down in May 2022.

SEE ALSO:

How The Belarus Regime Is Destroying The Books It Doesn't Like

Andrey Yanushkevich himself was sentenced to 28 days in jail, and his colleague, Nasta Karnatskaya, served 23 days in jail on unspecified charges.

After serving the terms, they fled Belarus.

In January 2023, Yanushkevich registered a branch of his publishing house in Poland and a little later opened a Knihauka bookstore in Warsaw. He planned to publish four remaining books in the Harry Potter series -- Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows -- but The Blair Partnership informed Yanushkevich on July 1 of the suspension of their cooperation because of the Western sanctions imposed on Belarus over its support of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

According to Yanushkevich, The Blair Partnership had refused to reconsider its decision despite the fact that his publishing house is registered in Poland.

Contacted by RFE/RL, Blair Partnership officials responded via e-mail that they "need time" to prepare comments on their decision to suspend the publishing of Harry Potter series books in Belarusian via Yanushkevich's company.

"Unfortunately, the British partners see us in a 'crooked mirror' and make decisions that are not in our favor," Yanushkevich said, expressing his hope that the author of the prominent series, J.K. Rowling, might influence The Blair Partnership to revisit its decision if she learns about the situation.

The United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on July 2 during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.

Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air-defense systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow's 2022 invasion.

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.

Austin said the latest weapons package for Ukraine would include arms like anti-tank weapons and air-defense interceptors and will allow accelerated procurement of NASAMS and Patriot air defense interceptors.

Russian strikes killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others around Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, while more than a dozen people were killed in Russian attacks in the southern city of Kherson, officials said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed it destroyed up to five Ukrainian fighter jets in a ballistic missile strike on an air base in central Ukraine. A former Ukrainian military official confirmed the attack on the Myrhorod air base, but said the Russian claim was exaggerated.

In a post on Telegram, Vadym Filashkin, the head of the Ukrainian military administration for Donetsk, said that four people were killed in three separate villages on July 1. Another 27 people were wounded in the strikes, he said.

In Kherson, a southern city recaptured by Ukrainian forces in late 2022, Russian shelling wounded at least five people, the head of the local military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said.

After withdrawing to the eastern, opposite bank of the Dnieper River in late 2022, Russian forces have continued to bombard Kherson and outlying districts, terrorizing the populace and leaving the city in limbo.

After Ukraine's counteroffensive sputtered out earlier this year, Russia has been waging its own, more localized offensive effort in several locations across the 1,200-kilometer front line, including near the towns of Chasiv Yar and Pokrovsk.

In early May, Russian forces launched a new effort north of the city of Kharkiv. That has slowed in recent weeks, as Ukrainian troops redeployed and pushed back the advances, though Russian forces have been digging trenches and making more permanent defenses.

Still, Russia’s air superiority has allowed its planes to use heavy munitions like glide bombs to devastate Ukrainian positions.

SEE ALSO:

Hungary's Orban Presents Zelenskiy With Cease-Fire Proposal On First Visit To Kyiv

On July 2, the Russian Defense Ministry said it fired Iskander-M missiles at the Myrhorod air base, around 150 kilometers from the Russian border, a day earlier.

"As a result of the Russian military strike, five operational Su-27 multirole fighters were destroyed, and two that were under repair were damaged," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

The ministry also published video of what it said was the strike and its aftermath. The video showed gray smoke billowing at the airfield, where some parked planes were visible.

The claim about the planes being damaged could not be immediately verified, though both Russian and Ukrainian war bloggers reported extensively on the strike.

Ukraine’s military made no statement on the claim. Yuriy Ihnat, who served as a spokesman for the air force until March, confirmed that the air base was hit but downplayed the damage.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine Has No Navy. But It's Hammering Russia In The Black Sea.

"There was an attack. There are some losses, but not the ones the enemy claims," Ihnat said in a post to Facebook.

Ukraine’s top air force commander, meanwhile, claimed military jets had hit a Russian ammunition depot on the occupied Crimean Peninsula on July 1.

In a post to Telegram, General Mykola Oleshchuk did not specify the exact location but posted a video from a local Telegram channel that purportedly showed the strike on Balaklava, a location near the major naval port of Sevastopol.

In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up aerial and maritime attacks on facilities and equipment in Crimea and its surrounding waters.

Maritime drones have damaged or sunk more than two dozen Black Sea Fleet warships, and Ukraine has used Western-supplied cruise missiles and kamikaze to hit naval repair facilities and even the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The Kyrgyz Emergency Ministry said on July 2 that a state of emergency has been introduced in the Central Asian nation's regions of Batken, Jalal-Abad, Osh, and Talas over deadly mudslides and floods caused by heavy rains in recent weeks.

The ministry said earlier that the mudslides and floods have killed 16 people since mid-June.

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Kyrgyz Villagers Escape Raging Mountain Torrent

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According to the ministry, the situation is expected to be very dangerous for days as the heavy rains are expected to last until July 7.

To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

CHOLPON-ATA, Kyrgyzstan -- The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed hope that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will be able to resolve all border issues via peaceful means.

During his talks with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in the resort city of Cholpon-Ata on the shores of the Lake Issyk-Kul on July 2, Guterres called on Kyrgyzstan to be "a symbol of peace."

"You make great peace-building efforts, be it border issues or others. I have been to the Ferghana Valley twice and know how difficult it is to settle border issues. It's like a puzzle there. It takes effort to understand and solve everything. We believe that the border issue with Tajikistan will be resolved diplomatically, peacefully, through negotiations, as it was with Uzbekistan," Guterres said.

The delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border has been an issue for decades, but it gained added urgency in recent years after several deadly clashes took place along disputed segments of the frontier.

In spring 2021, an armed conflict along one segment of the border left 36 people dead, including two children, and 154 injured on the Kyrgyz side.

SEE ALSO:

Kyrgyz President Calls April Deadly Border Clashes 'Heavy Test'

Tajik authorities said that 19 Tajik citizens were killed and 87 were injured during the clashes. However, local residents told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service at the time that the number of people killed during the clashes was much higher.

The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is 972 kilometers long, most of which have now been agreed upon.

SEE ALSO:

Kyrgyz, Tajik Security Officials Say 90 Percent Of Border Agreed Upon

Many border areas in Central Asian former Soviet republics have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet.

Tensions in those areas have led to clashes between local residents and border guards of the three countries.

Guterres arrived in Kyrgyzstan from Uzbekistan on July 1. He is expected to continue his Central Asian tour by visiting Kazakhstan on July 3.

KHORUGH, Tajikistan -- The parents of five young Tajik men from the volatile Gorno-Badakhshan region (GBAO) told RFE/RL on July 1 that the sons had been arrested and are being held in a pretrial detention in GBAO's capital, Khorugh, on unspecified charges.

The men have been held incommunicado since Russian authorities detained them and deported them to the Central Asian nation last month.

The relatives said then that the Tajik men, who are from the Yazgulom community, did not arrive at the airport in the southern city of Kulob, where they were expected to be taken from Moscow on June 20.

It remains unclear if the men were deported for violating Russia's migration regulations, or at the request of the Tajik authorities.

Sources close to Tajik law enforcement have told RFE/RL that, since May, at least 15 residents of Yazgulom had been extradited from Russia to Tajikistan, where they have been charged with "membership in an extremist organization" or "having links with members of an extremist organization."

There has been no official statement on the men's situation.

On May 16, Tajik security forces arrested more than 30 residents of Yazgulom, accusing them of plotting unspecified acts of sabotage.

Sources told RFE/RL at the time that those arrested were suspected of having links with the banned Ansarullah Islamic group.

SEE ALSO:

Fear And Outrage In Pamir: Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Reeling From Brutal State Crackdown

Residents of GBAO have been under pressure for years. A crackdown on the restive Tajik region intensified in 2022 after mass protests in May that year were violently dispersed by security forces.

Tajik authorities said at the time that 10 people were killed and 27 injured during the clashes between protesters and police.

Residents of the remote region's Rushon district have told RFE/RL that 21 bodies were found at the sites of the clashes.

Dozens of the region's residents have been jailed for lengthy terms on terrorism and extremism charges since then.

Deep tensions between the government and residents of the volatile region have simmered ever since a five-year civil war broke out shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Still, protests are rare in the tightly controlled state of 9.5 million where President Emomali Rahmon has ruled with an iron fist for nearly three decades.

Chechnya’s strongman leader has appointed another close relative to a top position in the government of the North Caucasus region. At a government meeting on July 1, Ramzan Kadyrov said he was tapping his 27-year-old nephew, Khamzat Kadyrov, to be secretary of the region’s Security Council, a grouping of top law enforcement and security officials. The position is the latest in a series that Kadyrov has filled recently with his extended family. Last month, he appointed another nephew as the region’s transport minister, one month after naming his 18-year-old son, Akhmat, head of the department in charge of sports and youth affairs. In February, Kadyrov named his 24-year-old daughter, Khadizhat, to a top administration post. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Caucasus.Realities, click here.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Kazakhstan for a state visit and a chance to promote ties between China and the Central Asian county as he embarks on a trip that includes meetings with the other leaders of the nine-member alliance known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met his Chinese counterpart at the Astana international airport on July 2. TASS reported shortly after Xi's arrival that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Xi on July 3 in Astana as part of the SCO summit.

Putin last met Xi in May when he visited China on his first foreign trip after being inaugurated for a fifth term as president. Putin also will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Astana, TASS reported. Turkey, though not a member of the SCO, often takes part in its meetings as a "dialogue partner."

In addition to Kazakhstan, Russia, and China, SCO members include India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Kazakh state media outlets on July 2 carried an article signed by Xi in which the Chinse leader praised bilateral ties between the two nations, stressing it was "in Kazakhstan 11 years ago that I first proposed the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt," which marked "a magnificent chapter in Belt and Road cooperation between our two countries."

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The Organization That Xi And Putin Use To Oppose The West

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Xi wrote that China "will support Kazakhstan in upholding its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity in continuing on the development path suited to its national conditions, in implementing domestic and foreign policies in the interest of its development and prosperity, and in opposing interference in its internal affairs by any external forces."

Since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many in Kazakhstan and elsewhere have considered statements from Chinese leaders regarding Kazakhstan and other Central Asian nations to be a message to Russia, where in recent months, many pro-Kremlin politicians and political observers have hinted that Kazakhstan is a takeover target for Moscow.

Toqaev, in an interview with China's Xinhua agency published on July 2, said his country "has ambitious plans to further deepen multifaceted ties with China."

After ceremonies for the official state visit to Astana, Xi is expected to join talks with other SCO leaders.

He will later travel to Tajikistan. Beijing has ramped up diplomatic efforts in the region, largely through its flagship Belt and Road development.

With reporting by Xinhua, Kazinform, Kazakhstanskaya pravda, Tengrinews, TASS, Interfax, RIA Novosti, and Reuters

KYIV -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a cease-fire proposal aimed at pausing fighting with Russia more than two years into Moscow’s all-out invasion.

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.

Speaking to reporters after meetings with Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Orban gave no details about the contents of the proposal. Zelenskiy did not express his opinion on the proposal.

"I asked Mr. President whether it was possible to take a break, to stop the firing, and then continue the negotiations,” Orban told reporters after the meetings. “After all, a cease-fire could ensure speeding up the pace of these negotiations."

“I am very grateful to the president for his frank opinion on this issue," he added.

The talks, which came one day after Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union, were notable because of Orban’s vocal, persistent criticism of Western military aid for Kyiv.

Orban is also one of the few Western leaders to have met Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion.

Ahead of the meetings, Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Zelenskiy, said that “a lot had been done [to prepare] for this visit.”

“An important conversation about the future of Europe, security, international law, a formula for peace,” he said in a post on Telegram.

The visit also came just days after Orban and Zelenskiy met at an EU summit in Brussels.

“The talks will focus on possibilities for achieving peace, as well as current issues in Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations,” Zoltan Kovacs, an Orban spokesman, wrote earlier on July 2.

Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orban has stood out among leaders from the European Union and NATO for his reluctance to sign onto the massive Western weapons and aid packages for Ukraine.

Last December, he left a room during a meeting of European Union leaders in order to avoid voting against opening EU accession talks with Ukraine.

The EU has since taken a step toward formalizing those talks to put Ukraine on the path to membership.

Russia and Ukraine have not held formal peace talks since the first months after Moscow’s all-out invasion in February 2022. In recent weeks, Western news outlets have reported on the details of a potential deal that would have met many of Russia's demands while also putting off several major issues for a later date.

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Last month, Putin said Russia would end its war -- which has killed and wounded at least 500,000 soldiers on both sides -- only if Kyiv met certain conditions. Those included renouncing its NATO ambitions and ceding four partially occupied regions that Russia claims in their entirety, in addition to Crimea. Ukraine dismissed the conditions as absurd and said they amounted to capitulation.

Freezing the front lines for a cease-fire now would leave Russia in control of some 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, and analysts warn that a pause could potentially allow Russia to chance to rearm and redeploy troops for a new offensive.

The Guardian, which reported on Orban's visit to Kyiv earlier along with the Financial Times, said the trip came together after lengthy negotiations on the issue of rights for Ukraine’s Hungarian-speaking minority, who live mainly in western Ukraine close to the two countries’ border.

During their July 2 appearance before reporters, the two leaders said they had agreed on the establishment of a Ukrainian school in Hungary for refugees from Ukraine, and they said they planned to sign a new agreement on bilateral relations at some point in the future.

"The contents of our dialogue on all today's issues can become the basis for a future bilateral document between our nations,” Zelenskiy said. The agreement “will allow our people to enjoy all the benefits of unity in Europe.”

The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office said on July 2 that it plans to change the charge against two Kazakh men from attempted murder to murder after an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government, journalist Aidos Sadyqov died in hospital hours earlier after being shot in Kyiv on June 18.

"Currently, law enforcement agencies are working on changing the previous charge of attempted murder into a charge of premeditated murder and group conspiracy to commit murder," the office said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Sadyqov's wife Natalya Sadyqova wrote on Facebook that her husband, who had been hospitalized in intensive care since the shooting two weeks ago, died following complications.

Sadyqov, who had gained a wide following on social media among disaffected Kazakhs, moved to Kyiv in 2014 along with his family after Kazakh authorities launched a slander investigation into Natalya Sadyqova, a journalist for the independent Respublika newspaper.

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Kazakh Activist Dies Of Gunshot Wounds In Kyiv Hospital

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He was shot on June 18 as he sat in his car, outside his apartment building. Natalya, who was in the car at the time, was unharmed.

“For 13 days Aidos fought for his life in the intensive care unit, but a miracle did not happen,” she wrote.

“His death is on the conscience of Toqaev,” she said, referring to the current Kazakh president, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.

A day after the shooting, Ukrainian police identified two Kazakh men, Meiram Qarataev and Altai Zhaqanbaev, as the attackers, saying they entered Ukraine from Poland and fled to Moldova right after the incident.

On June 22, Kazakh authorities said they arrested Zhaqanbaev after he turned himself in, and are working on establishing Qarataev's whereabouts.

On June 25, Ukrainian prosecutors said they were seeking the extradition of the two men from Kazakhstan, and had filed a warrant with the international police agency, Interpol.

On June 27, the chairman of the Kazakh parliament's upper chamber, Maulen Ashimbaev, reiterated an earlier statement by Toqaev's spokesman Berik Uali, saying that Kazakhstan was ready to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities.

However, Ashimbaev told reporters that his country will not extradite Zhaqanbaev to Ukraine, saying that according to Kazakh law, citizens of that country cannot be extradited to other states.

Kazakhstan has been criticized for putting pressure on independent media and government critics for years.

On July 2, an independent Kazakh political analyst, Dimash Alzhanov, said he was threatened by two unknown men when he entered the corridor of his apartment block in Almaty the previous night.

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Kazakh Authorities Arrest Suspect In Connection With Journalist's Shooting In Kyiv

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According to Alzhanov, one of the men asked him if he was Dimash and made threatening movements toward him before the two left the site.

Alzhanov, who has been known for his analytical comments on the Kazakh government's performance, the situation in Central Asia, Russia, and Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, said he filed a complaint with police.

Rights watchdogs have criticized the authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic for persecuting dissent.

Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until current President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.

Over the past three decades, several opposition figures have been killed and many jailed or forced to flee the country.

Toqaev, who broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his family left the oil-rich country's political scene following the deadly, unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022, has promised political reforms and more freedoms for citizens.

However, many in Kazakhstan consider the reforms announced by Toqaev to be cosmetic, as a crackdown on dissent has continued even after the president announced his "New Kazakhstan" program.

A man who approached a police station in Belgrade carrying a backpack with a crossbow inside has been arrested, police said.

The arrest comes two days after a crossbow attack at the Israeli Embassy in the Serbian capital.

Police said the man crossed a barrier in front of the station and walked away quickly after being ordered to stop.

Officers then caught up with him and searched his backpack, finding a crossbow with seven arrows, several knives, and a jar with firecrackers in it.

"Motives are being investigated and a search of his apartment is being conducted," police said in a statement.

It said the suspect was not on the government's list of potential "extremists."

Police said the man claimed that he was "being pursued by the mafia and secret services."

A medical examination will be carried out, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in the statement, adding that further actions will be decided by the prosecutor.

Serbia has been on high alert since a member of a special police unit was shot in the neck on June 29 by a man with a crossbow outside the Israeli Embassy.

The officer opened fire and killed the attacker, identified as Milos Zujovic. The officer underwent surgery and remains in the hospital.

Authorities said the assailant was a Serbian convert to Islam. His wife, currently in Montenegro, is being questioned by police at Serbia's request.

With reporting by AFP

A UN rights group on July 1 called for the immediate release of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying he had been detained "arbitrarily in violation of international laws." The Geneva-based United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention made the demand after examining Khan's corruption case, in which he was sentenced last year. Khan has been facing multiple prison sentences since 2022, when he was ousted through a vote of no confidence. There was no immediate comment from the government on the working group's demand. Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023, when a court found him guilty of hiding assets after selling state gifts. It led to a ban on Khan from taking part in politics and contesting the February 8 elections.

The Prosecutor-General's Office of Belarus has announced the sentencing of 20 people associated with the "extremist formation of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya's analysts."

Among those sentenced is Yury Drakakhrust, a journalist and analyst for RFE/RL.

Most of the those accused in the case are independent political analysts, sociologists, and economists.

The list also includes several employees of Tsikhanouskaya's office, which the Belarusian opposition leader set up in Vilnius after leaving the country in the wake of a crackdown on dissent that followed the 2020 presidential election.

The Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

The Investigative Committee launched a "special investigation" into the activities of the 20 individuals -- all of them living outside the country -- in January for providing comments to independent media in Belarus.

The Minsk Regional Court found the defendants guilty on multiple charges, including conspiracy to seize power and promoting extremism.

The Investigative Committee accused all 20 of taking an active part in the development and implementation of "the concept of destructive activities aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus, and also contributed to the incitement of social enmity and strife in society."

The sentences range from 10 to 11 years in prison. Many of the defendants were also handed excessive fines amounting to the equivalent of thousands of dollars.

The sentences can be appealed, the Prosecutor-General's Office said.

Anna Krasulina, Tsikhanouskaya's press secretary and one of the people sentenced, said there was no particular logic to the list of people investigated.

"They just put as many people on this list as possible to intimidate as many people as possible," she told RFE/RL when the investigation was announced in January.

Since a disputed 2020 presidential election, authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka has cracked down hard on dissent and civil society, jailing hundreds and forcing most of the country's opposition figures, including Tsikhanouskaya, to flee in fear for their safety and freedom.

While the official results handed Lukashenka victory and his sixth consecutive term in office, the opposition and many Western governments and organizations say the poll was rigged and that Tsikhanouskaya was the actual winner.

The Moscow City Court announced a guilty verdict on July 1 against two Kazakhs living in Moscow who were charged with railway sabotage. Aleksandr Abram and Eduard Burdilov were charged with sabotage committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. Both received 13 years in prison. Abram will spend the first four years and Burdilov will serve the first five years of that time in prison before serving the remainder of his sentence in a maximum-security institution, according to Mediazona. The Kazakhs are also ordered to pay 387,000 rubles (about $4,468) in damages to Russian Railways. Abram and Burdilov were detained on June 22, 2023. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, has been elected to head the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), the foundation said on its website on July 1. She is replacing Garry Kasparov, another Russian opposition member living abroad. "As someone who has witnessed firsthand the threat that dictatorship poses to our loved ones and the world at large, I am honored to serve as chair of the foundation. HRF's mission is close to my heart, and I look forward to helping realize it," Navalnaya said. HRF is a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights around the world. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have made more progress in ongoing negotiations on the delimitation of their border, the Armenian government said on July 1.

"Negotiations continue constructively," a short statement released by the office of Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian said.

It said that the Armenian and Azerbaijani government commissions on border delimitation have proposed to each other draft regulations for their joint work and should work out a relevant common document "soon."

The two sides had set July 1 as the deadline for reaching agreement on the draft regulation.

The Azerbaijani government issued a statement similar to the Armenian government statement. Neither side elaborated on why the deadline wasn't met or what problems arose in negotiations thus far.

At a think-tank event in Washington on July 1, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan as "really within reach."

"There is an extraordinary opportunity potential to realize a peace agreement between the countries," Blinken said in response to a question about the situation in the Caucasus.

The border-delimitation commissions representing the two countries pledged to agree on the regulations by July 1 when they announced on April 19 the start of the delimitation process that took the form of Armenian territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.

In the following weeks, Baku gained control of disputed border areas that used to be occupied by four Azerbaijani villages captured by Armenian forces in 1991-92.

For its part, the Azerbaijani Army had occupied at the time large swathes of nearby land belonging to several villages in Armenia’s Tavush Province. It has not withdrawn from that land in return for the Armenian concessions. Baku has also refused to withdraw from Armenian territory seized by its troops in 2021 and 2022.

The land transfer was strongly condemned by the Armenian opposition and sparked angry protests in Tavush border villages seriously affected by it.

The protests were led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, the head of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. After failing to scuttle preparations for the handover, Galstanian took his campaign to Yerevan, where he held a series of big rallies in May and June in a bid to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

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Pashinian has repeatedly defended his unilateral concessions, saying that they will lay the groundwork for Azerbaijan's recognition of Armenian territorial integrity.

He said that this "positive experience" will be used in the border delimitation and demarcation process that will supposedly be based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration signed by newly independent ex-Soviet republics.

Earlier on July 1, Pashinian refused to answer a question about the process when he was approached by an RFE/RL correspondent in Yerevan.

Grigorian also refused to answer a question on why it was not possible to agree on the regulations according to the established schedule.

The 1991 declaration committed Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other ex-Soviet state to recognizing each other's Soviet-era borders. But it does not contain a detailed description of those borders.

Yerevan until recently insisted that the two South Caucasus states should use Soviet military maps drawn in the 1970s as a basis for the border delimitation. Baku has rejected this.

A UN body condemned a series of incidents of what it said was Russian interference in the satellite systems of European countries and asked it to stop, according to a document published on July 1. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) reviewed a series of complaints from France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ukraine about satellite interference in recent months. The countries said Russia had jammed GPS signals, endangered air traffic control and interrupted children's TV channels to show violent images of the Ukraine war. Moscow, which denies breaking ITU rules, had also complained about alleged satellite interference by NATO countries.

A court in Pakistan sentenced a Christian man to death on July 1 for sharing what it said was hateful content against Muslims, his lawyer said, adding that he will appeal the verdict. Eshan Shan was accused of reposting defaced pages of the Koran on his TikTok account. Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, accusations can cause riots and incite violence, lynching, and killings. On June 20, a man in Pakistan's Swat Valley was beaten to death and his body was set on fire after he was accused of blasphemy.

A court in the western Russian city of Pskov on July 1 fined Denis Kamalyagin, the editor in chief of the Pskovskaya Guberniya newspaper, for purportedly failing to comply with legal requirements stemming from his designation as a "foreign agent." The court ordered Kamalyagin to pay 30,000 rubles ($342) personally. In addition, it ordered a legal entity connected to him to pay 300,000 rubles ($3,420). Kamalyagin, who now lives in Latvia, was fined in 2023 for purportedly discrediting the Russian armed forces. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s North.Realities, click here.