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- By RFE/RL
Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Will Increase Electricity Exports To EU As Russia Cuts Gas Supplies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says his country will increase its export of electricity to the European Union and aim to become a guarantor of European energy security as Russia cuts gas flows to the bloc.
"We are preparing to increase our electricity exports to consumers in the European Union," Zelenskiy said on July 27 in his evening address to the nation.
"Our exports would not only allow us to increase our income in foreign currency but will also help our partners to resist Russian energy pressure," he said. Ukraine wants gradually to become "one of the guarantors of European energy security," he added.
The Ukrainian electricity grid was connected to the European network in mid-March, helping to keep supplies flowing despite Russia's invasion. Ukraine started exporting electricity to the EU via Romania in early July.
Germany's energy regulator said earlier that Russia's state energy giant Gazprom cut gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to about 20 percent of capacity as expected.
That put supplies through the Nord Stream 1 terminal -- a major artery for gas supplies to reach the European Union -- at about one-fifth capacity.
Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom had flagged the cut, with the Kremlin saying again on July 27 that it was due to "obstruction" of maintenance work caused by Western sanctions against Moscow for its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
"We had counted on receiving one repaired engine from Siemens (Energy) as far back as May, but as of today we haven't got this engine," Gazprom's Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov told Rossiya 24 TV on July 27.
European officials have rejected Russia's excuses, accusing Moscow of weaponizing energy supplies and saying there was no technical reason for the disruption.
Reuters quoted a statement from Siemens Energy on July 27 saying that the turbine was in Germany "with all the necessary documents for the export of the turbine to Russia."
"What is missing, however, are the customs documents for import to Russia. Gazprom, as the customer, is required to provide those," it said.
Siemens's statement came a day after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told RFE/RL that the European Union won't give in to Moscow's energy "blackmailing."
She said Germany and the EU see Russia’s tactic as another attempt to divide the EU but that it will fail.
“We want to get independent 100 percent -- independence from fossil energy from Russia as fast as we can,” she said.
Zelenskiy on July 25 urged Europe to retaliate against Russia's "gas war" by boosting its sanctions against Moscow.
With reporting by AFP
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Explosion In Siberia Causes Fire At Russia's Largest Oil Refinery
Several Telegram channels reported on August 26 that a major explosion rocked Russia's largest oil refinery, located in the Siberian city of Omsk, sparking a fire at the facility. The reports carried videos showing flames and clouds of smoke rising from the Gazpromneft-ONPZ facility. The refinery's administration confirmed the reports, saying that the fire was under control. It remains unclear what exactly caused the explosion. Several oil refineries located in Russia's western regions have been under Ukrainian drone attacks since January. The distance from Ukraine's eastern border to Omsk is more than 2,000 kilometers. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
UN Nuclear Agency Chief Says He's Heading To Kursk Plant On August 26
UN nuclear agency head Rafael Grossi said he will visit Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant on August 26, weeks after Ukraine launched a surprise counteroffensive in the region. "Given the serious situation, I’m personally leading tomorrow’s IAEA mission to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia," he said in a post on X. The International Atomic Energy Agency has urged both Russia and Ukraine to exercise "maximum restraint" to "avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences" as fighting nears the plant.
Zelenskiy Pleads With Allies For 'Decisive Action' After Massive Russian Attack
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukraine's global allies to take "decisive action" after Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other cities across the country that damaged vital utilities.
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 Russian strikes targeted several Ukrainian cities early on August 26, killing at least three people and wounding several others, according to Ukrainian officials.
Zelenskiy, in a video message posted on X, said the "vile" attacks, involving more than 100 missiles and around 100 drones, showed the West's restrictions keeping Ukraine from using long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory must be lifted.
"Ukraine cannot be constrained in its long-range capabilities when the terrorists face no such limitations," Zelenskiy said.
"Weakness and inadequate responses fuel terror...Every leader, every one of our partners, knows the decisive actions required to end this war justly," he added while calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "sick creature."
The aerial attack was the largest in weeks from Moscow and comes as Ukrainian forces are advancing as they mount a major offensive into the Kursk region of Russia.
Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said water and power supplies in parts of the capital had been disrupted as Russia launched its large-scale attack during the morning rush hour.
Ukraine’s state-run energy authority Ukrenerho said that it was introducing emergency power outages.
One person was reportedly killed and a residential building was damaged in the northwestern city of Lutsk, according to the city’s mayor, Ihor Polischuk.
Two people were killed in the Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to local authorities.
In the Poltava region, five people were wounded after an industrial facility was struck. Three explosions were reported in the Vinnytsia region
Earlier, 16 regions across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, are under fresh air raid alerts after Russia launched waves of drone attacks on August 26.
Ukraine’s Air Force Command had warned citizens not to ignore air raid alerts after it had detected 11 Russian Tu-95MS bombers taking off.
The Air Force Command added that it had detected drone movements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Mykolayiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv, while the Ukrainian Navy said there are four Russian ships in the Black Sea carrying up to 28 Kalibr cruise missiles.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that 20 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed overnight.
The governor of Russia’s Saratov region, Roman Busargin, said drones had targeted the cities of Saratov and Engels and damaged two residential buildings.
He said the damage was caused by falling debris after air defenses shot down the drones.
Russian news agencies said four women were injured in Saratov, with one woman hospitalized. No casualties were reported in Engels.
Engels and Saratov are located on the opposite banks of the Volga River, with a strategic bomber military base located around 12 kilometers from where the drones were intercepted. Saratov is around 900 km from the Ukrainian border.
Quoting the airport’s press office, news agencies said flights were restricted at the regional Saratov airport.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the reports.
Ukraine and Russia insist that they do not target civilians in their attacks but infrastructure critical to war efforts.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Iran Says Israel 'Lost Deterrent Power' After Hizballah Attack
Israel has reportedly launched new strikes at Hizballah, which has been designated at terrorist organization by the United States, just inside Lebanon a day after a heavy exchange of missile and drone attacks between the two foes that Iran claimed showed a shift in the balance of power.
State media reported on August 26 that Israel targeted the border village of Tair Harfa and an area near Sidon in Lebanon a day after Hizballah launched scores of rockets and drones against targets in northern and central Israel in the early hours of August 25. The attack came shortly after Israel carried out what it described as preemptive strikes targeting Hizballah’s rocket launchers.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from Israel's strikes on August 26.
Iran said on August 26 that the exchange of fire, which marked one of the largest clashes to hit the Middle East since war broke out in the Gaza Strip last October, showed Israel has lost not only its ability to anticipate small-scale attacks but also its deterrent power.
“Despite the full backing of its supporters, including the United States, Israel has lost its deterrent power and ability to predict the time and place of even a limited and calibrated attack,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani wrote on X, referring to the large-scale attack on Israel by Iran’s Lebanese ally Hizballah a day earlier.
“The occupying regime has always sought territorial expansion, but now has to defend itself within the occupied territories,” Kanani added. “Fear has been embedded in the homes of the residents of the occupied lands.”
Israeli officials said the preemptive attack prevented the launch of “thousands” of rockets. Hizballah claimed to have launched more than 320 rockets and drones but Israel put the figure at around 150.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah alleged that the group’s operation was calibrated to ensure it did not trigger a full-scale conflict.
Addressing Nasrallah and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's preemptive operation was "another step toward changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes."
Hizballah said its operation was “phase one” of its retaliation for the killing of Fuad Shukr, widely believe to be Hizballah’s second-most powerful person. Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on July 30.
Hours after Shukr’s assassination, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas was killed in Tehran. Iran vowed to avenge Ismail Haniyeh and accused Israel of killing him. Israel has neither denied nor claimed responsibility.
In his speech, Nasrallah said one reason why Hizballah took nearly a month to hit Israel was because it was discussing with Iran and other allies about whether to carry out a coordinated attack on Israel or attack separately.
Pressure has been growing on Iran to deliver on its promised attack against Israel to avenge Haniyeh.
During a phone call on August 25 with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araqchi insisted that a “measured and well-calculated” response will come.
“We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it -- unlike Israel,” Araqchi told his Italian counterpart.
Moscow Court Issues Warrant For Another Member Of Navalny's Team
A Moscow court issued an arrest warrant on August 26 for Aleksandra Frolova, a self-exiled member of late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's team. Three days earlier, the same court issued a warrant for Nina Volokhonskaya, a self-exiled producer at the Navalny LIVE YouTube channel. In mid-August, Frolova and Volokhonskaya were added to Russia's wanted list for allegedly taking part in the activities of an extremist group. Navalny's organizations and projects were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in June 2021. If arrested and convicted, the two women face up to six years in prison. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Lawmaker Dmytruk Flees Ukraine, Apparently To Avoid Investigation
Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations said on August 25 that it had launched a probe into an illegal border-crossing by a lawmaker who fled the country after he was informed he was suspected of attacking citizens. Also on August 25, the Prosecutor-General's Office said a lawmaker was suspected of attacking a law enforcement official and a military officer, attempting to steal a firearm, hooliganism, and inflicting bodily harm on a person. Media reports identified the lawmaker as Artem Dmytruk, who publicly criticized the incursion by Ukrainian armed forces into Russia's Kursk region, as well as Kyiv's move to ban the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
Kyrgyz Ex-Customs Official Matraimov's Pretrial Detention Extended
BISHKEK -- The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek told RFE/RL on August 26 that it had extended until at least October 26 the pretrial detention of Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service who was at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal involving the funneling of close to $1 billion out of the country.
Matraimov and three of his brothers -- Tilek, Ruslan, and Islambek -- were extradited to Kyrgyzstan in March from Azerbaijan, where they were in hiding.
Raimbek, the most notorious of the brothers, was charged with money laundering and the abduction and illegal incarceration of unnamed individuals as part of the 2020-21 corruption scandal.
In February 2021, a Bishkek court ordered pretrial custody for Matraimov in connection with the corruption charges. He received a mitigated sentence that involved fines amounting to just a few thousand dollars but no jail time.
The court justified the move by saying that Matraimov had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through corruption schemes he oversaw.
In November last year, the chairman of the state security service, Kamchybek Tashiev, accused Matraimov and crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev (aka Kamchybek Asanbek), who was added by Washington to a list of major global drug-trafficking suspects in 2011, of "forming a mafia in Kyrgyzstan."
Matraimov left Kyrgyzstan in October 2023 after Kolbaev was killed in a special security operation in Bishkek. In January, the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry said Matraimov was added to the wanted list of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security.
In 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan.
In March 2024, a court in neighboring Uzbekistan sentenced a close associate of Kolbaev, influential Uzbek crime boss Salim Abduvaliev, to six years in prison on charges of illegally possessing and transporting arms and explosives.
Abduvaliev is believed to have ties with top Uzbek officials and leaders of the so-called Brothers' Circle, a Eurasian drug-trafficking network that included Kolbaev.
Militants Kill 37 People In Pakistan's Restive Balochistan Province, Officials Say
Pakistani officials say at least 37 people have been killed in several apparently coordinated attacks in the southwestern Balochistan Province, where security forces have long struggled against sectarian, separatist, and ethnic violence.
Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government, told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on August 26 that “terrorists” had killed people in three separate attacks in the province.
In the deadliest attack, dozens of gunmen killed 23 passengers traveling on a bus in the Musakhail district. Officials said the armed group blocked the road, forced passengers off the bus and fatally shot the victims -- all men -- after checking their identification documents. They set several vehicles on fire before fleeing the scene.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has been designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, claimed in a statement sent to the AFP news agency that it had launched an operation "on highways across Balochistan," insisting that it had only targeted security personnel.
The Pakistani authorities have not explicitly accused a specific group of carrying out the attack.
Rind told Radio Mashaal that casualties included both civilians and security personnel.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “terrorist attack” and vowed that the perpetrators would be found and punished.
Eight people were killed in another attack in the Kalat district and six others were shot dead in the Bolan district, Rind said.
Balochistan is a vast and resource-rich province but remains woefully underdeveloped and impoverished.
The BLA is the largest armed group operating in the province and it is allied with the Baloch Liberation Front, another major Baluch separatist group in the province.
Balochistan has been rocked by a slew of militant attacks since the start of the year, with first three months seeing 62 attacks. In 2023, Baluch militants carried out 110 attacks, according to the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank.
Bulgaria Gets Caretaker Government, Seventh Election In 3 Years To Be Held On October 27
President Rumen Radev has accepted the proposed cabinet of acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, giving poverty- and corruption-stricken Bulgaria a caretaker government as it heads toward its seventh general election in three years. In accepting Glavchev's list of ministers on August 26, Radev said he will sign a decree on August 27 to set a parliamentary election for October 27. Radev was forced to make the move after politicians failed three times to put together a coalition government following an inconclusive June election. Glavchev was appointed as the caretaker prime minister after the government collapsed in March under similar circumstances. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.
- By Current Time
Russian Officials Reportedly Told To Delete Work Messages From Telegram
Russian officials have reportedly been instructed to delete all work correspondence from the messaging application Telegram after its founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France. Baza, a Telegram channel affiliated with Russia’s security apparatus, said on August 25 that Defense Ministry staff, prominent businessmen, and officers at several security agencies had also been ordered to wipe work-related messages from the application. Russian war bloggers say Telegram has become a key communication tool between military command units involved in the Ukraine war. Durov was arrested amid a preliminary inquest into Telegram's lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement regarding drug trafficking and other offenses. To read the full story by Current Time, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Pope Condemns Ukraine Move To Ban Activities Linked To Russian Orthodox Church
Pope Francis on August 25 condemned the latest action by Kyiv to ban religious organizations with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Ukraine.
"No Christian church may be abolished directly or indirectly. The churches must not be touched," the pope said during his weekly prayer a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed legislation prohibiting the activities of the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
"In thinking of the law recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the liberty of those who pray," Francis said on St. Peter's Square.
He told the gathered crowd that "one does not commit evil by praying. If someone does something evil to his people, he is guilty. But he can't have done anything bad by praying."
In signing the legislation on August 24, Zelenskiy underscored what he called the spiritual independence of the Ukrainian people, saying that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) "today is taking a step toward liberation from Moscow devils."
The OCU, which is aligned with Kyiv, was granted independence from the Moscow Patriarchate by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2019, the leading voice in the Orthodox world.
The Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared it severed all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2023 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Ukrainian authorities accuse it of maintaining ties.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and of the war against Ukraine.
The adoption of the law, which was passed by parliament earlier this month, is considered a watershed moment in Ukraine, where Orthodox Christianity has been riven for decades in large part over the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The law is to go into effect 30 days after its publication.
Ukrainian authorities have sought to curtail activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine since Russian-linked forces seized parts of the country in 2014, claiming the church has supported Moscow's war of aggression.
The pope also said he continues to follow "with sorrow" the fighting in Ukraine.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AFP, and dpa
- By Kian Sharifi
Israel, Hizballah Appear To Pull Back After Missile Exchange
Israel and Hizballah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, engaged in a massive exchange of missile fire on August 25, but signaled they were not looking to escalate the conflict amid fears of all-out war in the region.
Tensions also remained high near the Gaza Strip after Hamas – an Iran-backed group also designated a terrorist organization by the United States and EU – apparently fired an "M90" rocket toward Tel Aviv late on August 25, although Israeli officials said it fell harmlessly into an empty field.
"Following the siren that sounded in Rishon LeTsiyon, one projectile was identified crossing from the southern Gaza Strip and falling in an open area in the area of Rishon LeTsiyon," the Israeli military said.
In one of the biggest clashes to rock the Middle East since war broke out in the Gaza Strip last October, Israel said it launched preemptive air strikes on targets of Iran-backed Hizballah in southern Lebanon after Israeli intelligence detected that Hizballah was planning to attack in the morning.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech later in the day that the attacks, which did not include using precision or strategic missiles, targeted "the Glilot base -- the main Israeli military intelligence base," near Tel Aviv, about 100 kilometers across the southern Lebanese border with Israel.
Nasrallah added in the televised speech that Israel began striking Hizballah targets about 30 minutes before the group launched its attack, which was in response to the killing of one of its commanders.
Addressing Nasrallah and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's preemptive operation was "another step toward changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes."
Thousands have been displaced in northern Israel as Hizballah and Israel continue to trade cross-border attacks, which have intensified since war broke out in Gaza following an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that left some 1,200 people dead and scores more taken hostage.
The August 25 exchange of hundreds of missiles and drones sparked fears that the war may escalate and engulf the entire region, but a Hizballah official said in a written statement to media outlets that the group had "worked" to ensure its attack would not trigger a full-scale war.
Reuters quoted its diplomatic sources as saying Israel and Hizballah exchanged messages following the exchange saying neither wanted to escalate the conflict further.
Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute, said that at least for now, the scope of the strikes from both sides may be enough to avoid a major war between Israel and Hizballah "because both sides do not want it."
Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said around 100 fighter jets "eliminated thousands of Hizballah rocket-launcher barrels" that had been "aimed for immediate fire" toward northern and central Israel.
Hizballah said the attack was "phase one" of its retaliation for the killing of its top commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on July 30 in Beirut. It insisted the operation had been "completed successfully."
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a 48-hour state of emergency across Israel.
The IDF said Hizballah had fired 150 projectiles, but Hizballah claimed to have launched more than 320 Katyusha rockets.
Israeli fighter jets continued to strike Hizballah rocket launchers after the group's attack to "remove threats."
Three people were killed in areas in southern Lebanon, according to the country's Health Ministry.
The extent of damage caused by Hizballah's attack is unclear. Video footage on social media showed some rockets being intercepted and the aftermath of several rockets making impact.
The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon called the developments "worrying" and called "on all to cease fire and refrain from further escalatory action."
"We will continue our contacts to strongly urge for de-escalation," it said.
Hizballah and Israel have inched even closer to a full-blown war for weeks, especially after the death of 12 people in an apparent Hizballah rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on July 27.
Three days later, Israel struck a target in Beirut, killing Shukr, who was widely believed to be the second-most powerful person in Hizballah's hierarchy behind Nasrallah.
Diplomats, meanwhile, huddled in Egypt on August 25 for high-level talks aimed at brokering a cease-fire in the 10-month-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Later, a Hamas representative said the group's delegation left Cairo after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators “who briefed them on the results of the latest negotiations" and said it had rejected Israel's latest terms for a cease-fire.
Israel's attack on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, according to the local Hamas-run health authorities.
With reporting by Reuters
- By AP
Taliban Morality Laws Provide 'Distressing Vision' For Afghanistan, Warns UN Envoy
The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public provide a "distressing vision" for Afghanistan's future, a top UN official warned on August 25. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission to Afghanistan, said the laws extend the "already intolerable restrictions" on the rights of women and girls, with "even the sound of a female voice" outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers recently issued a set of morality laws that include a requirement for women to conceal their faces, bodies, and voices outside the home.
- By AFP
At Least 34 Dead After 2 Pakistani Buses Plunge Into Ravines
At least 34 people were killed in two separate bus accidents in Pakistan on August 25, including 12 pilgrims who had been prevented from crossing into Iran, officials said. At least 22 people were killed when the bus they were traveling in plunged into a ravine near the town of Azad Pattan on the border between Punjab Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In a separate incident, 12 men died when their bus crashed into a ravine on the Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, after being prevented from crossing into Iran. Road accidents are common in Pakistan, where safety measures are lax, driver training is poor, and transport infrastructure is often decrepit.
Ukraine, Russia Report Multiple Deaths In Strikes On Both Sides Of Border
Six people were killed in Ukrainian attacks in the Russian border region of Belgorod, local officials said on August 25, as Ukrainian authorities reported that several people -- including Western news agency staffers -- were among the dead and wounded in Russian strikes across the country.
Meanwhile, in his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces made further advances deeper into Russia's Kursk region and had taken control of two additional settlements.
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.
"I've just spoken with commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskiy, and there is an advance of our troops in the Kursk region -- from 1 to 3 kilometers. Two more settlements were taken under control," said Zelenskiy, who added that "active actions” were continuing.
In Russia, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that five civilians were killed and 12 others were wounded in Ukrainian shelling in the town of Rakitnoye. One person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the village of Solovyovka, he added.
Gladkov said six of the wounded were in serious condition, including a 16-year-old girl who was in intensive care.
The claims cannot be independently verified.
Russian authorities declared a state of emergency in Belgorod earlier this month, and Moscow said it was sending more troops to defend the region following Ukraine's surprise cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk on August 6.
Ukraine has since captured more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region, according to Kyiv, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War II.
In the Ukrainian city of Sumy -- some 30 kilometers from the Russian border -- authorities on August 25 reported that heavy Russian shelling killed at least four people and injured 13 others over the past 24 hours.
Authorities also said one person was killed and several others were wounded in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions in Russian missile and drone attacks.
Donetsk regional officials said the body of a British citizen was recovered from the rubble following an overnight strike at a hotel in Kramatorsk, a city of some 147,000 people in southeastern Ukraine.
Reuters later identified the person as Ryan Evans, 38, who was working as a safety adviser for Reuters. Evans, a former British soldier, had been with the news agency since 2022, advising staffers on safety issues at sites around the world.
Officials said four journalists -- including those with German, Latvian, and U.S. citizenship -- and two local citizens were among the injured, but the report could not immediately be confirmed.
Reuters earlier said several team members had been at the hotel but couldn't immediately confirm their whereabouts or status.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional government, wrote on Telegram that the hotel was destroyed and that "17 private houses, six high-rise buildings, three enterprises, an administrative building, and a coffeeshop were damaged."
Russian attacks hit residential buildings in Kharkiv's Balakliya, Chuhuiv, and Kupyansk districts, as well as the regional capital, Kharkiv city, wounding at least 17 people and damaging several houses, local authorities said.
Russia launched several missile and drone attacks overnight, targeting northern and eastern regions, but Ukraine’s air-defense systems destroyed most of the weapons before they reached their targets, Ukraine's air force said.
"Most of the missiles did not reach their targets," the air force said on Telegram, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an Iskander-K cruise missile, and six guided air missiles. It did not specify how many missiles were destroyed.
The air-defense systems shot down eight of the nine drones launched by Russian forces overnight over the Mykolayiv region, the air force claimed.
On the diplomatic front, Zelenskiy on August 25 said talks with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Switzerland were continuing regarding a potential second peace summit.
The Ukrainian leader also said he had told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Kyiv that he would support India hosting the summit.
"This applies not only to India but to any state that would be positive about hosting a second summit,” Zelenskiy added.
Some 80 countries, but not Russia, met in Switzerland in mid-June to discuss the potential for a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskiy has insisted Ukraine's territorial integrity must be the foundation of any peace deal, while Russia has said conditions for ending the war include Kyiv renouncing its desire to join NATO and ceding Crimea and four other occupied regions of Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry in Kyiv also said on August 25 that Ukrainian intelligence agencies had reported that Belarusian armed forces, under the guise of military exercises, have been concentrating a significant number of personnel, weapons, and equipment including tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, air-defense systems, and engineering equipment its border with Ukraine.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
Pavel Durov, Billionaire Founder Of Telegram App, Detained In France, Company Says
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was detained at the Bourget airport outside Paris and was scheduled to appear in court late on August 25 or 26, French media reported, citing unnamed sources.
The 39-year-old billionaire reportedly arrived from Baku, Azerbaijan, aboard his private jet accompanied by a bodyguard and a personal assistant and was arrested immediately, a source told AFP.
Durov was scheduled to appear in court for alleged offenses related to his popular messaging app.
There was no immediate comment by French authorities, but Telegram issued a statement on X saying that “Durov has nothing to hide” and that it’s “awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
The Paris prosecutor's office plans to make a statement to the press on August 26, Russian state agency TASS reported.
French media reported that France's OFMIN, an office tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses, including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, and the promotion of terrorism.
The SOTA Telegram channel reported that Durov was being held in a migration prison at Le Bourget airport, where he can be held for up to four days until a decision is made on his case.
The Dubai-based Telegram platform boasts more than 900 million users worldwide. In his first major interview in seven years, which he gave to U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson on April 17, Durov vowed Telegram aims to be a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics."
In Ukraine, though, critics worry it spreads misinformation and facilitates illegal actions. Some accuse Telegram of ties to the Russian state and of contributing to its war effort.
In 2021, Durov, a native of Russia who left the country about 10 years ago, received French citizenship.
Recently, he has lived mainly in the United Arab Emirates, where the company's office is also located.
Durov, who previously created the Russian social network VKontakte, developed the Telegram messenger in 2013.
He is the main owner of Telegram, which is worth an estimated $30 billion.
In 2018, the Russian authorities temporarily restricted access to Telegram.
The decision was made after the messaging app, as alleged, refused to provide Russia's FSB security agency with encryption keys from users' correspondence, referring to the secrecy of correspondence guaranteed by the constitution.
The decision to block was sharply criticized by many Russian public figures, including critics of the Russian authorities. A mass rally in defense of Telegram was held in Moscow, at which, in particular, then-opposition leader Alexei Navalny spoke.
However, independent Russian media reports indicated that Telegram reached a compromise with the authorities and has been sharing some data with the security services for several years, although that has been denied by Telegram.
With reporting by AFP
Zelenskiy Signs Law Banning Russian Orthodox Church In Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed into law legislation banning religious organizations linked to the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Ukraine.
The move was announced on the parliament’s website on August 24 as Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day.
Zelenskiy commented on his signing the law, one of several pieces of legislation targeting Russia that he signed on August 24, during a recorded video address to the nation.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) is "today taking a step toward liberation from Moscow's devils," Zelenskiy said.
The OCU, which is aligned with Kyiv, was granted independence from the Moscow Patriarchate by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2019, the leading voice in the Orthodox world.
The Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) declared it severed all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2023 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Ukrainian authorities accuse it of maintaining ties.
The adoption of the law, which was passed by parliament earlier this month, is considered a watershed moment in Ukraine, where Orthodox Christianity has been riven for decades in large part over the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and of the war against Ukraine.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has searched key churches and monasteries and opened dozens of criminal investigations into UOC clerics. Some senior UOC figures have been sanctioned by presidential decrees, including the abbot of Kyiv's ancient Monastery of the Caves, Metropolitan Pavlo.
In June, Ukraine handed over Metropolitan Ionafan -- a UOC diocese head who was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of supporting the Russian invasion -- to Russia in a prisoner swap. He was received with honors by Patriarch Kirill.
A May 2024 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that about 82 percent of respondents said they do not trust the UOC, and 63 percent said it should be banned entirely.
The law signed by Zelenskiy on August 24 is to go into effect 30 days after its publication. Among other things it stipulates that the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be the owner or participant of legal entities registered in Ukraine. Religious communities in Ukraine will have nine months to break ties with Russian-linked entities.
The UOC has said it has no administrative ties with foreign religious organizations.
Patriarch Kirill on August 24 responded to the law by calling on other Christian religious leaders and international organizations to “raise their voices in defense of persecuted believers.”
Also on August 24, Ukraine ratified a statute that paves the way for Ukraine to join the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants for several Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin over war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
Zelenskiy also signed a law that allows foreigner who fight in the Ukrainian Army against Russia the right to gain Ukrainian citizenship.
3 Killed, Including 2 Children, 18 Wounded In Bomb Blast In Pakistan's Southwest
Three people, including two children, were killed and 17 others, including two police officers, were wounded in a bomb blast in Pishin, a district in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, a police official told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal.
"An improvised explosive device (IED) was fitted onto a motorcycle in Pishin city on the morning of August 24 where two children were killed and 12 people sustained injuries," Muhibullah Kakar, the head of district police station told Radio Mashaal immediately after the incident.
Pishin is locate some 55 kilometers north of Quetta, the capital city of restive Balochistan Province.
The medical superintendent of the District Headquarter Hospital in Pishin, Wakeel Sherani, told Radio Mashaal that his hospital received two dead bodies and 18 wounded people, including three women.
"Seventeen of those wounded were referred to Quetta Civil Hospital for further treatment," Sherani added. Two of the wounded people are in critical condition, medical officials said.
They added later that one of the three women succumbed to her injuries.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Police have begun an investigation into the incident but have not arrested any suspects so far.
Militant attacks have recently increased in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces.
Balochistan is a mineral-rich province that borders both Afghanistan and Iran and is regularly targeted by Islamist militants, sectarian groups, and Baluch separatists fighting for independence.
The Baluch Liberation Army, a Baluch militant group, and its "special force" Majid Brigade have recently intensified attacks on Pakistani military bases and Chinese nationals in Balochistan.
Pakistan's National Counterterrorism Authority (NACTA) on July 31 added Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Majid Brigade to its list of terrorist organizations, raising the number of Pakistani groups on the list to 81.
The Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group is active in the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Bulgarian Teachers Say They Face Threats For Opposing Anti-LGBT 'Propaganda In School' Law
VARNA, Bulgaria -- Teachers in Bulgaria say they are facing threats for signing a petition opposing recently passed legislation banning “LGBT propaganda” in schools and point the finger of blame at the far-right Revival party, initiator of the widely criticized controversial law.
The leader of Revival, Kostadin Kostadinov, said on August 22 that he would file a report with the Prosecutor’s Office about educators who have voiced opposition to the law.
The law, passed on August 7 in parliament with the backing of pro-European parties, sparked protests in Sofia and elsewhere in the largely conservative Balkan country of some 6.5 million people.
The amendment to the country's education code prohibits the "propaganda, promotion, or incitement" of LGBT "ideas and views" in schools, without specifying further details.
The pro-Western reformist We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition is still hoping to gather support in the National Assembly, Bulgaria's unicameral parliament, to repeal the legislation.
Critics said the law is nearly identical to the Russian anti-LGBT propaganda law adopted in 2012 and the Hungarian anti-LGBT propaganda law adopted in 2021, both of which have been deemed by various international stakeholders and institutions as incompatible with international and European human rights standards.
Bulgaria is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not give equal civil rights to people of differing sexual orientations. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg obliged Bulgaria to create a legal framework to recognize same-sex relationships, an obligation with which Sofia has not yet complied.
The LGBT community and supporters in Bulgaria often face verbal as well as physical threats and attack, including the 2021 targeting of an LGBT center in Sofia.
Some 460 teachers and other specialists in the educational field signed a petition to demand the amended law to be scrapped. About 20 from the Black Sea resort of Varna said they were targeted by the local branch of the Revival party, including on Facebook.
Martin Stoyanov, a school psychologist in Varna, said a teacher in the Black Sea town had contacted him late one night recently on Viber, expressing fears over the recent threats.
"At some point we're becoming a country where it's dangerous to express your opinion," Stoyanov told RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service.
The Facebook post on August 21 on the account linked to the Varna branch of the Revival party included what it termed a "black list" of local educators who had signed the petition -- including Stoyanov -- against the newly amended law, referring to them as "parasites."
A day later, Kostadinov, long a controversial figure and spreader of pro-Kremlin disinformation, said he would hand over to the Prosecutor's Office the names of some 800 teachers he claimed were "criminals" who "want to push homosexual propaganda."
The threatened teachers in Varna have received much support.
The mayor of Varna, Blagomir Kotsev, voiced his support in a Facebook post on August 22, urging them to be brave and to personally contact him if they are threatened.
Pavel Popov, Varna’s deputy mayor who is also in charge of educational matters, told RFE/RL that Revival was calling for "repressive actions against Bulgarian teachers."
"Bulgarian teachers cannot be talked about in this way," said Stella Nikolova, a member of the National Assembly from Varna and a member of the PP-DB bloc in a Facebook post on August 22.
"We demand that all institutions take action to protect citizens' rights and to be held accountable for the fascist methods by which a political power operates," Nikolova wrote.
The Revival party did not respond to request by RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service for comment.
Several petitions have been launched condemning the vaguely worded changes to education code. One that garnered the signatures of nearly 460 teachers and educators was spearheaded by Boris Iliev, a teacher of Bulgarian literature and language at the National Science and Mathematics High School in Sofia.
"We have authentic arguments against the changes because our work depends on this law," Iliev told RFE/RL.
"When I saw the threats made against colleagues, I was extremely worried," Iliev added.
Denislava Nikolaeva said she was shocked when the name of her son’s teacher appeared on the Revival posting.
"We are collapsing as a society," Denislava told RFE/RL.
Kyiv, Moscow Swap Prisoners As Ukraine Marks Independence Day
As Ukraine marks 33 years of independence on August 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced that 115 Ukrainian prisoners were released in a swap with Russia.
"Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today. They are warriors from the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service," Zelenskiy said in a message on X.
"We remember everyone. We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back," he said.
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Some of the released Ukrainian prisoners spoke to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service from a location Ukrainian authorities requested not be disclosed.
Ihor, who provided only his first name, said he was captured while serving as a conscript in National Guard Unit 3057, part of the Ukrainian forces that defended the city of Mariupol and surrendered to Russia in May 2022.
According to a Ukrainian governmental body that oversees the treatment of prisoners of war, 82 of the freed Ukrainian soldiers had fought in Mariupol.
"They led us out of the prison cell at 5 a.m. There were no words, no explanation. They took us to the office and gave us our uniforms to put them on. Then they took us somewhere in cars," Ihor said. "No one told us whether that was a simple transfer to another prison or a prisoner swap. We arrived at an air base and were put on a plane. The plane arrived at another air base. More than 100 of us gathered there. Only then we understood that this was a prisoner swap."
Andriy, another freed soldier who gave only his first name, said he served in the same National Guard unit.
"I kept dreaming about it all the time in captivity -- that I'll be back on August 24," said Andriy, who struggled to answer in Ukrainian because he had become accustomed to speaking Russian while in captivity. "It's a feeling beyond description."
Zelenskiy, referring to Russian troops who have been taken prisoner during Ukraine's ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk region that started on August 6, said in his post on X that "I am grateful to each unit that replenishes our exchange fund.”
Ukraine previously said that Russian soldiers taken prisoner in Kursk would be used as an "exchange fund" to release Ukrainian troops from Russian captivity.
Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said it received 115 of its own troops, who had been captured in the Kursk region, in exchange for the same number of Ukrainian war prisoners.
It said the prisoner exchange was mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
Zelenskiy also highlighted the heroic resistance of his people in the face of Russia's unprovoked invasion in remarks dedicated to Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24 -- a day that also marked the somber milestone of 30 months of war.
"Independence is in every one of us. And united, we can win.... We withstood, restrained, and repulsed the enemy, and now we are pushing it in its swamps. We know what independence is, how difficult it is to revive it, how difficult it is to protect. But we also know that everything depends on us," he said.
No festivities or parades are scheduled, with many Ukrainians preferring to mark 33 years of independence by honoring those killed in the war.
Ukraine says its incursion in Russia's border region of Kursk -- which took Moscow by surprise, shocked Russia's ruling elites, and brought more than 1,260 square kilometers and 92 settlements under its control -- is meant to establish a buffer zone that will put an end to Moscow's incessant shelling of Ukrainian civilian areas and infrastructure from across the border.
Ukraine's leadership has repeatedly clarified the move is not aimed at gaining territory, unlike Russia's full-scale invasion that started on February 24, 2022, exactly 2 1/2 years ago.
"There must be a strong border between us and the enemy, and no walls between Ukrainians, because Ukraine is in each and every one of us," Zelenskiy said in his message recorded symbolically in the northeastern border town of Sumy, close to where Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia on August 6.
"Those who sought to turn our lands into a buffer zone should now worry that their own country doesn't become a buffer federation," he said. "This is how independence responds."
Zelenskiy also indirectly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that his war was doomed to fail, saying that "the sick grandfather from the Red Square...will not dictate his red lines to us."
"How we live, what path we follow, and what choices we make -- only Ukraine and Ukrainians will determine those for themselves. Because that's how independence works," he added.
As Ukraine's incursion into Kursk continues, Russia is pressing an offensive in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk aimed at capturing the regional hub of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the east celebrated Independence Day with guns in their hands. Some of them shared their thoughts about the meaning of independence with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
Denys, an officer with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, said his generation bears a responsibility to preserve Ukraine's independence for their children's future.
"The cowardice of parents leads to their children's slavery. We are fighting so our children do not turn into slaves," Denys said.
"Freedom is when you can breathe freely without a whip above you," Vitaliy, a soldier with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, told RFE/RL.
"Right now, independence means freedom from [Russians], ending this war, peaceful skies above us, and saving children from dying," Vitaliy added.
"For me, independence is about saving our country and not letting the war pass on to our children," said Roman, an officer from the 100th Mechanized Brigade.
General Oleksandr Syrskiy, who was promoted from colonel general to general on August 24, highlighted the sacrifices of Ukrainian soldiers in defending the country's independence in a post on Telegram.
"We defended our independence from the first days of war -- when we burned enemy columns, defended Kyiv, liberated Kharkiv region, and raised our flag over Kherson and Snake Island. The fight for our independence continues -- in Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Kharkiv, and other directions where our soldiers stop and destroy the enemy's overwhelming force," said Syrskiy.
Russian shelling killed five people and wounded five others on August 24 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka, Ukraine's prosecutor general said.
"As a result of this enemy attack five residents -- three men and two women -- suffered fatal injuries," the prosecutor said in a statement.
Ukraine, whose civilian and energy infrastructure has been battered by Russian drone strikes for years, has in turn been targeting in recent months oil and fuel facilities inside Russia that work for the military.
In the most recent strike, Ukrainian drones early on August 24 set an ammunition depot on fire in the Ostrogozhsk district of Russia's Voronezh region.
Regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev said on Telegram that the fire was started by falling drone debris and caused ammunition to explode. He said there were no casualties.
Ostrogozhsk also houses a training center for armored vehicle operators.
The Belgorod region was also attacked by drones at night, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported, adding that two people were wounded.
Russia's Defense Ministry said five drones were downed over Voronezh and one each over the Belgorod and Bryansk regions.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service correspondent Roman Pahulych contributed to this report.
- By AFP
Meta Blocks Iran-Linked Hackers On WhatsApp, Warns U.S. Campaigns
Meta says it has warned U.S. presidential campaigns to be wary after it discovered an Iran-linked hacking attempt using the WhatsApp messaging service. The announcement is the latest from a tech giant of hacking threats ahead of the November election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, after Google and Microsoft earlier uncovered similar attempts attributed to Iran.WhatsApp accounts linked to an Iranian "threat actor" sent messages pretending to be technical support for AOL, Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft, according to a Meta blog post. Accounts involved in what appeared to be "social engineering" were blocked, Meta said.
- By Current Time
After Public Outcry, Russia Launches Probe Into Suicide Of Bullied Teen Athlete
Russia's Investigative Committee said on August 23 that it launched an investigation into the death by suicide of teen athlete Ksenia Cheponova, which she apparently carried out as a result of a bullying over her ethnicity. The noted 17-year-old sambo wrestler's body was found on August 17 in Novosibirsk, where she studied at a sports college. Before her death, Cheponova left a message on Telegram saying she was tired of being humiliated for her ethnicity. Amid the public outcry that followed, the acting governor of the Altai region, Andrei Turchak, asked Investigative Committee chief Aleksandr Bastrykin to investigate Cheponova's death. Altais are Turkic-speaking indigenous people of Siberia. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.
Baku Court Sends Political Analyst Bahruz Samadov To Pretrial Detention
A Baku court on August 23 sent Azerbaijani political analyst Bahruz Samadov to pretrial detention for at least four months on a high treason charge, which he rejects. Samadov, a doctoral student at Charles University in Prague, was detained a day earlier. Police told Samadov's grandmother her grandson was suspected of illegal drugs-related activities. Later, a lawyer called and told her Samadov "is being accused of treason." Samadov has been critical of Baku's military offensives in 2020 and 2024 that ended with Azerbaijan regaining control over the then mostly ethnic Armenian-populated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Biden Voices 'Unwavering' Support For Ukraine With New U.S. Aid Package
U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated America’s "unwavering support for the people of Ukraine" in a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on August 23, the eve of Ukraine's Independence Day.
Biden made the comments in a statement that also announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine that includes air-defense missiles, equipment to counter drones, anti-armor missiles, and ammunition.
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News reports quoting an unidentified U.S. official said the package is worth $125 million, although the White House statement didn't provide a figure.
Earlier on August 23, the United States announced new sanctions on nearly 400 entities and individuals who Washington says are enabling Russia's illegal war and supploying Russian military industries.
"These actions build on a series of historic steps we have taken with our Allies and partners over the last few months to support Ukraine -- from transferring F-16 fighter jets, to committing to deliver hundreds of air defense interceptors over the next year, to quickly surging security assistance to the frontlines following the passing of our National Security Bill," Biden said in the statement.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine is in critical need of the new U.S. military aid, especially air defense, Zelenskiy's office said.
Zelenskiy earlier on August 23 urged his country's Western partners to deliver promised military support, saying in his evening address that on the front lines "we fight with shells and equipment, not with words like 'tomorrow' or 'soon.'"
Ukraine is waiting for packages with weapons or equipment "that have been announced and decided upon but not yet delivered," he said.
Biden praised Ukraine for repelling "Russia's vicious onslaught" and remaining "unbowed in the face of Russia's heinous war crimes and atrocities." Day after day, he said, Ukrainians "have defended the values that unite people across both of our nations and around the world -- including independence."
Biden also reiterated that the United States and its allies and partners "will continue to stand with [Ukraine] every step of the way." He said that "when the war began, Ukraine was a free country. It still is today and will be when the war ends."
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the estimated amount of the U.S. aid package.
- By Reuters
U.S. Sanctions Hundreds Of Targets In Effort To Cripple Kremlin's Military Production
The United States on August 23 added nearly 400 individuals and entities in and outside of Russia to its sanctions list as part of the U.S. effort to disrupt Russia's international supply chains, metal procurement, and financial services that support its war effort in Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the move was building on sanctions already imposed on Russia in response to its full-scale war in Ukraine and were aimed at distinct networks, individuals, and entities whose products and services enable Russia to sustain the war and evade sanctions.
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"Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military industrial complex," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in a news release. The treasury's "actions today continue to implement the commitments made by President [Joe] Biden and his G7 counterparts to disrupt Russia's military-industrial base supply chains and payment channels."
The sanctions target numerous transnational networks, the department said. Among them are those allegedly involved in procuring ammunition and military materiel for Russia, facilitating sanctions evasion for Russian oligarchs through offshore trust and corporate formation services, laundering gold for a sanctioned Russian gold company, and supporting Russia's military-industrial base by procuring sensitive and critical items such as advanced machinery tools and electronic components.
The list of companies designated for new sanctions includes 60 Russian-based defense and technology firms "critical for the sustainment and development of Russia's defense industry," it added.
Adeyemo added that companies, financial institutions, and governments around the world "need to ensure they are not supporting Russia’s military-industrial supply chains."
The department warned that foreign regulators and financial institutions "should be cautious" about any dealings with overseas branches or subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions and noted it is is aware of Russian efforts "to facilitate sanctions evasion by opening new overseas branches and subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions."
The sweeping action targets networks, individuals, and entities across 16 jurisdictions, including in China, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
The measures against companies in China alone are aimed at 190 targets, according to a State Department fact sheet outlining its sanctions.
Washington has repeatedly warned Beijing over its support for Russia's defense industrial base and has already issued hundreds of sanctions aimed at restricting Moscow's ability to exploit certain technologies for military purposes.
The sanctions, which freeze any assets held by those targeted in U.S. jurisdiction and bar them from dealings with people in the United States, were announced parallel to an announcement by the U.S. Commerce Department saying it was taking "aggressive action" to further restrict the supply of items made in the United States to both Russia and Belarus, due to "the Kremlin's illegal war on Ukraine."
In addition, the U.S. State Department said it was targeting entities and individuals involved in Russia’s future energy, metals, and mining production as well as sanctions evasion and Russia’s military-industrial base. It also is targeting subsidiaries of Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom and "malign actors involved in the attempted, forcible 're-education' of Ukraine's children."
The U.S. government also added 123 entities to its U.S. export control list known as the Entity List that forces suppliers to obtain licenses before shipping to targeted companies. The companies -- 63 Russian and 42 Chinese as well as 18 from other countries -- were targeted for a host of reasons from sending U.S. electronics to Russian military-related parties to producing thousands of Shahed-136 drones for Russia to use in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the United States for the "additional strong sanctions" saying on X they would further weaken Russia's ability to "wage an aggressive war against Ukraine."
"Pressure on the aggressor must be maintained and increased constantly as long as Russia continues its aggression," Zelenskiy added.
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