The Sobesednik publishing house in Russia has suspended for up to three months production at all of its outlets, including its popular newspaper, following a decision by authorities to place the company on the list of "foreign agents," Yelena Milchanovska, a Sobesednik correspondent, said on September 17. The Justice Ministry added Sobesednik, which launched its operations in 1984, to its list of "foreign agents" on September 13. The company has said it will appeal the move. In recent years, Sobesednik has been one of the few outlets to criticize the Kremlin and give a platform to opposition figures and activists. To read the original story by RFE/RL's North.Realities, click here.

Noted Russian opposition activist Vitaly Ioffe was killed in the northwestern city of St. Peterburg, a relative told RFE/RL on September 17. Russian media also reported about Ioffe's killing, citing his daughter and other sources. The Mash Telegram channel, which is close to the Kremlin, reported that a 20-year-old St. Petersburg resident was detained after he turned himself in to police in the nearby city of Vyborg and confessed to the killing. Officials have not commented on a possible motive. Ioffe was known for his criticism of the Russian government. He openly condemned Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's North.Realities, click here.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on September 17 that nine people were arrested in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk after the deaths of three people who died while receiving IV treatments. Those arrested were charged with providing illegal medical services at home for fees. According to the officials, the suspects illegally used strong and psychotropic substances through IV drips to people suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction without proper diagnoses. A search of the suspects' homes allegedly uncovered a large amount of illegal medical substances. To use the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, click here.

Unknown attackers on September 16 threw a Molotov cocktail at the house of Dmitry Tyulenev, the father of popular self-exiled Russian blogger Danya Milokhin, who has openly condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Tyulenev says the fire damaged construction materials piled up near the house, adding the attackers left a written message, saying: "Danya Milokhin should go to the special military operation (the Kremlin's name for the war in Ukraine), and his family to hell." Police are investigating the attack. Milokhin has more than 18 million subscribers on TikTok. He left Russia for the United Arab Emirates in the autumn of 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Investigators in the United States have arrested a 44-year-old Russian national in Sarasota, Florida, on an indictment charging him with conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act, to commit smuggling, to commit money laundering, and to defraud the United States, the Justice Department said on September 16. Denis Postovoi is suspected of illegally exporting from the United States to Russia microelectronic components with military applications via other countries starting in February 2022, right after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The United States and other Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia over the invasion of its neighbor. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

A region of northeastern Ukraine was battling extensive power outages on September 17 after an overnight attack by Russian drones that sent emergency crews and Ukrainian officials scrambling to repair damage and tap into backup facilities for water and other utility infrastructure.

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.

The Sumy regional military administration said households in Sumy, Konotop, Ohktyr, and a handful of other municipalities were cut off from the electricity grid.

Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said there were no casualties from the attack but that water pressure plummeted and electricity supplies were experiencing problems.

Two weeks ago, authorities in Sumy expanded a list of areas for evacuation amid intensified Russian bombardment by drones and missiles.

A spokesman for a northern Ukrainian military unit, Vadym Mysnyk, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that Russia's stepped-up shelling of energy facilities in Sumy appeared to be retaliation for the Ukrainian incursion into Russia's nearby Kursk region.

"It's just a matter of time before they dump it all on us," Mysnyk said. "Either here or in another city. But they'll hit Ukraine using everything they have -- the entire arsenal."

Ukraine's military said early on September 17 that it had downed 34 drones overnight but that 51 had been detected.

Kyiv claims to have gained control of more than 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory since launching its surprise incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region in early August in an effort to gain leverage as Russia's full-scale invasion nears its 32nd month.

On September 16, Ukraine invited the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the territory it has captured in the subsequent six weeks to confirm its adherence to humanitarian law.

The Kremlin called the invites a "provocation" and said it expected the UN and Red Cross to decline them.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was reportedly planning to meet with senior ICRC officials in Moscow on September 17, less than a week after three Red Cross staff members were killed when artillery struck a planned aid distribution site in Donetsk.

Kyiv blamed Russian shelling for the deaths.

Russia's Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by self-exiled television journalist Tatyana Lazareva against her status of a "foreign agent," her lawyer Leonid Solovyov said on September 17. In July, a Moscow court issued an arrest warrant for Lazareva, who was designated a "foreign agent" in July 2022 on a charge of justifying terrorism. The charge stems from a report Lazareva made about Ukrainian drones attacking sites inside Russia. In June, Russian authorities added Lazareva to the country's wanted list and the registry of "terrorists and extremists." Lazareva fled Russia after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Senior representatives from Serbia and its partly recognized former province of Kosovo were gathering in Brussels on September 17 for internationally mediated talks on implementing past commitments aimed at normalizing relations between the Balkan neighbors.

The countries' chief negotiators in the so-called "dialogue" -- Serbia's director for relations with Kosovo Petar Petkovic and Kosovar Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi -- were expected to participate, along with EU officials.

It was unclear if the two sides would meet jointly or just separately with EU envoys.

Similar meetings have recently fallen through despite heavy public pressure from outside diplomats keen to patch a security risk in Southeastern Europe and regain regional momentum for further Western integration and stem the influence of outside powers Russia and China.

Belgrade has never acknowledged the independence that Pristina declared in 2008, and violent flare-ups and standoffs persist between Kosovar authorities and tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo in a region still scarred by brutal wars and ethnic cleansing in the 1990s.

Already high bilateral tensions were ratcheted up further last week when Kosovar authorities announced the indictment of 45 individuals on terrorism charges over a commando-style operation at a monastery in northern Kosovo last year that killed an ethnic Albanian police officer and wounded another.

Kosovo, which is majority ethnic Albanian, has faced increased criticism from international partners, including the United States and European Union, over "unilateral" and "uncoordinated" actions affecting the daily lives of its ethnic Serbs.

Belgrade and EU and U.S. officials have also pressed for Pristina to lay the legal groundwork to establish an association of mostly Serb municipalities that it originally pledged to create more than a decade ago.

Kosovar officials have countered that the Serbian side is trying to implement measures halfway, including from oral commitments made in Ohrid early last year.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic last week announced his intention to boost Belgrade's support to Serbs in Kosovo "significantly and dramatically."

He also urged Serbs who had quit jobs with police and other Kosovar institutions in protest nearly two years ago to retake the jobs, and he laid out administrative plans to help Serbs draw salaries and other financial benefits on the Serbian side of the joint border.

Some Serbs have expressed anger and said they feel betrayed by Vucic's about-face.

EU officials have welcomed the step.

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti initially avoided commenting publicly, and it is unclear that those institutions will do anything to facilitate any return en masse by ethnic Serbs.

Pristina calls the so-called "parallel" institutions backed by Belgrade "illegal."

Parliamentary speaker and Kurti party ally Glauk Konjufca told reporters that such an action would be unconstitutional. Foreign Minister Donika Gelvalla-Schwarz has warned of an "instrumentalization of Serbs" by Belgrade.

Pristina has defended recent steps like its ban on the use of the dinar and a cutoff of Serbian banks and post offices in recent months in majority Serb regions by saying it is merely maintaining constitutional and legal order.

Facebook owner Meta said on September 16 that it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, claiming the outlets had used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online. The ban marks a sharp escalation in actions by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media, after it spent years taking more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts. "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," the social media company said in a statement. Enforcement of the ban would roll out over the coming days, it said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to announce the EU executive arm's new five-year leadership team on September 17.

The composition of the commission for von der Leyen's second term will reflect an emphasis on collective security through the introduction of a "full-fledged defense commissioner" as the bloc grapples with fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine and other perceived threats.

Von der Leyen has also pushed the other 26 EU members who each nominate a potential commissioner to increase gender balance among the nominees.

One day before the planned announcement, France's commissioner for the EU's internal market, Thierry Breton, abruptly resigned and asked his country to nominate someone else in an effort to encourage von der Leyen to give "an allegedly more influential portfolio for France."

Von der Leyen is in charge of selecting portfolios among each of the 26 candidates.

Von der Leyen has set out goals for the commission that include rethinking the foundations of security and further boosting Ukraine's defense in the face of Russia's 2 1/2-year-old full-scale invasion.

Some of the other urgent challenges currently facing the bloc are perceived threats to transatlantic relations, divisions over Israel's ongoing war with U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and tensions over the bloc's agricultural, industrial, and environmental goals, especially in light of the European Green Deal adopted in 2019.

Von der Leyen has also laid out priorities like the stiffening of EU borders and a merit-based approach to long-stalled EU enlargement.

The top European Commission post is one of three key institutional presidencies, along with the leadership of the European Council, that defines the general political direction and priorities of the bloc and the European Parliament.

Iranian authorities have released Austrian citizen Christian Weber, detained for crimes allegedly committed in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, to Austria's ambassador in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on September 17. Austria had said in 2022 that one of its citizens was arrested in Iran for charges not related to the protests that broke out in the country after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman. The news agency said the Austrian citizen was freed in consideration of Islamic mercy. He was handed over to his country's ambassador to arrange his exit, the agency said. Mizan did not specify the crime for which Weber was jailed. Calls to the Austrian Embassy before regular office hours went unanswered.

Afghanistan's Taliban-run Health Ministry on September 17 rejected reports saying the hard-line group has suspended or delayed a major polio vaccination drive.

Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman called such reports false and said there was no official directive to postpone or stop the anti-polio plans.

Instead, he said, Taliban health officials are trying to implement the vaccination campaign in a legitimate and technical way that benefits society.

A day earlier, AP quoted a top official from the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying it was aware of discussions to move away from house-to-house vaccinations and instead administer immunizations site-to-site in places like mosques.

Local and international observers have repeatedly warned of humanitarian challenges since the Taliban took control of the country as the U.S.-led international coalition withdrew in mid-2021, heightened by a lack of recognition of the group's government in Kabul.

The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, up from six cases in 2023, and had announced a sweeping anti-polio drive for September.

A nationwide house-to-house anti-polio campaign in June was the first in at least five years, and WHO authorities said the scheme allowed its vaccinators to reach most of the children it was targeting.

Kamal Shah, a former communications officer at UNICEF, the UN agency responsible for humanitarian and other aid to children worldwide, has urged officials to better integrate the Taliban into polio vaccination efforts.

Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic.

The WHO has warned that high cross-border traffic between those two countries heightens the risk of polio spreading.

India has condemned comments made by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the treatment of Muslims in the South Asian nation, calling his remarks "misinformed and unacceptable." "We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place," Khamenei said on September 16. In response, India's Foreign Ministry said it "strongly deplored" the comments. "Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others," the ministry spokesperson said. The two countries have typically shared a strong relationship.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on September 16 gave a positive assessment of the support provided to Moldova in fending off hybrid Russian attacks and pledged further assistance. "With our help, Moldova was able to stabilize its economy, withstand Russia's hybrid attacks, and get inflation under control," Baerbock said during the 5th Support Conference for Moldova in the capital, Chisinau. "And we will not stop; We will continue to support Moldova in very concrete ways," she added. Baerbock criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that he had wanted to plunge Moldova into chaos and cut off the country's gas supply.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev told visiting Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Russia's military "cannot be defeated" in its war against Ukraine and instead urged support for a peace plans being pressed by China and Brazil, a consideration the German leader quickly rejected.

"It is a fact that Russia cannot be defeated in the military sense," Toqaev on September 16 told Scholz, who is in Astana as part of his historic trip to Central Asia.

"A further escalation of war will lead to irreparable consequences for the whole of humanity and above all for the countries involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict," Toqaev added.

Scholz disagreed with Toqaev's suggestion, saying Berlin was providing support to Kyiv because Russia had invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked attack in February 2022.

"That is the case and will remain so, so that the country can defend itself and protect its integrity and sovereignty," he said, adding that Russia was "continuing to attack Ukraine with great aggression."

"And that is why this is something that must never be ignored in everything we discuss. It is Russia that has not only started the war but is continuing it and could contribute to ending it at any time by stopping its aggression."

In June, more than 90 countries met for a first peace conference hosted by Switzerland, although Russia was not invited and Russian ally China declined to attend.

Ukraine has put forward a peace proposal that would demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory. Other countries, including China and Brazil, have pressed for deals that would allow the Kremlin to hold on to some captured Ukrainian lands -- something flatly rejected by Kyiv.

Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic of some 20 million people, has long been a close ally of Russia, although the government has expressed some concerns about the Kremlin's claims to Ukrainian territory and has tried to maintain good relations with the West.

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Sans Russia: What's Behind Kazakh President's Call For Central Asian Security Cooperation?

"Since the war in Ukraine began, Central Asia has had a chance to reinvent itself in a comfortable geopolitical space," Luca Anceschi, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow, told RFE/RL last month.

"They are trying to say that they are not on Russia's side in Ukraine, like Belarus is, but they are not with Ukraine, either. They have ties with the West, but are not pro-Western," Anceschi said.

Germany has provided Ukraine with financial backing but has shown resistance to supplying Kyiv with heavy armaments, including tanks.

Scholz's three-day trip started in Uzbekistan on September 15 with the signing of a migration deal and is continuing in Kazakhstan on September 16-17 for the second meeting of the Central Asia-plus-Germany format that was launched a year ago in Berlin.

International watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Scholz to promote human rights when he "makes history" this week as the first German chancellor to attend a summit in Central Asia with all five of that post-Soviet region's presidents.

"The German government cannot pretend closer ties with Central Asia are possible without a significant improvement in human rights in the region," HRW said. "The upcoming summit offers a chance to make this clear."

In its statement, HRW cited persistent rights issues across the region including the "suppression of the rights to protest and express opinions, including online, jailing of activists, torture in detention, crackdowns on civil society, violence against women, impunity for abusive security forces, and a lack of free and fair elections."

HRW last month demanded that Kazakhstan stop limiting freedom of expression and end its persecution of comedians, citing the jailing of 31-year-old stand-up comic Aleksandr Merkul.

Germany has long been interested in boosting energy relations with Central Asia, but Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has further encouraged Germany and other European states to look elsewhere for energy and mineral imports.

This week's summit with the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek heads of state is expected to focus heavily on energy along with broader economic and development talks.

Kazakhstan, the largest and wealthiest of the five, has been accused of failing to adequately ensure compliance with sanctions on Russia.

But energy cooperation has been on the rise with Kazakhstan.

Crude oil from Kazakhstan began flowing last year through the 4,000-kilometer Druzhba pipeline from Russia's southern Tatarstan region through Belarus and Poland to Germany, as part of a pivot to make up for lower supplies of Russian oil.

Toqaev praised the meeting with the German chancellor and said it will help lift the countries' relations to a "new level."

"Our bilateral cooperation will be expanded in the spirit of a strategic partnership," he added.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

BELGRADE -- Belarusian journalist and political activist Andrey Hnyot (aka Andrew Gnyot) on September 16 submitted an appeal to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's office -- signed by more than 780 international and Serbian creators, artists, and intellectuals -- requesting that he not be extradited to Minsk and calling for his release.

Among the signatories were French actress Juliette Binoche, Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, and Belarusian Nobel Prize-winning author Svetlana Alexievich.

Hnyot, speaking outside of the Serbian presidential building in Belgrade, said that if extradited to Belarus, he would face "torture" and "likely the death penalty."

"The regime is carrying out horrific repression against political dissidents, journalists, and activists, and it is worsening by the day. There is no justice left in Belarus," he added.

Hnyot was arrested at Belgrade's airport in late October 2023 on an Interpol warrant issued by Belarus, which has since been revoked. The critic of the Belarusian regime is accused of tax evasion by Minsk.

Since June, his detention has been replaced with house arrest, and he is awaiting Serbia's final decision on his extradition.

Hnyot announced he would also submit the appeal to other top Serbian officials in the coming days.

Several Serbian public figures who signed the appeal gathered in front of the presidency to show their support for Hnyot.

Writer Vladimir Arsenijevic told RFE/RL, "the fate of Andrey Hnyot concerns all of us."

SEE ALSO:

Belgrade Court Annuls Decision To Extradite Belarusian Activist, But Orders Case To Be Retried

"We know the state of democracy in that country and the fate that awaits dissidents and those who oppose the regime. I believe it is shameful for our country to be involved in something like this," Arsenijevic said.

Film director Janko Baljak said that by signing the appeal with his colleagues, he aimed to make "a final cry against the threat to human freedoms" in Belarus and Serbia.

"I am here to support an unjustly imprisoned artist who has spent a year in a Kafkaesque nightmare, in which my country is partly complicit. As a citizen, I feel guilty," Baljak said.

On September 11, the Belgrade Court of Appeals annulled the Higher Court's decision to extradite Hnyot to Belarus and returned the case for reconsideration.

The Appeals Court explained that the objections raised in the appeal were valid, challenging the legality and correctness of the initial decision by the lower court.

In his first reaction to the decision, Hnyot said it was good news that he was not being extradited to Belarus for now but added that his status as a "prisoner" remained unchanged, as he is still under house arrest.

Numerous NGOs and activists have opposed Hnyot's extradition, pointing out that the regime of authoritarian Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka is "one of the most brutal and repressive in the world."

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.

They say that political prisoners in Belarus face long sentences in harsh conditions, with some having died in custody.

Hnyot has called the Belarusian charges against him by "false," describing them as part of a "systemic mechanism of persecution" of political opponents by the Minsk regime.

He was one of hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who participated in mass protests of 2020, contesting Lukashenka's victory in the presidential election.

Hnyot is also the founder of the Free Association of Athletes (SOS BY), which is considered an extremist organization in Belarus.

In an open letter signed by more than 2,000 Belarusian athletes and sports representatives, the organization demanded the annulment of the 2020 election results, Lukashenka's resignation, and freedom for all those arrested during postelection demonstrations.

Western countries do not recognize the results of the elections, and the European Union has imposed sanctions on Minsk for the repression of demonstrators.

Lukashenka, in power for 30 years, is accused of severe repression of political opponents.

More than 1,500 political prisoners are currently held in Belarusian prisons, including journalists, human rights activists, and politicians, according to rights groups.

Between 200,000 and 500,000 Belarusians have fled their homeland following the crackdown on protests since 2020.

The Swiss-based Doctors Without Borders (MSF) aid group on September 16 said it has been forced to close its operations in Russia. "It is with a heavy heart that we have to close our activities in Russia," said the head of the group's Russia program. "Our organization's work is guided by the principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality, and medical ethics. We provide assistance based on the needs." MSF has been in Russia since 1992 but said it received notice in August from the Justice Ministry that its office was removed from the register of nongovernmental organizations. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.

In a September 16 call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the "importance of a durable and dignified peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. He added that Blinken welcomed recent progress between the bitter rivals -- including agreement on a border-delimitation regulation that has angered some Armenian opposition figures. Blinken and Aliyev also discussed areas for regional and bilateral cooperation, including the importance of Azerbaijan’s "adherence to international human rights obligations and commitments," the U.S. spokesman added.

The United States has slapped sanctions on more than 60 Georgians, including two members of the government, who it said have "undermined" democracy and human rights in the country amid concerns in the West of Tbilisi's tilt toward Moscow.

"The United States has imposed sanctions on two Georgian government officials...for their involvement in serious human rights abuse during the violent response to peaceful protests against the foreign influence law," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on September 16 in a statement.

It identified the government officials as Interior Ministry Special Task Department chief Zviad "Khareba" Kharazishvili and one of his deputies, Mileri Lagazauri.

"We are also sanctioning two Georgian leaders of a violent extremist group, Konstantine Morgoshia and Zurab Makharadze, for serious human rights abuse, including violent attacks on Georgians exercising their freedom of peaceful assembly."

The ruling Georgian Dream party has come under fire from Georgia's Western allies following its move to introduce a "foreign agent" law that many fear will stifle media and independent voices.

Georgia's parliament in May gave final passage to the law, overriding a veto by President Salome Zurabishvili, who has split with legislators and party leaders in support of protesters who took to the streets en masse.

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The Georgian Dream party insists the new law was needed to ensure transparency in the country's political scene and to protect its sovereignty, while the government has denied heavy-handed tactics were used against demonstrators.

The law is modeled on a similar measure in Russia, which was initially passed in 2012 and has been gradually expanded and toughened to encompass civil society groups, human rights activists, media organizations, and others. The law has forced the closure of dozens of organizations and individuals in Russia, and forced activists and reporters to flee the country.

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Defying Controversial 'Foreign-Agent' Law, Georgian NGOs Are Ready To Fight

In its statement, titled Promoting Accountability for Serious Human Rights Abuse And Anti-Democratic Actions In Georgia, the State Department said more than 60 others will also face new sanctions, including steps to impose visa restrictions on the individuals and family members "responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Georgia."

The individuals include senior government and municipal figures "who abused their power to restrict the fundamental freedoms of the Georgian people, business leaders involved in corrupt practices, persons who have spread disinformation and promoted violent extremism, members of law enforcement who were involved in the beating of protesters, and members of parliament who played a critical role in advancing undemocratic legislation and restricting civil society."

"The violence perpetuated...included the brutal beatings of many attendees of the nonviolent protests against the new foreign influence law, including Georgian citizens and opposition politicians," the State Department said.

"Kharazishvili is well known for his punitive actions against political opponents and has been personally involved in the physical and verbal abuse of protesters," it added.

The United States has said it is reviewing its bilateral relations with Georgia -- which has long received the support of Washington -- and the EU has also assailed the party's actions and has said moves such as the foreign agent law would negatively affect the country’s hopes of joining the bloc.

A court in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on September 16 sentenced a Russian man to eight years in prison for stabbing to death a 32-year-old postgraduate student from Gabon. The court found Daniil Fomin, 23, guilty of murder. The student at the Urals Federal University, Francois Ndjelassili, was stabbed to death in a cafe in August 2023, with witnesses calling it "a racially motivated attack." Two traffic police officers who witnessed the attack but did not interfere were later fired. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Authoritarian Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has pardoned 37 people, including six women, serving prison terms on extremism charges, his press service said on September 16. The statement claimed those pardoned had "repented and promised to conduct law-abiding lives," adding that the clemency was issued due to the Day of National Unity to be marked on September 17. This is the fourth mass-amnesty decree Lukashenka has signed this year to pardon people imprisoned for taking part in the 2020 mass protests against the official result of a presidential poll that named the long-ruling Lukashenka the winner. In all, 115 out of more than 1,300 political prisoners have been pardoned since July. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

President Masud Pezeshkian claims that Iran has not transferred any weapons to Russia since he took office in late July and seemed to open the door for direct talks with the United States over nuclear issues, but only if Washington shows it is not "hostile" toward the Islamic republic.

The 69-year-old Pezeshkian, deemed a relative moderate by some observers, on September 16 also took a belligerent tone, declaring that his country will never give up its controversial missile program, despite Western sanctions aimed at limiting such activities.

Pezeshkian -- who assumed office on July 30 after winning an election to succeed hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi after his death in a helicopter crash in May -- was speaking in Tehran in his first official press conference.

The nationally televised event came at a time of high tensions, both inside Iran and throughout the Middle East.

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Iran is facing major economic difficulties, much of it brought on by Western sanctions, and growing anger among citizens, led by women's groups, over human rights violations at home.

A female journalist told Pezeshkian during the news conference that she had to take alternative routes to reach the event to avoid so-called morality police officers, who enforce strict conservative dress requirements for women, often using brutal measures and drawing sharp rebukes from rights groups.

During the news conference, the president said he would use his authority to ensure that the morality police do not "bother" women.

"Morality police were not supposed to confront [women]. I will follow up so they don't bother" them, he said, although it remains unclear how much authority he would actually have to make changes.

Tehran has also faced Western condemnation and new sanctions over moves to send weapons to Russia that the Kremlin has used to attack Ukrainian forces and civilians, especially deadly Shahed drones.

More recently, media reports have suggested that Tehran has provided the Kremlin with powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.

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G7 Foreign Ministers Condemn Iran's Export Of Ballistic Missiles To Russia

"It is possible that a delivery [of some weapons] took place in the past...but I can assure you that since I took office, there has not been any such delivery to Russia," he said.

Asked whether Tehran would be open to holding direct talks with the United States to restart the 2015 nuclear deal with global powers, Pezeshkian said: "We are not hostile toward the U.S. They should end their hostility toward us by showing their goodwill in practice."

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"We are brothers with the Americans as well."

As president, Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally pulled the United States out of the landmark nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and also signed by China, France, Russia, Britain, and Germany.

Trump also reimposed crippling financial sanctions against Tehran.

President Joe Biden has sought to restart the agreement, although Washington and Tehran -- meeting through third parties -- have disagreed on terms.

Pezeshkian insisted that Tehran was not seeking to enrich uranium at near-weapons-grade levels but that it was forced to by the U.S. withdrawal from the pact.

"I think, we said many times, we don't want to do this at all. We want to solve our technical and scientific needs We are not looking for nuclear weapons," Pezeshkian said in response to a question by AP.

"We adhered to the framework written in the [nuclear agreement]. We are still looking to maintain those frameworks. They tore them, they forced us to do something."

Tehran and Washington have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter broke off ties amid the Iran hostage crisis.

Pezeshkian claimed Iran will never give up its missile program, claiming it is needed for security in a troubled region and where, he said, Israel is able to "drop missiles on Gaza every day," referring to that country's war with Hamas movement, declared a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.

Pezeshkian also denied that Iran had sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen's Huthi rebels that have been used to target ships in the Persian Gulf and as of September 15 have been launched at Israel.

With reporting by Reuters

Russian media reported on September 16 that a Moscow court agreed to proceed with the trial of French citizen Laurent Vinatier in a "special order" -- which guarantees a lighter sentence -- after he pleaded guilty to a charge of evading the responsibilities of a "foreign agent." After his plea was entered, investigators dropped espionage charges against the researcher after he was arrested in June. A trial in a "special order” means that a court cannot sentence a defendant to more than two-thirds of a maximum prison term. In Vinatier's case, he cannot be sentenced to more than two-thirds of the five-year sentence he faced, meaning that his possible prison term cannot exceed 40 months.

Jailed Russian anti-war activist and journalist Maria Ponomarenko has started a hunger strike to protest a new charge laid against her and a prison report saying she was reprimanded seven times for violating penitentiary rules. The RusNews Telegram channel, for which Ponomarenko worked before her arrest in 2022, said Ponomarenko announced her hunger strike after she had a nervous breakdown in a courtroom on September 16 during her trial on an additional charge of attacking two prison guards, which she denies. Ponomarenko was sentenced to six years in prison in February 2023 for protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, click here.

Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi issued a plea on September 16 to coincide with the second anniversary of the death in police custody of Iranian-Kurdish student Mahsa Amini for international institutions and people to act to end the oppression of women in Iran and under other theocratic and authoritarian regimes.

Mohammadi said in the letter from Tehran's notorious Evin prison -- published via her foundation -- that "on the second anniversary of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement, we reaffirm our commitment to achieving democracy, freedom, and equality and to defeating theocratic despotism."

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A mother of two and former journalist previously jailed for her criticisms, Mohammadi worked alongside fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi at the Defenders Of Human Rights Center for years before a series of detentions and convictions beginning in 2010 and continuing through her current lengthy sentence and reports of further prosecution for activities while in custody.

"I urge the United Nations to end its silence and inaction in the face of the devastating oppression and discrimination by theocratic and authoritarian governments against women by criminalizing gender apartheid," Mohammadi said in the statement.

"The liberation of women from the grip of oppression and discrimination is essential for empowering the force that drives peace and democracy."

In a joint statement issued on September 16 to mark the anniversary, the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand said: "We stand with women and girls in Iran, and Iranian human rights defenders, across all segments of society in their ongoing daily fight for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"We call on the new Iranian administration to fulfil its pledge to ease pressure on civil society in Iran and to end the use of force to enforce the hijab requirement."

During a news conference on September 16, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian claimed he would use his authority to ensure that morality police do not "bother" women.

"Morality police were not supposed to confront [women]. I will follow up so they don't bother" them, he said, although it remains unclear how much authority he would actually have to make changes.

The 22-year-old Amini died on September 16, 2022, in a hospital after eyewitnesses and her family alleged she had been beaten while in police custody.

Amini's death sparked some of the largest-ever street protests against Iran's clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Women, Life, Freedom movement has persisted, despite the jailings of critics like Mohammadi and a harsh clampdown on dissent.

Sources close to Amini's parents told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Iranian authorities had "surrounded" the family home in the town of Saghez ahead of the anniversary and ordered them to remain at home or face arrest, in addition to other reported measures to guard against public demonstrations of sympathy.

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Amini's father, Amjad Amini, on September 15 expressed gratitude for Kurdish, Iranian, and other efforts to mount labor strikes to mark the anniversary.

Iranian authorities, who cracked down on the family and others a year ago, have sought to avoid public acknowledgement of the anniversary.

"In these two difficult and agonizing years, although the wounds have left marks on the bodies of those exhausted and tormented by oppression, discrimination, and tyranny, and despite the challenging road ahead, we all know that nothing is as it was before," Mohammadi said in her statement.

Family members of some of those killed in the state crackdown on the protests have been also arrested in recent weeks, and others, especially in Iran's Kurdistan, have been summoned by authorities.

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said on September 15 that 34 female prisoners at Evin went on hunger strike to commemorate Amini's death at the hands of the morality police and mark the birth of the related rights movement.