Hungary has responded to a letter sent by Nordic and Baltic countries expressing concern about Budapest’s decision to make it easier for Russian and Belarusian citizens to enter Hungary.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on August 18 that the letter sent to EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson showed an alarming level of “disregard for fact.”

"We regret to see that our colleagues from Nordic and Baltic countries continue to pursue their campaign of lies directed against Hungary,” Szijjarto said on Facebook.

The letter, signed by ministers of eight Nordic and Baltic countries and sent to Johansson on August 15, expressed concern that Hungary’s decision “may constitute a serious security risk to all Member States.”

All eight countries -- Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden -- are in Europe’s Schengen zone in which travelers can cross internal borders without having to show their passports or other documents.

Estonian Foreign Minister Marhus Tsahkna posted the letter on X on August 16, saying that easing entry for Russians and Belarusians “is not justified when Russia continues its war in #Ukraine & is intensifying hybrid actions against EU.”

The letter said this includes “sabotage, acts of violence, provocations at borders and instrumentalization of migrants.” It said all eight countries concluded at the NATO summit in July that “these actions constitute a threat to our security.”

But Szijjarto disagreed, saying in his response on August 18 that including Russian and Belarusian citizens in Hungary’s National Card program does not pose any security risk to the Schengen area because the Belarusian and Russian citizens who arrive in Hungary must still undergo thorough checks to enter and stay in the country.

“Any claims to the contrary are outright lies from our Nordic and Baltic colleagues who have been blinded by their adherence to the pro-war camp," Szijjarto said.

SEE ALSO:

EU Voices Concern, Asks Hungary For Clarifications On Plan To Ease Entry For Russians, Belarusians

Budapest published details of its National Card program last month after it took over the European Union's rotating presidency.

The program is a new fast-track visa system for citizens of eight countries, including Russia and Belarus, to enter Hungary. Budapest has said many of those who enter would be employed in the construction of a nuclear power plant that is contracted to Russia’s Rosatom.

Johansson voiced concern about the decision earlier this month in a letter addressed to Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter asking Budapest for clarifications. She said Russia is a security threat for the European Union and pointed to the need of "more, not less vigilance."

Russian citizens do not face a ban on entering the EU and the Schengen Area, which also includes non-EU members Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland, if they possess a valid visa and have no ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Belarus has deployed nearly one-third of its troops to the border with Ukraine, the country’s authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka told Russia’s state-run Rossia-1 television channel on August 18. He said the decision was made in response to Ukraine allegedly maintaining 120,000 soldiers near the border with Belarus and amassing more forces. Lukashenka also insisted that Kyiv had raised the stakes by launching a surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.

Suggestions that Ukrainian authorities supported by Poland were behind planning and executing the sabotage attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 are groundless, the Polish president's aide said on August 18. Germany's former intelligence chief, August Hanning, told Die Welt this week that he believed there were agreements between the presidents of Poland and Ukraine to carry out the attack. But Mieszko Pawlak, head of the international policy bureau at the office of Polish President Andrzej Duda said the comments were “groundless insinuations.”

Senad Ramovic, who was linked to the man that carried out a June 29 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, was killed by Serbian police in the village of Hotkovo, near Novi Pazar, on August 17 after opening fire on officers. His death was announced by Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on August 18. Ramovic was the landlord of Milos Zujovic, who wounded a policeman outside the embassy in June before being shot dead, the Serbian Interior Ministry said. Ramovic was previously sentenced to 13 1/2 years in prison for terrorism, linked to a 2007 shoot-out with police. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, click here.

The commander of Ukraine’s air force says a second bridge in Russia’s Kursk region has been struck as Kyiv tries to weaken Russia’s combat operations in the area.

“Minus one more bridge,” Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk wrote on Telegram on August 18. “The air force continues to deprive the enemy of logistical capabilities with precise air strikes, which significantly affect the course of hostilities.”

Moscow has not yet commented on the strike, which came nearly two weeks into Ukraine's surprise counteroffensive into Russia’s Kursk region, altering the dynamics of the two-and-a-half-year war and causing 120,000 people to flee.

Russian military bloggers previously posted an image of the first bridge that was hit. It spans the Seym River near the village of Zvannoye in Kursk.

According to Russian security officials, the destruction of that bridge cut off part of the Glushkov district, making it more difficult for the civilian evacuation out of the region.

On August 16, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of using American long-range rockets to destroy a key bridge in the Glushkov district in the Kursk region, killing in the process "volunteers" helping to evacuate civilians.

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Analyst: Ukraine Seeks 'Strategic Shift' In Kursk

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Analysts say taking out bridges over the Seym is crucial for Ukraine to ensure a secure flank to its offensive in Kursk by making it difficult for Moscow to supply its troops south of the river.

In Russia, debris from a drone downed in the Rostov region caused a fire at a diesel fuel storage facility in an industrial warehouse in the early hours of August 18, regional Governor Vasily Golubev wrote on Telegram.

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.

He said firefighting units were putting out the fire in the Proletarsk district and added that there were no casualties.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said its forces hit a facility in the Rostov region where oil and oil-products used by the Russian military are stored. At least two fires have been recorded on the territory of the facility, the General Staff said.

In Ukraine, authorities in the Kharkiv region said a 52-year-old woman was injured in Kupyansk as a result of shelling by the Russian Army. Private homes were also damaged, the local prosecutor-general's office said.

In addition, a nearby village was shelled, damaging equipment belonging to a utility company. There were no casualties, the press service of the prosecutor-general's office said.

According to preliminary data, the Russian army used rocket-propelled grenades in the attack.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses had intercepted five Ukrainian drones overnight over Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov. Kyiv does not usually comment on reports of drone attacks.

Meanwhile, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said on August 18 that Russia had launched its third ballistic missile against the Ukrainian capital this month.

He added that Russian forces had then launched a cruise missile toward Kyiv.

Ukraine's air force said it had downed eight drones and five missiles in total over the Kyiv, Sumy, and Poltava regions.

Popko said that there had been no reports of casualties or damage in Kyiv.

In a message on Telegram, he said the Russians had likely used a KN-23-type North Korean ballistic missile to target the Ukrainian capital. The U.S. and South Korea have accused Pyongyang of supplying ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war against Ukraine.

A new report claims that Russia is looking to acquire Iranian-made Fath-360 and Ababil close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs) and its military personnel are being trained in using the former. Analysts say obtaining the CRBMs frees up Russia to use its long-range ballistic missiles to target locations beyond the battlefront.

With reporting by dpa

Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office has opened an investigation into the alleged beheading of a Ukrainian soldier participating in the Russia incursion.

A video circulating on social media on August 16 showed a Russian soldier beside a pole with a severed head, allegedly of a Ukrainian soldier.

The Telegram channel DeepState identified the Russian soldier in the video as a member of the 155th Marine Brigade, which is deployed near the Kolotilovka checkpoint in the Belgorod region.

According to DeepState, Ukrainian forces were fighting in the area on August 12. It is not the first time in the 30-month war that Russian soldiers have posted such videos.

SEE ALSO:

Ukrainian Prosecutor Says Russian Troops Beheaded Ukrainian Soldier

The desecration of soldiers' bodies, including mutilation and beheadings, is a war crime.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off the northeastern coast of Russia, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter was located approximately 103 kilometers east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city with a population of about 165,000. The quake had a depth of 29 kilometers and occurred in the early hours of August 18 local time, the USGS said on its website. According to CNN, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said hazardous tsunami waves were possible within 300 kilometers of the epicenter along the coasts of Russia. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the capital of the Kamchatka region, a cold and sparsely populated peninsula about 2,600 kilometers west of Alaska.

As mass protests in Belgrade against the development of a lithium mine rattle Serbia's leadership, officials are looking to blame the West.

Washington, for its part, said the protests are just an example of democracy at work, shrugging off accusations it somehow has a hand in it the events.

"Peaceful protest and the right of citizens to demonstrate and speak freely is an important part of democracy," the State Department said in a response to an RFE/RL request for comment to accusations in Belgrade and Moscow.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic earlier this week accused demonstrators who opposed the multibillion-dollar lithium-mining project of being part of Western-backed "hybrid" warfare against his government, without giving any evidence.

Moscow has accused the West of being behind the protests, while Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin thanked the Russian security agencies for warning his government about alleged "preparations for mass unrest and an attempted coup."

SEE ALSO:

Serbian Official Thanks Russia For Unrest Warning Day After Arrest Of Protesters

Serbia and Russia maintain close ties even as Belgrade seeks to join the European Union. The United States last year designated Vulin for sanctions for his ties to the Kremlin.

In a response to RFE/RL on August 17, the State Department said any assertion that the United States supports anti-government protests in Serbia "is false."

"We are not surprised that Russia, in contrast, has instrumentalized protests to pursue its own agenda in Serbia, as it does around the globe," the State Department told RFE/RL on August 17.

The protesters demand a halt to Anglo-Australian metals and mining giant Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion lithium project in Jadar in western Serbia over fears it could pollute nearby land and water.

SEE ALSO:

Serbian Police Disperse Protesters Opposed To Lithium Mining

In 2022, the Serbian government rejected the project in the wake of massive public protests amid concerns over its impact on the environment.

But it reinstated the plan on July 16 this year, days after the Balkan state's Constitutional Court said the government had acted unconstitutionally when it withdrew permits for Rio Tinto.

Jadar has the capacity to supply 90 percent of Europe's current lithium needs and make Rio Tinto one of the world's leading lithium producers. Serbia is seeking to process the lithium locally and use it for the production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

Such large-scale mining projects often trigger protests in Western countries by local residents who fear the ecological devastation outweighs any potential economic gains. In the United States, citizens have sought to stop lithium projects in Nevada and North Carolina.

Serbia is no different. Citizens fear the Jadar mine will pollute water and land resources in a country that already suffers from significant environmental degradation, a legacy of communist rule.

SEE ALSO:

'We Can Barely Open A Window': Residents Grapple With Pollution From Chinese Copper Mine In Serbia

Lithium is typically mined through a process called brine mining, which involves extracting lithium from underground saltwater reserves, opening up the possibility of water contamination.

The Serbian lithium project could play a critical role in Western EV supply chains as Washington and Brussels seek to reduce dependency on rival China.

SEE ALSO:

Germany's Scholz Praises Lithium-Mining Deal With Serbia, Says Environment Will Be Protected

The United States and Europe have put policies in place to significantly increase the number of EVs on the road in the coming years as they seek to reach emission targets.

As a result, global lithium demand is expected to surge. China is currently the third-largest producer of lithium after Australia and Chile but the largest lithium refiner and producer of batteries for EVs, giving it signficant influence over markets.

The project would also be a boon to Western investors in Rio Tinto.

The chatbot ChatGPT has been used by a network of Iranian accounts to generate texts aimed at influencing the U.S. presidential election, according to the ChatGPT developer OpenAI. "We banned accounts linked to an Iranian influence operation using ChatGPT to generate content focused on multiple topics, including the U.S. presidential campaign," the company said in a statement on August 16. "We identified and took down a cluster of ChatGPT accounts that were generating content for a covert Iranian influence operation identified as Storm-2035," the statement said.

The Afghan Taliban's acting prime minister, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who is on a UN sanctions list, is receiving medical treatment in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), officials said. U.A.E. President Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan visited the Taliban leader "to inquire about his health," a spokeswoman for the U.A.E. Foreign Ministry said on social media, without providing many details. Akhund did not attend Taliban ceremonies in Kabul on August 14 that marked the third anniversary of the group's return to power in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov arrived in Kabul on August 17 in the first high-level visit by an Uzbek delegation since the Taliban returned to power three years ago, ousting a Western-backed government. Aripov will take part in bilateral meetings to discuss trade between the two neighboring countries, the Taliban-led Ministry for Industry and Commerse said on X, sharing a photo of the Uzbek delegation arriving at Kabul's airport. No country has officially recognized the Taliban-led government in Kabul. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukrainian forces are continuing to make progress in Russia's Kursk region after launching a major cross-border offensive 11 days ago that caught the Kremlin's military leadership off-guard and altered the dynamics of the 30-month war.

Following an update from Ukraine's top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram on August 17 that Ukraine had been "strengthening" its positions in the Kursk region and stabilizing more territory under its control.

Ukrainian forces have penetrated deep into Russian territory after sweeping over the border in a surprise attack on August 6, capturing dozens of settlements.

The surprise incursion, coming as Russia continues to advance in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, seemingly strengthens Kyiv's hand in any future peace negotiations.

WATCH: Ukrainian troops near the city of Toretsk say they believe Russia will have to redirect resources back to its own territory, but they have yet to see a letup in the fighting.

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Ukrainian Forces Near Donetsk Hope For Tide To Turn After Kursk Incursion

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Russia claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya -- in addition to the Crimean Peninsula. If Ukraine can continue to hold parts of Kursk and neighboring Russian regions, it could potentially seek to swap it for the allegedly annexed regions, experts say.

The Kremlin has been embarrassed by the incursion, the first foreign occupation of its territory since World War II, and has accused NATO of helping Ukraine plan the attack, an allegation Washington denies.

The Kremlin, which frames the war as one between Russia and the West, has often hinted at escalation in what analysts say is an attempt to intimidate Washington so it refrains from supplying Ukraine with powerful weapons, such as long-range precision rockets and F-16s.

As Ukrainian forces continued their surprising advance in Kursk, Russia's Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of using U.S.-made long-range rockets to destroy a key bridge in the Glushkov district in the Kursk region, killing in the process "volunteers" helping to evacuate civilians.

"For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American HIMARS," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said late on August 16.

According to Russian security officials, the destruction of the bridge cut off part of the district, making it more difficult for civilian evacuation out of the region. Ukraine’s incursion has so far led to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities.

By comparison, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced as many as 7 million Ukrainians to flee their homes. Russia has also killed thousands of civilians through drone and missile strikes on nonmilitary sites like homes, shopping centers, and railroad stations.

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.

Kyiv claims to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometers since its surprise cross-border incursion on August 6.

The United States so far deems the incursion a protective move that justifies the use of U.S. weaponry, according to officials in Washington.

Nonetheless, Ukraine still faces Western restrictions on the use of some weapon systems inside Russia, including long-range missiles like the U.S.-made ATACMS. The Biden administration views the use of ATAMCS inside Russia as escalatory. There has been no indication from Western capitals that Ukraine has violated those rules during the course of the war.

The Times of London reported on August 17 that the United States is also blocking Britain from supplying its powerful, long-range Storm Shadow cruise missile. The U.K. sent a corresponding request to the United States more than a month ago, but has not yet received a response, the paper reported.

In a post later in the day, Zelenskiy expressed regret that the U.K. was restricting the use of Storm Shadows, saying long-range strike capability "is really a matter of principle for us." The Storm Shadow, which has a payload of 400 kilograms, can devastate targets more than 300 kilometers away. Kyiv wants to use them to strike Russian air bases that house fighter jets pounding Ukrainian troops and cities.

"It is crucial that our partners remove barriers that hinder us from weakening Russian positions in the way this war demands. Long-range capabilities are the answer to the most critical strategic questions of this war," he wrote.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on August 16 urged Washington and London to allow Ukraine to attack Russian territory with ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.

In a separate setback for Ukraine, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported on August 17 that Germany has halted any new financial and military aid to Ukraine due to budgetary constraints.

In an August 5 letter to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and seen by the news outlet, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said new aid allocations can only be made if financing is guaranteed.

"Starting today, Olaf Scholz and the coalition government under his leadership are freezing financial and thus military support for Ukraine," Ingo Gadehens, a member of the opposition Christian Democrats, told the news outlet.

Aid that had previously been promised will be delivered. Going forward, funds for Ukraine will be allocated from the profits generated by Russia's frozen assets, the outlet reported.

Energy Facilities Targeted

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukraine on August 17 of planning to attack the Kursk nuclear power plant and blame it on Moscow.

Russia would respond harshly in the event of such "provocation," Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

Meanwhile, Russian-installed officials at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine said on August 17 that a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive charge on a road outside the plant, endangering staff who use the road.

Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of sabotaging the operation of the plant, which was occupied by Russia soon after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Last week, Zelenskiy accused Russia of causing a fire at a cooling tower of the plant, while Russian officials said Kyiv was deliberately trying to destroy the plant and sow "nuclear terror."

Non-nuclear energy facilities have been targeted by both sides during the war, with Russia damaging half of Ukraine power facilities and Ukraine damaging more than a dozen Russian refineries, some more than once.

Kyiv and Moscow were to hold "indirect talks" next week in Doha on halting attacks on energy infrastructure but it has been postponed due to the Kursk incursion, The Washington Post reported on August 17, citing people familiar with the developments.

Russia Plans More Evacuations

Ukrainian forces on August 17 damaged another bridge over the Seim River, limiting the ability of Russia to supply its troops south of the river. Another road bridge and a pontoon bridge remain but are coming under Ukrainian fire.

Ukraine is seeking to capture the town of Korenevo, south of the river, to strengthen its position in Kursk.

Earlier this week, Ukraine announced the capture of Sudzha, a town with a population of 5,000, the biggest to fall so far in the incursion. Korenevo is slightly bigger in size.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine will establish a command office in Sudzha to coordinate aid and military affairs.

Russian forces have so far struggled to mount an effective response to the incursion, which is widely seen as a major morale boost for Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have already captured hundreds of Russian troops, who Kyiv plans to use in a prisoner swap, Zelenskiy said on August 17.

"By this morning, our country's 'exchange fund' has been replenished. I thank all our soldiers and commanders who are capturing Russian military personnel, thereby advancing the release of our warriors and civilians held by Russia," he posted on social media.

Authorities in Russia's Belgorod region bordering Ukraine and Kursk have said they will evacuate five villages starting next week.

"From August 19, we are closing access to five settlements, removing residents and helping them bring out their property," regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on Telegram.

WATCH: Skepticism prevailed in the Ukrainian border city of Sumy when locals were asked about government plans to accept refugees from Russia's Kursk region.

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Will Ukraine Embrace Russian Refugees? Border Residents Are Not Excited

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Russian Strike, Ukraine Hack

As it sought to beat back Ukrainian forces in Kursk, Russia continued its bombardment of Ukraine.

In the northeastern Sumy region, at least two people were wounded in a Russian missile strike early on August 17, according to emergency services.

The missile hit a parking lot near a high-rise apartment building, setting at least 10 vehicles on fire and shattering the windows and damaging the façade of the nearby buildings, Ukrainian officials said.

Overnight, Ukraine's air defenses shot down all 14 Russian drones launched in an overnight strike, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement early on August 17.

The Shahed drones were downed over six Ukrainian regions in the south and center of the country, including areas near the capital, Kyiv, according to the statement posted on Telegram.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate said its cyber-specialists together with the hacker group VO Team had successfully infiltrated an Internet provider to an enterprise belonging to Russia's nuclear weapons program.

In an August 17 statement, the directorate said they hacked Chelyabinsk Internet provider Vega, whose clients include the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics, disabling 1,173 switches and 10 servers.

"The information on the Vega servers has been destroyed. A number of strategic enterprises of the city were left without Internet and communication services for almost a week," the intelligence service reported.

RFE/RL could not confirm the information.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Russian services

Ukraine's air defenses shot down all 14 Russian drones launched in an overnight strike, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement early on August 17. The Shahed drones were downed over six Ukrainian regions in the south and center of the country, including areas near the capital, Kyiv, according to the statement posted on Telegram. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Russia's drone and missile attack overnight. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on August 16 that it had summoned Italy's ambassador to Moscow over what it said was "illegal border crossing" by a team of correspondents from Italian state broadcaster RAI who reported this week from Ukrainian-held parts of Russia's Kursk region. The Foreign Ministry said "strong protest was expressed to the ambassador in connection with the actions of the RAI film crew that "illegally entered the territory of the Russian Federation." The Italian Foreign Ministry told Reuters that the ambassador, Cecilia Piccioni, had explained to Russian authorities that RAI and its news teams "plan their activities in a totally independent and autonomous way."

Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani has set February 9, 2025, as the date for regular parliamentary elections in the Balkan country. Osmani signed a decree saying the date was set after consultations with the political parties and the Central Election Commission. Osmani's political adviser, Bekim Kupina, said February 9 was chosen as "the optimal date that balances the preferences of all difficult parties." Kupina quoted the presidency as saying it was important that the election campaign begin after January 7, the end of winter holidays. He also noted that Osmani has invited the EU to send a mission for a preliminary assessment and will turn to the EU again to request election observers.

The heads of two recruitment centers near Kyiv have been detained on suspicion of accepting bribes in exchange for exempting conscripts, Ukrainian law enforcement officials said on August 16. During searches of offices and apartments in the suburbs of Bucha and Boryspil, bundles of money were discovered and confiscated, the Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on Telegram. The heads of the recruitment centers and their alleged accomplices reportedly collected around $1 million for their services. SBU investigators said the heads of the recruiting centers arranged forged medical certificates, which declared young men unfit for service, thereby excluding them from further registration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit Azerbaijan on August 18 for talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on a strategic partnership between the two countries and other international and regional issues. Putin is expected to comment during the two-day visit on peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have been taking place following years of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Notedly, Azerbaijan is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, meaning Putin is able to travel to the country without fearing arrest under the international warrant issued for him by the court for war crimes in Ukraine. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, click here.

A Russian court on August 16 extended the custody of four Tajik men suspected of carrying out the deadliest terrorist attack on Russian soil in two decades. More than 140 people were killed when gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall venue on March 22 before setting the building on fire. The four defendants were brought to court dressed in prison clothes and shackled hand and foot as a judge extended their detention until November 22. The head of the Russian Federal Security Service claimed that the attack was planned and financed by Islamic State-Khorasan, while also alleging Ukrainian involvement. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she is pleased that 30 people have been pardoned in Belarus and released from jail but noted that the move barely makes a dent in the number of people imprisoned in the country "in politically motivated cases."

"I am very happy about the release of a number of political prisoners," Tsikhanouskaya said on August 16 on Telegram. "I am glad that families will finally be reunited -- and those who have not seen each other for weeks, months, and years will finally have the opportunity to hug and talk."

But she said the reality is that detentions in Belarus continue and the number of political prisoners is growing.

"More than 1,400 people are still behind bars in politically motivated cases. And there are those who will decide not to agree to the terms, and those who will never be offered them," she said. "Therefore, we will continue to be their voices and do everything in our power to ensure that each of these people is released as soon as possible."

A statement posted on the website of authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka's office earlier on August 16 said he signed a decree pardoning 14 women and 16 men who had been convicted of "crimes of a protest nature." Some of those pardoned have serious illnesses or are retirement age, the statement said.

The Vyasna human rights center earlier this week said it had received evidence that political prisoners throughout the country were being forced to write petitions for clemency to Lukashenka.

SEE ALSO:

'They Remain In Torturous Conditions': The Prisoners Left Behind In Russia After Historic Exchange 

Vyasna reported last month that representatives of the Prosecutor-General's Office went to colony No. 1 in Novopolotsk every day and force political prisoners to write petitions for clemency.

In addition to her message on Telegram, Tsikhanouskaya posted a statement on her website saying that she talks about political prisoners in Belarus at every international meeting she attends.

"You know that this issue is particularly personal for me. The regime has kept my husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, out of public sight for 527 days. Our children ask about their father every day, and all I can do is comfort them with the hope that he will soon come back home," she said.

Tsikhanouskaya, 41, is a former teacher who ran for president in Belarus in 2020 after her husband was barred by the regime from doing so and imprisoned.

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.

She was forced to flee to Lithuania during a brutal crackdown on a wave of pro-democracy protests that erupted after the election.

Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu was awarded the bronze medal in the women's floor exercise at the Paris Olympics on August 16 in a ceremony in Bucharest amid controversy over who finished third in the competition.

"This result came after many years of work in the gym," Barbosu said, adding that the situation is "tough" for all the three gymnasts involved in the controversy, which arose after the bronze medal was awarded to U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles after her coach appealed her score at the end of the competition on August 5.

"It's a tough situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we did nothing wrong at the Olympics. And that the Olympic spirit is more important than any misunderstanding between the authorities," she added.

Octavian Morariu, Romania's representative in the IOC, and Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, awarded Barbosu in the Bucharest ceremony.

"Today only one thing happened: Justice was done.... Well done, Ana Maria," Morariu said.

SEE ALSO:

Court Rules In Favor Of Romanian Gymnasts On Olympics Inquiry

On the night of the competition Chiles's score was increased to 13.766 from 13.666 after her coach appealed her marks, and this moved her into third place, knocking Barbosu off the podium and leaving Barbosu in tears.

Days later the Court of Arbitration (CAS) ruled that the inquiry was made past the 1-minute limit allowed under the rules of the International Gymnastics Federation, thus reinstating Chiles's original 13.666 score. The ruling bumped Barbosu back into the bronze position.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed on August 11 that Chiles must return the medal, but it is still unknown if Chiles has done so.

The medal that Barbosu received on August 16 is another medal sent by the IOC for the ceremony in Bucharest.

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Romanian Gymnastics Legend Nadia Comaneci Fires Up Her Olympic Successors

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While the IOC said it would respect the CAS ruling, USA Gymnastics said in a statement on August 12 that it would "continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan."

Chiles herself has called the CAS panel's decision that she must return the medal "unjust" and has said she would "make every effort to ensure that justice is served."

USA Gymnastics said in a statement quoted by the Washington Post on August 14 that it had time-stamped video proving Landi initiated the inquiry 47 seconds after Chiles's score was posted. USA Gymnastics said the footage was not available to the organization at the time of the hearing, and said that it was given less than 24 hours' notice of the hearing.

USA Gymnastics said it was notified by the CAS on August 12 that its rules do not allow for the award to be reconsidered "even when conclusive new evidence is presented," adding that it was "deeply disappointed by the notification."

Since the CAS ruling, reports have surfaced that the chair of the panel appointed by the court to rule on the decision about the bronze medal originally awarded to Chiles included an official with ties to Romania. The reports cited documents that show Hamid Gharavi, a lawyer, previously represented Romania in international disputes.

Five people, including two soldiers, were wounded on August 16 in an explosion that damaged a police vehicle outside Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local authorities said. According to a police representative, the blast was caused by a remote-controlled bomb, but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident and an investigation is ongoing. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen an increase in deadly attacks that mostly remained unclaimed while some of them were claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

Agents of the FBI have raided and searched the Virginia home of Dmitri Simes, a prominent political commentator and author who hosts a current-affairs program on Russia’s state-run Channel One television, the newspaper Rappahannock News reported on August 16.

The FBI told the paper the search began on August 13 but declined to comment further, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported.

Simes told the paper he is currently out of the country, but was "puzzled and concerned" by the FBI's action. He told the Russian state news agency TASS on August 16 that the reports that FBI agents were at his home were true, although he had not been officially notified.

Simes was born in Moscow in 1947 and emigrated to the United States in 1973. He served as an informal adviser to former U.S. President Richard Nixon and regularly traveled with Nixon to the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries.

In 1994, Nixon named him to head the Center for the National Interest, which at the time was called the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom. Simes retired from the position in 2022.

Simes also advised the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and arranged an important 2016 foreign-policy speech in which Trump outlined a vision for greater cooperation with Russia.

Simes's name was mentioned more than 100 times in a 2019 report by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller entitled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election.

Simes moderated a question-and-answer session with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2023.

Earlier this month, Fox News reported that FBI agents had raided the New York home of Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq who has been a frequent contributor to Russian government media including RT and Sputnik. An FBI spokesperson told Fox the search was part of an "ongoing" investigation.

Ritter has supported Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and in January he addressed thousands of Chechen soldiers on a central square in the Chechen capital, Grozny.

In June, U.S. authorities seized Ritter's passport and prevented him from travelling to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

With reporting by TASS

Ukraine's top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said on August 16 that Kyiv's forces continue to advance in the Kursk region.

"The troops of the offensive group continue to fight, they have advanced in some directions from 1 to 3 kilometers toward the enemy. In general, the situation is under control. All measures are being carried out according to the plan," he said in a briefing with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over video link.

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.

Syrskiy reported fighting in the area of Malaya Loknya, some 11.5 kilometers from Ukrainian border.

The claims could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian forces also destroyed a key bridge in the Kursk region on August 16, pro-Kremlin media outlets report. According to Russian security officials, the destruction of the bridge cut off part of a local district making it more difficult for civilian evacuation out of the region.

Ukrainian troops launched the cross-border incursion on August 6 in an apparent attempt to divert the Russian military forces away from the front line. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on August 15 that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region of Ukraine were "facing the most intense Russian assaults."

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military, reporting on the situation within Ukraine, said the number of clashes on the front increased to 99 by the end of the day on August 16, and many of them were in the Pokrovsk area.

Military authorities in the city of Pokrovsk urged civilians to speed up their evacuation because Russian troops are "advancing at a fast pace." They said on Telegram that with every passing day "there is less and less time to collect personal belongings and leave for safer regions.”

Ukrainian forces fought battles in other areas, including Kupyansk, Kramatorsk, and Siverskiy, the General Staff said.

In addition to Pokrovsk, the enemy attacked in nine other areas, including in Kharkiv, the General Staff said, noting that some battles there also were ongoing.

Ukraine's human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on August 16 that Kyiv will not create special camps for Russian civilians who want to evacuate amid an ongoing incursion in Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions.

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Ukraine Says Ready To Take Russian Refugees From Kursk

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The Ukrainian government said its advance was meant to establish a "security zone" inside Russia to put an end to incessant strikes by the Russian military from the two regions bordering Ukraine targeting civilian and infrastructure facilities.

Lubinets said that he did not envisage any threats to the security of the civilian population from the Russian region on the territory of Ukraine and that he thinks the number of civilians willing to evacuate to Ukraine will be limited.

"We do not expect that there will be a large number of people willing to come to us, if any. But I am definitely not worried about the fact that it will be dangerous for the civilian population from Kursk region.... We have offered each and every resident of Kursk the option to evacuate from this territory if they wish," Lubinets said.

"Ukraine will open humanitarian corridors. Either to the territory controlled by the Russian Federation, or to the territory of independent Ukraine. It should be the personal choice of any citizen who is currently there from among the civilians. We are definitely not going to violate their rights."

Lubinets has said the Ukrainian military strictly adheres to the obligations stipulated by the Geneva and Hague Conventions.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Ukraine has set up storage facilities in the Sumy region for humanitarian aid meant for Russian civilians.

He didn't specify how many of the storage facilities had been set up or where they are, but a video on the ministry's Telegram account showed a large inflatable tent and Ukrainian military personnel carrying parcels and packing food.

During a trip to the Sumy region, which borders Russia's Kursk region, Klymenko said about 150 food parcels had been sent to civilians in the area. Citizens "abandoned by Russia" are mostly elderly people, people with disabilities, and families with children, he said, adding that they need food, water, and medicine."

The approach contrasts with the treatment that some Ukrainians who fled their homes said they were subjected to. They reported being forced to undergo "filtration" -- Moscow's alleged campaign to catch and punish perceived enemies or others deemed somehow unreliable from among the war's refugees. There also have been accusations that Ukrainians ensnared in the occupation forces' vetting were killed, "disappeared," or forcibly deported to Siberia and other Russian destinations.

Moscow has denied committing atrocities and routinely blames Ukrainian forces for civilian deaths and other abuses in a war that Russian censorship prohibits from being described as a "war" at all.

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Analyst: Ukraine Seeks 'Strategic Shift' In Kursk

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On August 15, Russian presidential aide and Security Council head Nikolai Patrushev told the Izvestia newspaper that the Ukrainian incursion into Russia's western Kursk region launched on August 6 was "planned with the help of NATO and Western special services," repeating a claim made by numerous Russian officials in recent days.

Patrushev said assertions by the United States and other Western countries that they were not involved "are not true."

In a reaction to the events in Kursk and Belgorod regions, the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, said Russia's reaction to the Ukrainian advance into its territory had so far been sluggish and messy.

"Russia is still trying to pull together a response to Ukraine's incursion. So far, it has only been a rather slow and scattered reaction. This is partly because Russia hasn't established who has the authority. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for military actions inside Ukraine, but not within Russia, right? So, it should be the Ministry of Internal Affairs," Cavoli said at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations on August 15.

Switzerland has imposed sanctions on 27 Belarusians believed to have been involved in repression and human rights violations since Belarus's disputed 2020 presidential election. The individuals targeted include senior Interior Ministry figures, prison officials, state-media figures, and judges. Earlier this month, the European Union imposed similar sanctions targeting 28 Belarusians. Following the August 2020 election that gave strongman leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth presidential term, mass pro-democracy demonstrations broke out across Belarus. The demonstrations were brutally suppressed. In the ensuing years, officials have imprisoned hundreds of demonstration participants, often holding leading activists in near-complete isolation and denying many prisoners adequate medical care. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

A court in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson has sentenced Ukrainian citizen Iryna Horobtsova to 10 1/2 years in prison after convicting her of espionage, the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office said on August 15. Horobtsova, an IT worker who helped Ukrainian civilians leave the Russian-occupied areas of their country, has been in Russian custody for more than two years. Russian prosecutors accused her of gathering "strategically important information" and conveying it to the Ukrainian military. Her lawyer, Emil Kurbedinov, met with her for the first time in court more than two years after she was arrested. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.