Russia has imposed anti-terror measures in Kursk, the site of a Ukrainian military incursion, and two nearby regions as well as Bryansk and Belgorod.

The announcement was made early on August 10 by the National Anti-Terrorism Committee. In a statement, it said the decision had been made by Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of the FSB intelligence service, in response to Ukraine's "unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in a series of regions."

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On August 9, Russia declared what it described as a "federal-level" emergency in the Kursk region, hours after a Ukrainian military strike on an airfield there.

In response to the incursion, the Russian Defense Ministry said on August 9 that it was transferring extra forces to the region, including Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery, and tanks, Interfax reported.

State-run media reported on troops and armor being redeployed to Kursk, including video of Russian military on the move, much of it reposted on social media.

The cross-border action in Russia's Kursk region has been described as the biggest attack on Russian soil since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his country's unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Much remains unclear, including the number of Ukrainian soldiers taking part, although the Russian military has claimed it involves some 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks.

Since the start of the incursion on August 6, Ukrainian troops have seized control of about 600 square kilometers of territory and more than two dozen settlements, according to local officials, pro-war bloggers, and open-source intelligence reports.

In the fresh announcement on August 10, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the measures included possible eviction of residents, limits on transport, beefed-up security around sensitive sites and wire taps.

Ukrainian officials have not officially confirmed the operation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address on August 8 that Russia needed to experience the consequences of its invasion.

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"Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done," Zelenskiy said, without directly referring to the offensive.

Ukrainian soldiers appeared in a video late on August 9 showing a Ukrainian flag against the backdrop of a Gazprom facility in Sudzha, a town just over the border in the Kursk region. In the video, which was posted on Ukrainian media, one of the soldiers says that Sudzha and the Gazprom facility is controlled by Ukrainian forces.

"The news is as follows. The city is controlled by the armed forces of Ukraine. The strategic object of Gazprom in Sudzha is controlled by the 99th Mechanized Battalion," the fighters say in the video, which could not be immediately verified.

Sudzha Mayor Vitaly Slashchev denied the claim in a comment to TASS but said an evacuation of the city was under way.

A Ukrainian member of parliament who spoke with RFE/RL on August 9 said the Ukrainian military was "advancing and making an impression on the enemy" and inflicting damage on Russian forces in the Kursk region.

SEE ALSO:

Russian Forces Are Advancing In The Donbas. Ukraine's Response? Invade Russia.

"And the most important thing is that they are advancing quite professionally," lawmaker Roman Kostenko said, adding that they had managed to surprise the enemy at a place where the Russian forces were the weakest.

Earlier on August 9 the Ukrainian military said it had hit the airfield in Russia's southern Lipetsk region overnight, damaging guided-bomb stockpiles.

"Several sources of ignition were recorded, a large fire broke out and multiple detonations were observed," Kyiv's military said on the Telegram messaging app.

It said Russian Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft were based at the airfield.

Satellite images made available to RFE/RL by Planet Labs show the consequences of Ukrainian strikes on the Lipetsk airfield. The unverified images show completely destroyed buildings and evidence of a large fire. Two craters -- possibly the result of missile or drone strikes -- are also visible.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has urged Ukraine and Russia to show restraint in the fighting in the Kursk region, the site of one of Russia's largest nuclear power stations.

"At this juncture, I would like to appeal to all sides to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences," Grossi said in a statement.

Russia's diplomatic mission in Vienna, quoted by Russian news agencies, said it had told the International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) that fragments had been found at the station, possibly from downed missiles, but there was no evidence of any direct attack on the facility.

Elsewhere, unconfirmed reports spoke of a Russian column having been destroyed in the Kursk region with many casualties. Video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be many burned-out military transport vehicles on the side of a road in or near the town of Rylsk.

Two ethnic Armenians in Kursk who spoke with RFE/RL's Armenian Service by phone said the Russian authorities had banned large gatherings and mass events in the region through August 11.

"It can be said that we are at war now," said one of the men, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

He said Ukrainian troops had captured two towns that are 60 to 70 kilometers away from the city of Kursk in addition to the Gazprom facility.

Ukrainian special forces conducted an amphibious raid on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit in the Black Sea, killing about 30 Russian soldiers and destroying six armored vehicles, Ukraine's military intelligence said on August 9.

Russian forces have occupied the Kinburn Spit, which juts into the Black Sea northwest of Crimea, since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow's military vantage point on the spit is seen as one of the reasons why Ukraine cannot reopen its ports of Mykolayiv and Kherson and export goods from them via its Black Sea shipping corridor.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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"As a result of a raid on the Kinburn Spit occupied by the Russians, six units of enemy armored vehicles were destroyed and about three dozen invaders were eliminated," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) said in a statement.

The HUR noted that during the operation Russian fortifications were attacked at the positions of the Kinburn fortress, sea terminal, and Suvorov monument. A military intelligence flag was installed in the area of the latter, the statement said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the raid was repelled, Interfax reported.

"Saboteurs numbering up to 16 militants on two high-speed boats, under the cover of two fire-support boats, attempted to land troops on the coast," the ministry said.

The group suffered its first losses near the shore when they were blown up by mines, the ministry said, adding that the rest were destroyed by small-arms fire.

The ministry said 12 Ukrainian troops were lost and both boats were destroyed by artillery fire and anti-tank guided missiles.

With reporting by Reuters

A dual Russian-German citizen has been ordered held without bail in New York City on charges that he conspired to smuggle U.S. microelectronics to military manufacturers in Russia to aid its war in Ukraine.

Arthur Petrov, 33, made a brief appearance in federal court on August 9, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release. The department said the charges against him included export-control violations, smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Petrov's lawyer declined to comment on the numerous charges brought against his client, which collectively carry a potential penalty of over 150 years in prison, according to AP.

Petrov was arrested in Cyprus at the request of the United States and was extradited on August 8.

"Our charges allege that, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the defendant and his co-conspirators formed an elaborate tech-trafficking syndicate to supply microelectronics to Russia's military-industrial complex," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams added in the statement that Petrov concealed where he was sending the electronics and knew that shipping them violated U.S. export controls relating to Russia.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the extradition reflected the Justice Department's determination to cut Russia off from the Western technologies that fuel the Russian military.

Court documents quoted in the statement say Petrov worked for LLC Electrocom VPK, a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military. Petrov and two co-conspirators, who are identified only as Russian nationals also working for Electrocom, operated an illicit procurement network in Russia and elsewhere overseas.

"They fraudulently procured from U.S. distributors large quantities of microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of Electrocom," the Justice Department said.

They used shell companies and other deceptive means to conceal that the electronics components were destined for Russia, the department said. The technology they procured has significant military applications, including in Russian guided missiles, drones, and electronic-warfare and communications devices, it added.

Authorities said Petrov falsely claimed that he was purchasing the items for fire-security systems and other commercial uses for companies in Cyprus and countries other than Russia.

With reporting by AP

Militants attacked three army posts in northwest Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, triggering intense shoot-outs that killed three soldiers and four insurgents. The attacks happened on August 9 in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the military said in a statement. It said a search operation was under way in the area to eliminate any other insurgents and security forces were "determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism." The military gave no further details. The Gul Bahadur group, a breakaway faction of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The United States on August 9 announced $125 million in new military aid for Kyiv as Ukrainian forces push ahead with a surprise offensive inside Russian territory. The aid package underscores "our unwavering commitment to [Ukraine] as they continue to battle back against Russian aggression," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the aid would be drawn from stockpiles and "includes air-defense interceptors, munitions for rocket systems, artillery, multimission radars, and anti-tank weapons." He said the equipment "will help Ukraine protect its troops, its people and its cities from Russian attacks and reinforce its capabilities across the front lines."

Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi and other women inmates in Tehran's Evin prison were injured earlier this week in clashes that erupted after a spate of executions, Mohammadi’s family says.

Mohammadi’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, said Mohammadi suffered breathing problems and severe chest pain after being punched in the chest and was transferred to the prison's clinic.

Rahmani, who spoke by phone to RFE/RL from Paris, said several women came under attack by guards during the clashes on August 6. Mohammadi was hit in her chest, and her arm was bruised, he said.

The injured women were later taken to the prison clinic for treatment and were returned to their ward.

Rahmani said the news agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed the clash was a riot, but he said it should be made clear that it was a protest in which the women in Evin prison chanted in the prison yard against the death penalty.

He added that he and the rest of Mohammadi’s family were worried about her health especially because she was hit in the chest. Mohammadi had surgery for blocked arteries in 2022.

Rahmani added that Mohammadi, who is renowned as a staunch advocate for the Women, Life, Freedom movement, cannot contact her sister in Iran and she hasn’t been allowed to contact her children for 2 1/2 years. She also has had no contact with her lawyer.

"These restrictions make all of us worried about her situation in that ward where other women are also facing difficult conditions," Rahmani told RFE/RL.

Before Rahmani spoke with RFE/RL, Mohammadi's family issued a statement about the clash on August 8. It said several women who stood in front of the security forces were severely beaten.

It said the women in Evin prison had been actively protesting against executions in Iran, and following the execution of Reza Rasaei, several prisoners gathered in the prison yard to voice their dissent, chanting slogans against the death penalty.

SEE ALSO:

Iran Executes Protester After Conviction In 'Grossly Unfair' Trial

One woman suffered a nervous breakdown and passed out and another prisoner also fainted from the emotional strain, the statement said, adding that Mohammadi and several other prisoners protested against the locked doors that were preventing the critically ill inmates from being taken to the prison clinic.

Iranian authorities acknowledged a confrontation took place on August 6 but blamed Mohammadi for a "provocation" and denied any of the prisoners had been beaten.

Two prisoners "had heart palpitations due to the stress," but medical examinations determined that their general condition "is favorable," Iran's prison administration said in a statement, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Mohammadi, 52, has been campaigning for human rights in Iran for decades and has been in and out of prison for the last 20 years. She has been convicted five times since March 2021 and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic.

The executions that took place this week drew outrage from rights groups. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said 29 people were executed at two prisons in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj on August 7 alone.

SEE ALSO:

Executions In Iran Show No Sign Of Letting Up As 36 Hanged In 2 Days

Rasaei, 34, was the 10th man executed by Iran in connection with the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests that erupted after the death of a woman in police custody. The Iranian judiciary said Rasaei was executed on August 6.

With reporting by AFP

The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan convened in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on August 9 to hold the sixth consultative meeting of the leaders of Central Asian states, the Kazakh president's office said.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev greeted his counterparts and stressed that the regular meetings of the regional leaders indicate the Central Asian states' commitment to strengthen "centuries-long ties of friendship and further develop cooperation between the neighboring nations."

Toqaev said thanks to the five countries' joint efforts "enormous progress has been achieved" in developing the meetings since the first such gathering was held in 2018 in Astana.

"The results of the previous five meetings, at which important agreements were concluded, clearly demonstrate that," he said.

Toqaev also called on his colleagues to take into account global challenges when reaching mutual agreements on the Central Asian region's further development.

Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Serdar Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan arrived in Astana on August 8.

The presidents signed several documents, including a joint statement on the results and the Central Asia -- 2040 development concept, outlining the priorities for regional convergence, primarily aimed at expanding five-party interaction and strengthening Central Asia's international subjectivity.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Kakha Imnadze, head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, attended the meeting as guests.

The Qonaev City Court in Kazakhstan's southeast said on August 9 that businessman Muratkhan Toqmadi, who was sentenced in 2018 to a lengthy prison term for his alleged involvement in the killing of a banker, has been granted early release.

Kazakh media reports quoted sources on August 9 as saying that Toqmadi was expected to be released on August 10 -- the day a court decision made in late July will come into force.

The announcement came almost 2 1/2 years after Toqmadi called on President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to review his case after he retracted his testimony against Mukhtar Ablyazov, a fugitive outspoken critic of Kazakhstan's government and former banker.

In a letter made public in March 2022, Toqmadi said he confessed to the killing of Erzhan Tatishev on a hunting trip in 2004 and falsely testified in 2018 that he killed Tatishev at the behest of Ablyazov because he was tortured and faced psychological pressure imposed on him by the National Security Committee.

Tatishev at the time was the head of TuranAlem bank, which was later renamed BTA. After Tatishev's death, which was ruled an accident at the time, Ablyazov became the bank's chief. He has been living abroad since 2009.

It remains unclear if Toqmadi was granted an early release because he had served a significant part of his term and used his right to apply for early release or because his case was revised.

Toqmadi’s letter to Toqaev came after deadly unrest in January that resulted in the removal of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his clan from the political scene.

In February 2018, Toqmadi, who was initially sentenced in 2017 to three years in prison for extortion and illegal firearms possession, entered a guilty plea at the murder trial, which ended with him being sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison.

In November that year, Ablyazov was tried in absentia, convicted of murder based on Toqmadi's testimony, and sentenced to life in prison.

In a separate trial in absentia that ended in 2017, Ablyazov was convicted of embezzlement, abuse of office, and organizing a criminal group and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ablyazov has denied all the charges, saying they are politically motivated.

With reporting by KazTAG, Tengrinews, and Aq Zhaiyq

The United States and Britain unveiled new sanctions against Belarus on August 9 to mark the fourth anniversary of the country's disputed presidential election that returned authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka to power.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 19 people and 14 companies involved in supporting Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine by producing resources used by the military, shipping goods to Russia, evading sanctions, and generating revenue for Belarusian oligarchs in Lukashenka’s inner circle.

It also took aim at Lukashenka’s “luxury airliner,” a Boeing-767-300 owned by the Belarusian government that the Treasury Department said he uses “professionally and for his personal leisure.”

Paval Latushka, head of the People's Anti-Crisis Directorate, said the sanctions meant the plane is barred from maintenance by authorized Boeing service providers, and this will create problems if it tries to land at airports outside Belarus.

Bradley Smith, the Treasury Department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement that the sanctions were in response to the regime's "blatantly corrupt, destabilizing, and anti-democratic acts -- along with its continued support for Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine."

The U.S. designations followed fresh sanctions announced earlier on August 9 by Britain against four individuals and three businesses "in response to human rights violations and ongoing facilitation of Russia's illegal invasion in Ukraine."

The Foreign Office noted that it issued the sanctions on the anniversary of "the deeply flawed 2020 presidential elections in Belarus." It also noted that the action was taken in coordination with international partners and took the total number of sanctions imposed by Britain against Belarus to more than 200.

All four people sanctioned by Britain are present or former commanding officers of Belarusian prisons. The businesses sanctioned are involved in the country's defense and military sector.

The European Union targeted Belarusian authorities involved in human rights abuses earlier this week, and Canada on August 9 also announced additional sanctions on the Lukashenka regime.

The U.S. Treasury Department said that since the 2020 election, Lukashenka’s actions “have eroded Belarusian civil society and enabled Lukashenka, his family, and his inner circle to enrich themselves at the expense of Belarus’s citizens and sovereignty.”

It said the regime continues to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by hosting Russian military bases and allowing Russian forces to use Belarus as a staging point for military operations, the department said.

Among the 14 entities designated by the U.S. is Laboratory of Additive Technologies, which the department said provides Russia with components for satellite communications systems and optical equipment.

Three other entities -- AlYurTekh, Diskoms, MOT, Grosver Grup, and Tochnaya Mekhanika -- were hit with sanctions for supporting what Washington said was a sanctions-evasion network supported by Peleng JSC, one of Russia’s most important industrial partners. Peleng was designated by for U.S. sanctions in December 2021.

Among the other entities are Aviakompania Rada and UE RubiStar, which the Treasury Department said are two private Belarusian cargo airline companies that have provided support to Russian defense activities, including transporting Wagner Group personnel to and from Africa.

The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets owned or controlled by the individuals and organizations. They also block financial transactions with those designated and prohibit the contribution of funds, goods, and services to them.

The U.S. State Department also took steps to impose visa restrictions on 19 regime officials and their affiliates for their involvement in undermining democracy in Belarus, the Treasury Department said.

The acting governor of Russia's Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk, Dmitry Demeshin, said on August 9 that a military parade will be held next month in the region's capital, also called Khabarovsk, to mark the victory over Japan in 1945. It will be the first event of its kind to mark the date on September 3. Last year, Russia adopted a law on mentioning the victory over Japan at events related to the end of the World War II. The move came after Japan imposed sanctions on top Russian officials, their relatives, as well as on Russian banks and companies, over Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

The death toll from a Russian strike on a supermarket in Kostyantynivka, a town in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, has gone up to 14, the head of the regional military administration said, and that 43 people were injured.

Vadym Filashkin said it was believed there are three children among the dead and one of the injured is in serious condition.

He said earlier that a Kh-38 missile had been used in the strike.

"This is another targeted strike on a place of gathering of people, another act of terror by the Russians," Filashkin said on Telegram.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strike amounted to a terrorist attack.

"Russian terrorists hit an ordinary supermarket and a post office. There are people under the rubble. A rescue operation is under way, and everything will be done to save them," Zelenskiy said on X.

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A search-and-rescue operation had been temporarily stopped around dusk due to concerns about security, officials said.

Images from the scene showed black smoke rising over the smoldering remains of the supermarket.

SEE ALSO:

Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine

Moscow's forces hold large areas of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian-held areas regularly come under Russian shelling and air strikes.

The region is one of the hottest areas of fighting as Russia targets places in the direction of the strategic eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

Meanwhile, in Kherson, the Russian military attacked a civilian car with a drone, the press service of the regional military administration reported.

"Russian troops attacked a civilian car from a drone in the Dnipro district of Kherson. As a result of an enemy attack, a 29-year-old woman received an explosive injury and a shrapnel wound on her forearm," the press service said.

Earlier, local Ukrainian officials reported that six people had been killed in Russian attacks on four regions over the past 24 hours.

With reporting by Reuters

Russia declared what it described as a "federal-level" emergency on August 9 in the Kursk region, the site of a four-day incursion by Ukrainian forces. The announcement came hours after a Ukrainian military strike on an airfield there.

In response to the incursion, the Russian Defense Ministry said on August 9 that it was transferring extra forces to the region, including Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery, and tanks, Interfax reported.

State-run media reported on troops and armor being redeployed to Kursk, including video of Russian military on the move, much of it reposted on social media.

The cross-border action in Russia's Kursk region has been described as the biggest attack on Russian soil since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his country's unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

WATCH: Scenes of destruction in Russia's Kursk region continue to be shared online following a surprise cross-border incursion. Residents of the region shared videos that appear to show dead Russian soldiers among destroyed military vehicles scattered along a local road.

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Much remains unclear, including the number of Ukrainian soldiers taking part, although the Russian military has claimed it involves some 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks.

Since the start of the incursion on August 6, Ukrainian troops have seized control of about 600 square kilometers of territory, and more than two dozen settlements, according to local officials, pro-war bloggers, and open-source intelligence reports.

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Ukrainian officials have not officially confirmed the operation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address on August 8 that Russia needed to "feel" the consequences of its invasion.

"Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done," Zelenskiy said, without directly referring to the offensive.

Ukrainian soldiers appeared in a video late on August 9 showing a Ukrainian flag against the backdrop of a Gazprom facility in Sudzha, a town just over the border in the Kursk region. In the video, which was posted on Ukrainian media, one of the soldiers says that Sudzha and the Gazprom facility is controlled by Ukrainian forces.

"The news is as follows. The city is controlled by the armed forces of Ukraine. The strategic object of Gazprom in Sudzha is controlled by the 99th Mechanized Battalion," the fighters say in the video, which could not be immediately verified.

Sudzha Mayor Vitaly Slashchev denied the claim in a comment to TASS but said an evacuation of the city was under way.

A Ukrainian member of parliament who spoke with RFE/RL on August 9 said the Ukrainian military was "advancing and making an impression on the enemy" and inflicting damage on Russian forces in the Kursk region.

"And the most important thing is that they are advancing quite professionally," lawmaker Roman Kostenko said, adding that they had managed to surprise the enemy at a place where the Russian forces were the weakest.

Earlier on August 9 the Ukrainian military said it had hit the airfield in Russia's southern Lipetsk region overnight, damaging guided-bomb stockpiles.

"Several sources of ignition were recorded, a large fire broke out and multiple detonations were observed," Kyiv's military said on the Telegram messaging app.

It said Russian Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft were based at the airfield.

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.

Russian media, including TASS, reported a fire at the military airfield in the Lipetsk region, which is west of the Kursk region, the site of the ongoing incursion. The reports gave no cause for the blaze.

Those reports came hours after regional Governor Igor Artamonov said on social media that Lipetsk had hit by a massive drone attack. He later added that a local power installation had been damaged and six people had been wounded.

Artamonov first urged residents to ignore calls on social media to evacuate, saying they were being “spread by the enemy in order to sow panic.” Hours later, he said a state of emergency had been declared in the Lipetsk district and that four outlying settlements of Lipetsk city had been ordered to evacuate.

Satellite images made available to RFE/RL by Planet Labs show the consequences of Ukrainian strikes on the Lipetsk airfield. The unverified images show completely destroyed buildings and evidence of a large fire. Two craters -- possibly the result of missile or drone strikes -- are also visible.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has urged Ukraine and Russia to show restraint in the fighting in the Kursk region, site of one of Russia's largest nuclear power stations.

"At this juncture, I would like to appeal to all sides to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences," Grossi said in a statement.

Russia's diplomatic mission in Vienna, quoted by Russian news agencies, said it had told the International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) that fragments had been found at the station, possibly from downed missiles, but there was no evidence of any direct attack on the facility.

Elsewhere, unconfirmed reports spoke of a Russian column having been destroyed in the Kursk region with many casualties. Video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be many burned-out military transport vehicles on the side of a road in or near the town of Rylsk.

Two ethnic Armenians in Kursk who spoke with RFE/RL's Armenian Service by phone said the Russian authorities had banned large gatherings and mass events in the region through August 11.

"It can be said that we are at war now," said one of the men, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

He said Ukrainian troops had captured two towns that are 60 to 70 kilometers away from the city of Kursk in addition to the Gazprom facility.

"The main fighting now is around the towns of Sudzha, Lgov, and Korenevo. People have been evacuated from these areas. We are inside Kursk. And there is always a risk of missile attacks here. This is how we live."

He said that there had been no evacuation from the city of Kursk yet, but noted that air-raid alerts were frequent, entertainment venues were closed, and public transportation had been disrupted by missile and drone strikes.

"Warplanes, missiles are flying overhead. Air-raid alerts are issued every half-hour. But we are kind of used to it, given what has been going on for the past year or two. No one takes cover because every half-hour missiles or drones strike," he added.

Separately, the governor of the Russian-held city of Sevastopol on Ukraine's occupied Crimea Peninsula, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram that Russian forces destroyed three drones and three drone boats near the city.

The Russian Defense Ministry said a total of 75 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over Russia overnight, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, most of them over the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concerns about the pressure faced by stand-up comedians over their performances in Kazakhstan.

In its statement on August 8, HRW said "the crackdown on freedom of expression, including prosecutions of comedians, should end."

In recent months, many stand-up comedians in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic complained about the situation following the jailing of two stand-up performers over their performances.

On July 26, stand-up comedian Aleksandr Merkul, who often tells jokes about the Central Asian nation's current government and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sentenced to 10 days in jail on a charge of hooliganism.

The charge stemmed from his performance in a restaurant in Astana in June, where he said, "Kazakhstan is new, poverty is old," presumably referring to "Zhana Qazaqstan" (New Kazakhstan), a slogan that is used regularly by President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.

Merkul, 31, was charged with swearing during the performance, a video of which went viral on the Internet. Merkul pleaded guilty.

SEE ALSO:

Stand Down! Kazakh Comedian's Arrest Chills Blossoming Stand-Up Comedy Scene

Earlier in May, another Kazakh comedian, Nuraskhan Basqozhaev, was also sentenced to 15 days in jail on the same charge after he joked about the authorities' efforts to tackle floods in spring caused by an abrupt wave of warm weather that led to a massive snowmelt.

The HRW statement also said that imposing pressure on comedians appears to be part of a wider crackdown on free speech in Kazakhstan.

Noted Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, who has been known for his articles criticizing the government, was sentenced to seven years in prison on August 2 on charges of "financing extremist activities" and "participating in the activities of a banned extremist group." Mukhammedkarim and his supporters have rejected the charges as politically motivated.

"People in Kazakhstan should be able to express critical opinions and commentary, not least through satire, without fear of retribution. Freedom of expression is not absolute, but international human rights law sets clear boundaries on legitimate government measures to regulate it. Kazakhstan is acting well beyond those boundaries, and it is past time it starts respecting them," the HRW statement said.

BAKU -- The chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (AXCP), Ali Karimli, said on August 9 that a criminal case had been filed against him on charges of slander and insult, which he called "a falsification" by the authorities.

Karimli added that he was summoned to a Baku court, which will hold a preliminary hearing in the case on August 13.

He said later that the case was based on a lawsuit filed by Aydin Aliyev, who was expelled from the AXCP in 2019, but had his membership restored by a court decision.

Karimli told journalists that he expected that the authorities will try to trump up some charges against him amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

"Twelve members of the AXCP are currently serving prison terms. Following our party's last congress (in June 2023), the authorities have intensified pressure against our party.... The same person [Aydin Aliyev] filed another lawsuit earlier that may lead to the AXCP's being shut down. And now, the same plaintiff targets me, filing a lawsuit against me," Karimli said.

Karimli has been under pressure from authorities for decades. In 1994 he had to fight a charge of illegally possessing explosives. Since 2006 he has been unable to travel internationally, as the authorities have refused to issue him a passport.

Also on August 9, political analyst Sahin Cafarli said he was officially banned from leaving the country over his links to the Toplum TV channel.

In March, nine staff members at Toplum TV and its affiliated Democratic Initiatives Institute were charged with smuggling foreign currency. Seven of them were arrested and two were placed under police supervision.

Cafarli, who used to work as a presenter at Toplum TV, has been summoned for police questioning several times since the arrests.

All nine suspects reject the charges, while human rights groups have recognized them as political prisoners and demanded that the authorities release them immediately and drop all charges.

Azerbaijani officials have insisted that there are no political prisoners in the tightly controlled country.

The president of the oil-rich South Caucasus state, Ilham Aliyev, has ruled with an iron fist since 2003 after taking over from his father, Heydar, who was president for a decade.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security said on August 9 that Erkin Mambetaliev, a former bodyguard of ex-President Almazbek Atambaev was detained a day earlier on suspicion of being an active member of a criminal group led by Rysbek Akmatbaev and late kingpin Kamchy Kolbaev. Kolbaev, who was killed during a police operation in Bishkek in October, was a leader of the so-called Brothers' Circle, a Eurasian drug-trafficking network. In 2014, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the disruption of Kolbaev’s financial mechanisms. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's Prosecutor-General Yusuf Rahmon has confirmed recent reports by RFE/RL's Tajik Service about a series of arrests of noted public figures and politicians.

RFE/RL reported earlier, citing its sources close to the Central Asian nation's law enforcement, that former Foreign Minister Hamrohkhon Zarifi, former parliament speaker Akbarshoh Iskandarov, Democratic Party of Tajikistan deputy chairman Ahmadshoh Komilzoda, and Social Democratic Party deputy chairman Shokirjon Hakimov had been arrested on unspecified charges.

The arrests came after the state-run Khovar news agency cited the Prosecutor-General's Office in June, saying that the lawmaker and ex-chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Saidjafar Usmonzoda, was arrested on suspicion of plotting to forcibly seize power.

Yusuf Rahmon said at the time at a parliamentary session that Usmonzoda was suspected of collaborating with the National Alliance of Tajikistan -- a group uniting self-exiled opposition politicians and activists that had been banned in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

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Yusuf Rahmon, who is an in-law of President Emomali Rahmon, said on August 9 that all the arrests are linked to the case against Usmonzoda, adding that those arrested had been charged with high treason.

He declined to elaborate further, saying that details of the investigation are classified.

It is not clear how the arrested men pleaded as neither their relatives nor lawyers have made any public statements.

Sources told RFE/RL that only two of those arrested, Akbarshoh Iskandarov and Shokirjon Hakimov, had managed to get private lawyers, while the others are represented by state-appointed attorneys. However, none of the lawyers has ever been able to meet with their clients, the sources said.

The Tajik government has brutally cracked down on dissent over the years, jailing opposition politicians or forcing them into self-exile. Dozens of independent journalists, activists, and government critics were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

President Rahmon, who has run Tajikistan for almost 30 years, has been criticized by international human rights groups over his regime's stifling of political pluralism, independent media, religious freedoms, and civil society.

In recent years, several Tajik journalists, rights activists, and opposition politicians have been handed lengthy prison terms on charges seen by rights groups as trumped-up and politically motivated.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has selected Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, the deputy chairwoman of the Audit Chamber, to serve as acting prime minister and tasked her with forming an acting cabinet. Radev's announcement on August 9 comes after political parties failed in three efforts to form a cabinet, following an inconclusive June 16 election. Radev also said that another snap poll will likely take place on October 20. It will be the seventh general election in three years in the European Union's poorest country. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.

Veteran Russian human rights defender Oleg Orlov said he hasn’t adjusted to freedom yet after being released last week from a Russian jail in the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries since the Cold War ended.

Orlov, one of Russia’s most experienced and respected human rights activists, told RFE/RL that he’s done interview after interview since his release on August 1 and arrival in Germany and has had no time for reflection.

“I haven't felt like anywhere yet. Neither in emigration completely, nor in freedom,” he said. “I have spent all day talking, talking, talking, [but] of course just walking down the street is happiness.”

Orlov was one of 16 people released in the historic exchange that also saw eight Russians returned to their homeland. He spoke with RFE/RL from Berlin, where he is now living in exile and getting used to a life that is completely different from anything he thought it would be.

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Who Are The 24 Prisoners Who Were Swapped In U.S.-Russia Deal?

When he imagined his freedom, it was always somewhere in Russia, where he pictured himself visiting a lake or another favorite place in nature, picking mushrooms, or lying down at his dacha and looking at the sky.

“That was my idea of freedom,” he said, still imaging that he will someday go to the lakes of Karelia, a region in northwestern Russia, where he will sit and watch the sunset.

He said that he and fellow inmate Aleksei Malerevsky, whom he identified as a political prisoner, had several conversations in the prison cell they shared about the prospect of a prisoner exchange. They knew about calls for a prisoner swap but were dubious it would ever happen.

“Yes, that's why, of course, no one really believed in the exchange,” said Orlov, who was convicted in February of repeatedly discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to 30 months in prison, a ruling that was upheld in July.

He recounted his refusal to sign a petition requesting a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin that was presented to him shortly before his release, saying this was “internally traumatic” for him because he believed that by refusing to sign he closed the door definitively on ever being released.

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

He explained that when the prison official asked if he was sure he wouldn’t sign the pardon request, he said he was, and he believed this meant he would have to serve out his entire sentence.

Asked what he missed while in prison, he said there was a “great lack of movement” and it was colorless except for gray and brown. He added that the food could be “so tasteless, monotonous, and sometimes, apparently, prepared with bad oil, that it caused an upset stomach.”

He said he had good relations with fellow inmates and considered that lucky. They were “very different people,” but he was able to find a common language with them and it was always possible to talk about something or play board games.

While cruel and rude treatment occurred often, this was not deliberate cruelty aimed at the prisoners, he said. It was a traditional “practiced cruelty dictated by the system itself.”

The system is not aimed at humane treatment, much less correction, he said. It is a correctional system, but “there is no correction there.”

Two Iranian brothers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps face terrorism charges in the United States in connection with deaths of two U.S. sailors during the interception of a vessel in the Arabian Sea earlier this year. The indictment announced on August 8 by federal prosecutors charges Shahab and Yunus Mir'kazei and Pakistani boat captain Muhammad Pahlawan with providing material support to Iran’s weapons-of-mass-destruction program and other charges. The brothers are at large. Pahlawan and three of his crew members have been in custody since the Navy SEAL team intercepted their small vessel in January.

A court in Astana on August 8 handed a suspended five-year prison term to former Kazakh Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev, who pleaded guilty to a charge of abuse of office and power during nationwide antigovernment demonstrations in 2022 that turned deadly after police and security forces opened fire at protesters. The court also banned Turghymbaev from holding public office for 10 years. Several former top officials in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation were sentenced to lengthy prison terms following the January 2022 protests that left at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 8 signed into law a bill allowing any foreign entity, including those established by state organs of third countries, to be declared "undesirable." The law does not affect international intergovernmental organizations of which Russia is a member or organizations incorporated into the government structures of foreign countries. In June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it labeled several foreign organizations operating in Russia, including RFE/RL, as "undesirable." To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, says her late husband should have been among those released from Russian jails and prisons last week in a major prisoner swap between Moscow and the West.

In a video statement released on YouTube on August 8, Navalnaya said she and Navalny's associates had said shortly after Navalny's death that a prisoner swap involving her husband was in the final stages before he died in a remote Arctic prison in February.

"My husband, Aleksei Navalny, should also have been aboard the plane that first flew in to Ankara and then to Cologne. We said about that half a year ago, right after he was murdered in the correctional colony in Kharp. It was he who was supposed to be exchanged for FSB killer [Vadim] Krasikov, who was serving a life term in Germany," Navalnaya said.

"Just a thought that Navalny could be out free seemed terrifying for [President Vladimir] Putin, and that is why he killed him," Navalnaya said, adding that, nevertheless, she was very happy to see many wrongfully imprisoned people released last week.

"It's been a long time since I felt such relief and happiness, but at the same time I felt bitter," Navalnaya said.

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She mentioned that many other Putin critics remain in Russian prisons, including Aleksei Gorinov; Daniel Kholodny; Navalny lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, Antonina Favorskaya, and Aleksei Liptser; sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky; co-chairman of the Golos (Voice) movement Grigory Melkonyants; and other political prisoners.

On August 1, 16 people were released from prisons in Russia and Belarus, including three U.S. citizens -- Alsu Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, and Paul Whelan -- in exchange for eight Russians, including Krasikov.

Krasikov was convicted in Germany in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison for killing a former Chechen separatist in a Berlin park two years earlier.

In March, shortly after securing a new six-year term, Putin said he agreed to swap Navalny on the condition that he not return to Russia.

Estonia's government said on August 8 that full customs controls have been introduced at the Baltic country's border with Russia, replacing random border checks. The measure was introduced with immediate effect at the road and rail border crossings in Narva, Koidula, and Luhamaa. For those crossing the border on foot, full control will mean checking each person and their luggage. For those traveling by car, both the vehicle and the items inside it will be checked. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the move was aimed at preventing the transport and transit through Estonia of goods subjected to European Union sanctions. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

A Russian military court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Mykola Zabirko on August 8 to 6 1/2 years in a high-security prison for an alleged assassination attempt on Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, Mariupol’s former Russia-installed mayor. Zabirko was accused of attempted terrorism and illegally possessing explosives. Prosecutors alleged that Zabirko was tasked by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) with monitoring Ivashchenko and bombing his vehicle. Explosives and a grenade were reportedly found in Zabirko's possession. The attempted attack on Ivashchenko occurred in August 2022, but Ukraine has not commented on the incident. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.