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Russia Preparing Major Offensive, Ukrainian Military Says, As Shelling Kills Civilians In Kramatorsk
Ukraine's military says there are clear signs that Russian forces are getting ready for a major push in the east, where a stalemate continues despite months-long heavy fighting and intensive daily shelling by Moscow's troops.
"The enemy is actively conducting reconnaissance, preparing for an offensive in certain directions," Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily report early on February 2.
"Despite heavy losses, it continues to attempt offensive actions in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Novopavlivka areas [of Donetsk region]," the General Staff said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said later on February 2 in his nightly video address that the Russian army still has the resources to attempt offensive actions, although "strategically Russia's defeat is already clear."
The Russian military is "looking for options to try to change the course of the war" and trying to use the potential of the territory it currently controls to serve its aggression, Zelenskiy said.
"We must continue what we are doing: strengthen our resilience, be absolutely united in our desire to provide our army and all defenders with the necessary weapons and equipment," he said.
Ukrainians must speak with one voice to the world regarding defense supplies and significantly increase global pressure on Russia every month, he said.
"The enemy should come out of this much more weakened than they foresee for themselves in the worst-case scenario," Zelenskiy said.
Russian forces launched six missile strikes on Ukrainian targets during the 24 hour-period ending early on February 2. Four of them hit civilian infrastructure in Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Druzhkivka in Donetsk, as well as four air strikes and 73 salvos from multiple-rocket launchers, the military said.
The body of a woman was recovered from the rubble of a house in Kramatorsk that was hit in the attack, Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said, raising the death toll there to four. Another attack on Kramatorsk on February 2 struck the center of the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the missile attack on Kramatorsk was launched to destroy antiaircraft missile systems. Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said M-270 MLRS (multiple-launch rocket system) and M-142 HIMARS (high-mobility artillery rocket system) were destroyed in the Kramatorsk region.
The Russian military has repeatedly justified its attacks on Ukrainian cities as necessary to destroy military equipment and has denied targeting civilians despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on February 1 said there had been an increase in Russia's operations on the front in the east and said the situation "has become tougher" as the Russians try to make gains that they can show on the first anniversary of the war on February 24.
The secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, Oleksiy Danilov, also warned that Russia was planning a major attack from multiple directions that could occur around the anniversary of the start of Russia's invasion.
"Russia is preparing for maximum escalation," Danilov told British TV station Sky News on January 31.
"It is gathering everything possible, doing drills and training."
Danilov said the next two or three months will be "the defining months in the war."
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov referred to a transfer of troops, saying Moscow could "try something" to mark the anniversary of the invasion.
Reznikov, speaking to French broadcaster BFM, said Russian troops are massing at the border and according to the Ukrainian military's assessment their number is more than the 300,000 called up in a mobilization in September.
Ukraine last week won pledges from the United States and Germany to send tanks to help it defend itself and has continued actively requesting more modern equipment, including fighter jets and long-range artillery, from its Western allies.
The United States has ruled out any deliveries of F-16 fighter jets for now, but other partners have indicated they are more open to the idea.
The Kremlin has warned that Western military shipments could cause an escalation in the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the tank shipments on February 2 in a speech at events marking the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany in Stalingrad.
Putin, speaking in the southern city of Volgograd, said Russia had an answer for the tanks, in particular the German Leopards, and said the use of armored vehicles "will not end the matter."
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying that Russia was being threatened by German tanks "again" as it was during World War II, drawing false parallels between the Soviet Union's fight then and Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
"We aren't sending tanks to their borders, but we have something to respond with, and it won't be just about using armored vehicles. Everyone should understand this," he added.
Russia has also warned Israel against supplying weapons to Ukraine after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was considering doing so, including the so-called Iron Dome antimissile defense system.
Netanyahu also said he is ready to act as a mediator in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine if both sides and the United States agreed.
Israel, which has more than 1 million citizens from the former Soviet Union, has so far sought to maintain neutrality toward the conflict.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
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NATO Chief Says 4 US Soldiers Dead In Lithuania After Training Exercise
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that four US soldiers who went missing in Lithuania during a military training exercise have died.
US Army Europe and Africa said in a statement earlier that the four soldiers were "conducting scheduled tactical training" when they went missing on March 25.
They disappeared following an exercise at Lithuania's Pabrade training ground, roughly 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Belarus border.
"Whilst I was speaking the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania," Rutte told reporters during a trip to Warsaw on March 26, adding that he did not know any further details.
In a statement on March 26, the Lithuanian Army said the disappearance of the servicemen was reported at 4:45 p.m. local time on March 25, with official notification reaching Vilnius authorities by 7:20 p.m.
A search operation was launched involving military personnel, rescue services, and firefighters. Lithuanian police also have launched an investigation.
With reporting by Reuters
In Sign Of Move Away From Moscow, Armenian Parliament Votes To Start EU Bid
YEREVAN – Armenia’s parliament took another step in the country’s westward march, approving a bill calling for the government to seek European Union membership.
Adoption of the bill in the second and final reading was the latest move away from the orbit of Russia, as historical ties fray over what Yerevan says has been Moscow's glaring failure to support it in its conflict with neighbor and longtime adversary Azerbaijan.
The bill calling on the South Caucasus nation’s government to begin the EU accession process passed on March 26 with 64 yes votes, all from the ruling Civil Contract party, against seven no votes from opposition lawmakers.
“We submitted this bill so that the Republic of Armenia can express its political will for movement in the direction of the European Union. This process is irreversible. The people are calling for it,” said Artak Zeynalian, a former justice minister who represents a group advocating membership to the 27-nation bloc.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian backed the bill in January but noted that joining the EU would require a referendum. Armenia would also need to conduct major reforms in the justice system and other areas to have a chance of joining the 27-nation bloc.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought several wars in the past three decades over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been a majority ethnic-Armenian enclave since the Soviet collapse and is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.
After Baku took full control over the region as the result of a lightning, one-day military offensive in September 2023, nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. Yerevan accused Russia, which had almost 2,000 troops stationed in the region, of doing nothing to prevent the fighting and the subsequent exodus.
Days after the assault, Pashinian said in a televised address that Armenia’s existing security alliances – a reference to Russia and the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) were "ineffective" and "insufficient.”
In February 2024, Pashinian froze Armenia's participation in the CSTO. It has also joined the International Criminal Court, meaning it would be expected to comply with an ICC arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he were to visit, and has deepened its defense ties with France.
Armenia held military drills with US troops in June 2024 and signed a strategic partnership agreement with the United States this January, a week before US President Donald Trump took office.
Russia has warned Armenia that a turn toward the EU could harm it in various ways, in particular economically. Russia’s deputy prime minister for Eurasian integration, Aleksei Overchuk, said in January that starting the process of joining the EU means “starting the process of leaving the Eurasian Economic Union,” a Moscow-led customs and trade alliance, adding that a country cannot be member of both blocs.
Last week, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said Armenia risks losing tariff-free trade with Russia and a potential hike in Russian natural gas prices, and that Russia could expel large numbers of Armenian migrant workers.
Armenia and Azerbaijan announced last week that they had finalized the text of the historic peace deal, though it remains unclear exactly when their leaders would sign it.
With reporting by AFP
- By RFE/RL
Russian Court Convicts Azov Fighters Of Terrorism In Trial Kyiv Calls A 'War Crime'
A Russian court has convicted 23 Ukrainians who were captured in the siege of the city of Mariupol on terrorism charges and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 13 to 23 years after a trial that Kyiv has described as a violation of international law and a "war crime."
The verdict and long prison terms came nearly two years after most of the defendants went on trial in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, near Ukraine's border, in June 2023. Eleven of the initial 24 defendants were convicted in absentia after returning to Ukraine in prisoner exchanges, and one died in custody last year.
The Last Days Of Azovstal And The Fate Of Ukraine's Mariupol Defenders
According to Russian media reports and rights activists, the defendants included 14 current or former members of Ukraine's elite Azov Brigade, formerly known as a battalion and a regiment, which Russia has labelled a terrorist group, and nine women and one man who worked as cooks or support personnel.
The defendants were captured during Russia's bloody siege of the Azov Sea city of Mariupol months into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Azov fighters battled Russian troops for months before around 2,500 surrendered in May 2022.
Many of them had held out at the Azovstal steel plant, whose capture cemented the Russian takeover of the ruined city.
The defendants were charged with staging a violent coup and organizing activities of a terrorist organization. Some were also charged with training to carry out terrorist activities.
In 2023, Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote on Twitter that the trial amounted to "an official war crime."
A lawyer for one of the defendants said the 12 defendants who were in Russian custody would all appeal the verdicts. Acquittals and successful appeals are extremely rare in Russia.
With reporting by AP
Ukraine, Russia Report Drone And Energy Infrastructure Attacks As Kremlin's Conditions Cloud Black Sea Truce
Ukraine reported multiple Russian drone strikes overnight, including the largest such strike on the city of Kriviy Rih since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion, while Russia claimed it downed two Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and seven in other locations.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, repeated that Russia would adhere to a Black Sea cease-fire agreement only "after a number of conditions are met." And Ukraine and Russia traded accusations of attacks on energy facilities, the subject of another agreement the United States said it had reinforced separately with Kyiv and Moscow.
US President Donald Trump said his government was considering the Russian conditions and also allowed that Moscow "could be" dragging its feet as the United States seeks to broker a full cease-fire and an end to Russia's war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
The mayor of Mykolayiv, a Ukrainian port city near the Black Sea sea, said emergency power cuts were implemented following reports of a Russian drone attacks on the region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said drone attacks also damaged infrastructure in the northeastern Sumy region, which borders Russia.
In all, Ukraine's air defense units shot down 56 of 117 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. It said 48 of the drones were lost, suggesting the military used electronic warfare to redirect them.
The reports on March 26 came amid questions about when and how separate agreements the United States reached with Ukraine and Russia a day earlier to halt attacks over the Black Sea would come into force, with doubts stemming in part from conditions set by Moscow.
"Launching such large-scale attacks after cease-fire negotiations is a clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
The statement by the Russian Defense Ministry could not be independently verified, and it did not say whether the drones were aimed at targets on the Black Sea, a focus of fighting in its war against Ukraine, now in its fourth year since the full-scale invasion of February 2022, or were only flying over its waters.
The Defense Ministry said the Russian military had also destroyed two drones over the Kursk region and five over the Belgorod region, both of which border Ukraine. The Belgorod regional governor said one civilian was hospitalized with head injuries and a drone caused minor damage to an apartment building.
In Mykolayiv, it was not immediately clear whether the power outages were a precaution or a result of the overnight attack.
Peace Agreements
In addition to the Black Sea cease-fire, the White House said separate talks with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia this week produced an agreement "to develop measures for implementing" recent commitments to halt strikes on energy facilities.
In a further sign of potential trouble for the agreements, Ukraine and Russia accused each other of mounting attacks on energy facilities.
On March 26, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine tried to attack civilian energy infrastructure in three locations, including a gas storage facility in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, claimed that Putin ordered a 30-day moratorium on attacking energy infrastructure in Ukraine on March 18 and that it was being fulfilled.
Ukraine cried foul. Zelenskyy's deputy chief of staff, Ihor Zhovkva, said on television that Russia has attacked at least eight Ukrainian energy facilities since March 18.
The head of the military administration in Kryviy Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, said that the overnight the drone attack there sparked fires and damaged buildings but caused no casualties. "Apparently, this is how the occupiers 'want peace'," he wrote on Telegram.
The agreements reached at the separate US talks with Ukraine and Russia in Riyadh on March 23-25 appeared to be among the most concrete achievements in Trump’s efforts to broker an end to the war since he took office on January 20, but they left plenty of things unclear.
The White House said in two separate statements about the talks that the Black Sea agreement would help restore Moscow’s access to global markets for Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports that have been cut off since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
"The United States will continue facilitating negotiations between both sides to achieve a peaceful resolution," the White House statements said.
The agreements mark the first step toward a broader cease-fire deal to end the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, although the statements didn't mention ending strikes on other civilian infrastructure targets beyond energy.
Russian Caveats
Both Kyiv and Moscow confirmed the deal, although the Russian statement appeared to indicate major caveats for its side.
In a statement about the US-Russia talks, the Kremlin said it would adhere to the agreement only once its state agriculture bank is reconnected to swift Europe, the international payment system, and some trade restrictions are lifted that were imposed on Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Partial Cease-Fire, All-Out War: In Ukraine And Russia, A Harsh Reality Amid Peace Talks
Peskov told reporters on March 26 that the Black Sea agreement "can be activated after a number of conditions are implemented."
The White House said in its own statement on March 25 that it “will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.”
"We're thinking about all of them right now," Trump said when asked about the sanctions Russia says need to be lifted before it implements the Black Sea deal. "We're looking at all of them."
Trump said later that Russia could be stalling on ending the war.
“I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet,” Trump said in an interview with US broadcaster Newsmax.
Reconnecting Russian banks to the SWIFT network could require approval from European countries. A European Commission spokesperson said on March 26 the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine would be one of the main conditions to lift or amend EU sanctions.
"The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions," the spokesperson said.
Later in the day, European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said that the EU had taken note of the US talks with Ukraine and Russia.
"Russia must now demonstrate genuine political will to end its illegal and unprovoked war of aggression," Hipper said in a statement, adding: "Experience has shown that Russia must be judged by its actions, not by its words."
Zelenskyy also commented on the agreements, saying that Kyiv intends to hold up its end and will push for further sanctions if Russia fails to do the same.
"It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps," he said on March 25.
"If they violate, here is the evidence -- we ask for sanctions, we ask for weapons," Zelenskyy added.
The Road Toward A Cease-Fire
While the agreements mark progress, the path forward remains unclear.
In his comments to reporters following news of the Black Sea deal, Zelenskyy stated that the partial truce was effective immediately.
But according to the Kremlin statement, the temporary moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure that started on March 18 and is valid for 30 days -- although it can be extended by mutual agreement.
The Kremlin added that if the agreement is breached by one party, the other party is also released from compliance.
This led to Zelenskyy accusing Russia of lying about the outcome of talks with US negotiators.
“The Kremlin is lying again, claiming that the Black Sea cease-fire supposedly depends on sanctions and that the energy cease-fire supposedly began on March 18," he said in his nightly address to Ukrainians. "Moscow always lies."
Oil refineries, oil and gas pipelines, and nuclear power stations are among the targets that Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporarily stop attacking.
A list posted on the Kremlin's Telegram channel and said to be "agreed between the Russian and American sides" also included fuel storage facilities, pumping stations, and other infrastructure used for electricity generation like power plants, transformers, and hydroelectric dams.
Other questions remain over the Kremlin's desire to have trade and payment restrictions lifted on its agriculture bank, and any coordination with European governments that may be required to do so.
The EU placed its own sanctions on Moscow and in an article published on March 24, David O'Sullivan, the European Union’s sanctions envoy, said that the bloc remains committed to keeping Russia sanctions in place despite pressure to ease them.
"Whatever the US now does, no reason exists to change course," O'Sullivan wrote for the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) think tank.
In another sign of how arduous the talks have been and the difficulties that lie ahead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments that the Kremlin will need "clear guarantees" from Washington that Ukraine will respect the deal.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who took part in the talks, said on X that Kyiv would see any movement of Russian naval vessels beyond the eastern Black Sea as a violation of the spirit of the agreements reached in Riyadh.
The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine will also remain in Russia’s control, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following the end of the talks.
The ministry said transferring control to Ukraine or other countries would be impossible -- as would operating it jointly -- because of concerns over physical and nuclear safety.
Trump last week floated the idea of the US taking control of the power plant, which was seized by Russia early in the war.
The United States also said it is committed to helping Ukraine exchange prisoners of war, release civilian detainees, and return “forcibly transferred Ukrainian children,” as measures to achieve a durable cease-fire between Kyiv and Moscow.
Why Is The Black Sea Important For Russia And Ukraine?
Both Kyiv and Moscow rely on the Black Sea for commodity exports.
With the help of Turkey and the United Nations, both countries brokered a deal in mid-2022 allowing Ukraine to ship grain through the sea, but Russia withdrew from the agreement the following year as it argued that Western sanctions on its banks were severely limiting its ability to export agricultural products.
Russian then said it would view any vessel bound for Ukraine as a potential military target.
The Ukrainian military responded with a campaign that destroyed Russian warships and eventually pushed the Russian Navy out of the western parts of the Black Sea.
The operation allowed Ukraine to establish a new shipping zone in the Black Sea and return seaborne grain exports to near-prewar levels.
- By RFE/RL
Lawmakers Urge Trump To Rescind Order To Cut Funding To RFE/RL, Other US Media Outlets
Dozens of US lawmakers on March 25 urged President Donald Trump to reverse his executive order to shutter the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), arguing that the move would have a damaging impact on its broadcasters, including RFE/RL, and would only help US adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
A letter to Trump signed by more than 40 members of Congress said shuttering USAGM would also hurt US credibility and global standing around the world.
“More directly, it will leave millions of people in closed and restrictive environments, from Havana to Caracas to Minsk to Tehran, less able to access information about the world around them,” the letter said. “We strongly urge you to reconsider this Executive Order and ensure the critical work of USAGM and its broadcasting networks continues.”
Representative Bill Keating (Democrat-Massachusetts), ranking member of the House Foreign affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe, said RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and other media outlets that are overseen by the USAGM “serve as a vital soft power tools” that enable people in closed societies to gain access to credible and objective information.
“Their work is so powerful that regimes in Iran, Russia, and China have condemned it as a threat to national security,” Keating said in a news release in which he referred to Trump’s executive order from March 14 as “reckless” and said it “emboldens US adversaries who are threatened by credible media.”
The letter said USAGM networks and grantees collectively serve a historic and pivotal role in providing honest, comprehensive news coverage to countries that lack a free or open media environment.
“Shuttering RFE/RL will enable governments in Russia, Belarus, Iran, and Central Asia to spread their own messages of regime propaganda without the fear of being held accountable by RFE/RL’s award-winning reporting,” the letter said.
The letter was sent the same day that a US judge issued an order in favor of RFE/RL in a lawsuit against USAGM seeking a reversal of the termination of RFE/RL’s congressionally appropriated funding.
US District Judge Royce Lamberth said the agency likely acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in terminating RFE/RL’s grant and that the actions would cause the broadcaster "irreparable harm" if carried out.
Lamberth said a temporary restraining order is needed to halt the closure of RFE/RL, which had shown it is likely to win its case in a court hearing.
Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya on March 25 also spoke about the threat to RFE/RL.
"Free media are our link between the truth, between the people in exile and the people in the country," she said in a speech in the Lithuanian parliament. "If these media die, they will be replaced by propaganda media."
RFE/RL has had an office in Lithuania from which it covers neighboring Belarus. The office is staffed by Belarusian journalists who went into exile in 2020 after a disputed election in which Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenko was declared the winner. The opposition and many Western governments and organizations believe the poll was rigged and that Tsikhanouskaya was the real winner.
Tsikhanouskaya stepped in as a candidate after her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, was detained to prevent him from registering as a candidate. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
With reporting by dpa
- By Todd Prince
Court Orders USAGM To Halt Moves To Close Radio Free Europe
WASHINGTON -- A US court granted Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in its lawsuit against the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) over the termination of RFE/RL’s congressionally appropriated funding.
The United States District Court in Washington, D.C. said in its ruling on March 25 that the agency likely acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in terminating RFE/RL’s grant and that the actions would cause the broadcaster "irreparable harm" if carried out.
United States District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in the 10-page ruling that the TRO was needed to halt the closure as RFE/RL had shown it is likely to win its case in a court hearing, that allowing the USAGM moves to continue until a court hearing on the fate of RFE/RL's funding would cause "irreparable harm" to the broadcaster, and that issuing the order was in the public interest.
"The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down—even if the President has told them to do so," Lamberth explained.
The next step will be a decision on RFE/RL’s request for a preliminary injunction requiring USAGM to provide the approximately $77 million that Congress appropriated for RFE/RL’s activities for the rest of the 2025 fiscal year, which ends September 30. The court is expected to rule on that in the coming weeks.
The threat to the broadcaster’s funding has sparked a wave of global support from media watchdogs, analysts, and democracy advocates, as well as the audiences in the 27 languages and 23 countries in which RFE/RL broadcasts.
Lamberth appeared to acknowledge that in his decision, writing that since 1950 the government has specifically supported RFE/RL as a vehicle for providing “trustworthy, locally relevant news to audiences subject to communist propaganda.”
“We appreciate Judge Lamberth’s thoughtful and airtight ruling to prevent USAGM from ignoring the will of Congress. We look forward to further advancing our case that it’s unconstitutional to deny us the funds that Congress has appropriated to RFE/RL for the rest of the fiscal year," RFE/RL President & CEO Stephen Capus said after the ruling.
"This ruling further sends a strong message to our journalists around the world: Their mission as designed by Congress is a worthy and valuable one and should continue. For 75 years, RFE/RL has been closely aligned with American national security interests by fighting censorship and propaganda in many of the world’s most repressive societies.”
The USAGM claimed to terminate RFE/RL’s grant on March 15, hours after an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump called for the reduction of seven agencies -- including the USAGM -- to “the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
The purported termination of RFE/RL’s grant was communicated in a letter signed by Kari Lake, who listed her title as “Senior Advisor to the (USAGM) Acting CEO with Authorities Delegated by Acting CEO.”
The letter stated “the award no longer effectuates agency priorities.”
It gave no further explanation, and Lamberth said the USAGM had failed to give any further rationale for the move to cut funding during a hearing on March 24.
"The 'explanation' offered by USAGM can scarcely be characterized as an explanation: it amounted to one line in the termination letter stating that “the award no longer effectuates agency priorities,” Lamberth wrote in his ruling.
During the March 24 hearing, the USAGM did say it had taken "immediate administrative steps" to initiate a disbursement of $7.46 million in funds RFE/RL was seeking for the days in March that it operated before Lake's letter was issued.
Abigail Stout, a Justice Department lawyer representing the USAGM, also argued at the hearing that the grant agreement between USAGM and RFE/RL, as stated in the International Broadcasting Act, gives the agency the right to terminate the agreement if RFE/RL fails to comply with the provisions outlined within it.
Lamberth said that the USAGM's demand that RFE/RL use those funds to pay off its financial obligations and not for operations was the "functional equivalent of not receiving them at all."
"RFE/RL would be forced to break lease agreements, terminate employment contracts—thus destroying the credibility RFE/RL has built over decades—and cease all other operations," he wrote.
Jiri Pehe, a Czech political analyst and director of New York University's academic center in Prague, was one of those who helped bring RFE/RL from Munich to its current Prague headquarters after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Pehe was a senior adviser to then-President Vaclav Havel when the dissident playwright-turn politician cleared the way for the move.
"If RFE/RL closes, many people in the countries where it operates won’t be able to access alternative news any longer. Of course, people would try to access the kind of information that RFE/RL provides elsewhere, but RFE/RL provides news that at this moment is very important in providing alternatives to official news sources," Pehe told RFE/RL.
"RFE/RL closing would also mark a symbolic full stop that would show that the United States, which until now has led the free world, is no longer interested in fighting for democracy and freedom in those countries where there is no democracy and freedom," he added.
Dozens of US lawmakers on March 25 urged Trump to reverse his executive order to shutter the USAGM. A letter to Trump signed by more than 40 members of Congress said shuttering the agency would also hurt US credibility and global standing around the world.
“More directly, it will leave millions of people in closed and restrictive environments, from Havana to Caracas to Minsk to Tehran, less able to access information about the world around them,” the letter said.
Representative Bill Keating (Democrat-Massachusetts), ranking member of the House Foreign affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe, said RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and other media outlets that are overseen by the USAGM “serve as a vital soft power tools” that enable people in closed societies to gain access to credible and objective information.
“Their work is so powerful that regimes in Iran, Russia, and China have condemned it as a threat to national security,” Keating said in a news release.
Since Lake's letter, readers and listeners from Iran to Belarus, Afghanistan to Russia, Pakistan to Ukraine have swamped social media and other outlets to praise RFE/RL journalists for their brave, impartial, and honest reporting on the front lines of war and in some of the world’s most repressive political and media landscapes -- and expressed concern that it could vanish.
“Sometimes you were like a ray of light that broke through the darkness of lies,” Oleh Prozorov, a reader from Ukraine, wrote on Facebook while thanking RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service for its “protection of political freedoms.”
Lake has been nominated by Trump to take over as head of Voice of America, though her nomination must still be approved by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB).
The members of the IBAB, an advisory board established by Congress to oversee the activities of the USAGM, were removed from their positions by the US administration in January and have not been replaced.
Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over the content of US-government-funded programming during his first term.
With the future of RFE/RL uncertain, European Union politicians have been looking into the possibility of supporting the broadcaster.
The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in more than 60 languages to over 400 million people each week.
The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.
This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.
The 2025 budget request for RFE/RL itself was about $153 million, according to USAGM documents.
Lukashenko Sworn In For Seventh Term As Rights Groups Decry 'Unconstitutional' Rule
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko was sworn in for a seventh term on March 25 as human rights groups said the authoritarian leader’s rule was "unconstitutional."
Lukashenko won over 86 percent of the vote in the January 26 presidential election that was widely condemned as a sham by Western countries.
"They took place in conditions of a deep human rights crisis, in an atmosphere of total fear caused by repression against civil society, independent media, the opposition, and all dissenters,” said a joint statement by 10 Belarusian rights groups on March 25.
Lukashenko was sworn in during a ceremony in the capital, Minsk.
On the same day, hundreds of supporters of the Belarusian democratic opposition held rallies across Europe, including in Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Republic, to mark the country’s Freedom Day.
March 25 marks the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of an independent Belarus and is traditionally celebrated by the Belarusian opposition, many of whom have fled into exile or been imprisoned by Lukashenko's regime.
In the January presidential election, which barred the presence of international media and Western observers, Lukashenko ran against four other candidates, all of whom supported his government and its policies.
Lukashenko, who has been in power for three decades, dismissed all criticism of the election, as did Russia, Minsk's closest ally.
In 2020, mass protests erupted after a disputed presidential election that extended Lukashenko's longstanding rule for another term.
The election was widely condemned as fraudulent by the United States, the European Union, and other international actors.
The protests, which demanded Lukashenko’s resignation, were met with mass arrests, alleged torture, and violent crackdowns that left several people dead.
Russia, Ukraine Agree Separately With US To Halt Military Force In Black Sea
Ukraine and Russia have separately agreed at talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia that they will stop using military force in the Black Sea and develop measures to ban strikes against energy facilities in the two countries.
The White House said in two separate statements about the talks that the agreement would help restore Moscow’s access to global markets for Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports that have been cut off since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
"The United States will continue facilitating negotiations between both sides to achieve a peaceful resolution," the White House statements said.
The agreements mark the first step toward a broader cease-fire deal to end the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, although the statements didn't mention ending strikes on other civilian infrastructure targets beyond energy.
Both Kyiv and Moscow confirmed the deal, although the Russian statement appeared to indicate major caveats for its side.
In a statement about the US-Russia talks, the Kremlin said it would adhere to the agreement only once its state agriculture bank is reconnected to SWIFT, the international payment system, and some trade restrictions are lifted that were imposed on Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Partial Cease-Fire, All-Out War: In Ukraine And Russia, A Harsh Reality Amid Peace Talks
The White House said in its own statement that it “will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions,” which could be a first step toward lifting wider sanctions placed on Russia.
"We're thinking about all of them right now," US President Donald Trump said when asked about the sanctions Russia says need to be lifted before it implements the Black Sea deal. "We're looking at all of them."
Trump said later that Russia could be stalling on ending the war.
“I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet,” Trump said in an interview with US broadcaster Newsmax.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also reacted to the deal, saying that Kyiv intends to hold up its end and will push for further sanctions if Russia fails to do the same.
"It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps," he said on March 25.
"If they violate, here is the evidence -- we ask for sanctions, we ask for weapons," Zelenskyy added.
The Road Toward A Cease-Fire
While the agreements mark progress, the path forward remains unclear.
In his comments to reporters following news of the Black Sea deal, Zelenskyy stated that the partial truce was effective immediately.
But according to the Kremlin statement, the temporary moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure that started on March 18 and is valid for 30 days -- although it can be extended by mutual agreement.
The Kremlin added that if the agreement is breached by one party, the other party is also released from compliance.
This led to Zelenskyy accusing Russia of lying about the outcome of talks with US negotiators.
“The Kremlin is lying again, claiming that the Black Sea cease-fire supposedly depends on sanctions and that the energy cease-fire supposedly began on March 18," he said in his nightly address to Ukrainians. "Moscow always lies."
Oil refineries, oil and gas pipelines, and nuclear power stations are among the targets that Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporarily stop attacking.
A list posted on the Kremlin's Telegram channel and said to be "agreed between the Russian and American sides" also included fuel storage facilities, pumping stations, and other infrastructure used for electricity generation like power plants, transformers, and hydroelectric dams.
Other questions remain over the Kremlin's desire to have trade and payment restrictions lifted on its agriculture bank, and any coordination with European governments that may be required to do so.
The EU placed its own sanctions on Moscow and in an article published on March 24, David O'Sullivan, the European Union’s sanctions envoy, said that the bloc remains committed to keeping Russia sanctions in place despite pressure to ease them.
"Whatever the US now does, no reason exists to change course," O'Sullivan wrote for the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) think tank.
In another sign of how arduous the talks have been and the difficulties that lie ahead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments that the Kremlin will need "clear guarantees" from Washington that Ukraine will respect the deal.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who took part in the talks, said on X that Kyiv would see any movement of Russian naval vessels beyond the eastern Black Sea as a violation of the spirit of the agreements reached in Riyadh.
The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine will also remain in Russia’s control, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following the end of the talks.
The ministry said transferring control to Ukraine or other countries would be impossible -- as would operating it jointly -- because of concerns over physical and nuclear safety.
Trump last week floated the idea of the US taking control of the power plant, which was seized by Russia early in the war.
The United States also said it is committed to helping Ukraine exchange prisoners of war, release civilian detainees, and return “forcibly transferred Ukrainian children,” as measures to achieve a durable cease-fire between Kyiv and Moscow.
Why Is The Black Sea Important For Russia And Ukraine?
Both Kyiv and Moscow rely on the Black Sea for commodity exports.
With the help of Turkey and the United Nations, both countries brokered a deal in mid-2022 allowing Ukraine to ship grain through the sea, but Russia withdrew from the agreement the following year as it argued that Western sanctions on its banks were severely limiting its ability to export agricultural products.
Russian then said it would view any vessel bound for Ukraine as a potential military target.
The Ukrainian military responded with a campaign that destroyed Russian warships and eventually pushed the Russian Navy out of the western parts of the Black Sea.
The operation allowed Ukraine to establish a new shipping zone in the Black Sea and return seaborne grain exports to near-prewar levels.
- By Todd Prince and
- Margot Buff
USAGM Agrees To Release Portion Of Radio Free Europe Grant As Judge Mulls Case
WASHINGTON -- The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) committed to release to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) some of the funds appropriated for it by Congress, as a U.S. judge heard arguments over whether the federal agency was justified in canceling a grant agreement with the broadcaster.
The agency’s move on March 24 came hours ahead of a hearing in US federal court in Washington, D.C. over the fate of the agreement. The agency’s withholding of the funds has jeopardized the continued operation of the media organization that since 1950 has provided fair and unbiased news to audiences in countries where a free and independent press have been stifled.
“We hope the imminent disbursement of two weeks’ worth of funding that Congress appropriated to RFE/RL will keep our lights on until the court rules on the broader case," RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement.
"We’re confident the law is on our side as the US Constitution grants Congress the exclusive power of the purse. It is unlawful to deny us the funds that Congress has already appropriated to RFE/RL for the rest of this fiscal year."
'Immediate Administrative Steps'
The USAGM said it has taken "immediate administrative steps" to initiate the disbursement, which should occur by March 26. RFE/RL would receive the funds by the end of the month, it added.
At the court hearing, Abigail Stout, a Justice Department lawyer representing the USAGM, argued the grant agreement between USAGM and RFE/RL, as stated in the International Broadcasting Act, gives the agency the right to terminate the agreement if RFE/RL fails to comply with the provisions outlined within it.
"So, the statute actually contemplates that the agency could terminate a grant," she said.
In response, David Zionts, one of RFE/RL’s lawyers, said “it would make no sense” for Congress to approve funding only for agencies to be able to do as they please.
RFE/RL is still seeking the remainder of the grant funds due for the full 2025 budget year, which ends September 30, 2025, and is seeking a preliminary injunction from the court for that purpose. Judge Royce Lamberth is expected to decide whether or not to issue the injunction in the coming weeks.
"If RFE/RL closes, many people in the countries where it operates won’t be able to access alternative news any longer. Of course, people would try to access the kind of information that RFE/RL provides elsewhere, but RFE/RL provides news that at this moment is very important in providing alternatives to official news sources," Jiri Pehe, a Czech political analyst and director of New York University's academic center in Prague, told RFE/RL.
"RFE/RL closing would also mark a symbolic full stop that would show that the United States, which until now has led the free world, is no longer interested in fighting for democracy and freedom in those countries where there is no democracy and freedom," Pehe, who was an adviser to former Czech President Vaclav Havel, added.
The threat to the broadcaster’s funding also has sparked a wave of support from the audiences in the 27 languages and 23 countries in which RFE/RL broadcasts.
From Iran to Belarus, Afghanistan to Russia, Pakistan to Ukraine: Readers and listeners praised RFE/RL journalists for their brave, impartial, and honest reporting on the front lines of war and in some of the world’s most repressive political and media landscapes -- and expressed concern that it could vanish.
“Sometimes you were like a ray of light that broke through the darkness of lies,” Oleh Prozorov, a reader from Ukraine, wrote on Facebook while thanking RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service for its “protection of political freedoms.”
The directive to terminate funding came hours after an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump called for the reduction of seven agencies – including the USAGM – to “the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
Cuts To Government Spending
The purported termination of RFE/RL’s grant was communicated in a letter signed by Kari Lake, who listed her title as “Senior Advisor to the (USAGM) Acting CEO with Authorities Delegated by Acting CEO.” The letter stated “the award no longer effectuates agency priorities.” It gave no further explanation.
Lake has been nominated by Trump to take over as head of Voice of America, though her nomination must still be approved by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB).
The members of the IBAB, an advisory board established by Congress to oversee the activities of the USAGM, were removed from their positions by the US administration in January and have not been replaced.
Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over the content of US-government-funded programming during his first term.
He has reiterated those concerns since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.
“It is vital that Congress protect USAGM, ensure the safety of its affiliate journalists, and reaffirm the U.S. government’s commitment to a free and independent media at home and abroad,” a group of 28 press freedom and journalist groups from around the world wrote in a letter to US lawmakers on March 19.
With the future of RFE/RL uncertain, European Union politicians have been looking into the possibility of supporting the broadcaster.
The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in more than 60 languages to over 400 million people each week.
The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.
This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.
The 2025 budget request for RFE/RL itself was about $153 million, according to USAGM documents.
- By Andriy Kuzakov and
- Current Time
Russian Forces Intensify Attacks Near Pokrovsk As Cease-Fire Talks Begin In Riyadh
As Russian and Ukrainian delegations meet for cease-fire discussions with US officials in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Moscow's troops are intensifying their attacks on Kyiv's positions on the front line near the city of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian soldiers in the area told Current Time.
“There are 200-300 explosions per day, all coming in our direction,” said Ukrainian servicemen Serhiy, standing at the bottom of a muddy trench.
“They're trying to advance on our positions -- but we're holding them back.”
“They have plenty of manpower,” said Dmytro, another soldier. “If we didn't cover the infantry positions, they would advance without any trouble.”
The Ukrainian troops showed little optimism about the Riyadh talks, comparing them to efforts in previous years to broker cease-fires in Ukraine.
“I don't believe it,” says Yevhen. “This is a repeat of 2014 when they negotiated a cease-fire. It's all just to pull in troops and strengthen their positions.”
Residents in the nearby town of Rodynske, just 5 kilometers from Pokrovsk, are also feeling the full effects of war.
As a Current Time crew were filming a report in the area, the town was targeted by a drone attack.
“As soon as something starts, we crawl into the cellar at night, and that's it,” says local resident Vitaliy.
“It was so loud that people's windows were blown out by the blast,” says Natalya, who also lives in Rodynske.
“The most important thing is peace -- for all of this to stop."
Tate Brothers Check In At Police Station To Comply With Romanian Legal Measures
Facing multiple charges of sex trafficking and exploitation in the United States and Romania, controversial Internet personalities Andrew and Tristan Tate have appeared at a police station in a suburb of Bucharest to fulfill their monthly judicial obligations, where they again denied all charges against them.
The brothers arrived in Voluntari, just outside the Romanian capital, shortly after 10 a.m. in a black Mercedes accompanied by five men believed to be bodyguards. They used the occasion to once again proclaim their innocence, dismiss the media, and attack what they describe as "the Matrix" -- a system they claim is out to silence them.
As per a Romanian court order, the Tate brothers must report to police each month as part of judicial supervision measures in two criminal cases.
Prosecutors in Romania accuse the British-American siblings of recruiting women and coercing them into creating online pornographic content for profit -- a case brought to public attention in August 2024 by Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). The brothers have denied all charges.
The Tate brothers' legal troubles also extend to the United States and Britain where there are similar outstanding cases against them.
In 2023, Andrew and Tristan Tate were indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States.
US prosecutors charged the brothers with multiple crimes, including sex trafficking, obstruction of justice, and operating an international criminal enterprise aimed at exploiting women.
According to the indictment, the Tates allegedly used manipulation, coercion, and emotional abuse to force victims into creating sexually explicit material distributed for profit.
The US Justice Department described the brothers as central figures in a "global scheme" targeting vulnerable individuals, often under the pretense of romantic relationships or promises of wealth and fame.
The scheme allegedly involved manipulation, coercion, and emotional abuse to force victims into creating sexually explicit material distributed for profit.
In the United Kingdom, four women have filed a civil suit against Andrew Tate, accusing him of rape and coercive control.
Speaking to reporters outside the Voluntari Police Station, Andrew Tate dismissed the Romanian and US cases as baseless attacks.
"I'm happy to be back in Romania -- I live here and I love it," he said, asserting that he's not under investigation in Florida, where he was visiting after leaving Romania earlier this month.
Just days after their arrival, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced an active criminal investigation into the brothers, saying Florida has “zero tolerance for people who abuse women and girls.”
The Tates also addressed the release of Adolescence, a four-part Netflix miniseries that explores the murder of a teenage girl by a 13-year-old boy -- allegedly influenced by the "hypermasculine," "incel"-driven ideology promoted by the Tate brothers online.
Incels are members of an online community of young men who consider themselves unable to be sexually attractive to women and are typically associated with views that are hostile toward women and men who are sexually active.
The Tates have a significant online presence, where they often share controversial views on masculinity and relationships. Andrew dismissed the series, calling it "another Matrix story made by Netflix."
- By RFE/RL
US Court Set To Hear Radio Free Europe Case Against USAGM Over 'Harmful' Cuts
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A hearing is set to take place in a US court on March 24 in the lawsuit filed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty against the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) “to avoid irreparable harm” to the broadcaster over the withholding of its Congress-approved grant as part of the agency’s efforts to terminate RFE/RL’s funding.
The US District Court for the District of Columbia will hear arguments from both sides in the case starting at 2 p.m. local time.
RFE/RL is demanding that the USAGM, which supervises US government-backed broadcasters such as RFE/RL and Voice of America (VOA), release $7.5 million to RFE/RL that covers the period from March 1 to March 15, the day the USAGM said funding from the Congress-approved grant for RFE/RL had been terminated.
The lawsuit argues that denying access to funds appropriated by Congress for RFE/RL violates federal laws and the US Constitution, which gives Congress the ultimate authority over federal spending. It also asks the court to grant a temporary restraining order (TRO) to release the March funds to limit damaging the broadcaster.
RFE/RL's legal moves also seek the remainder of the grant funds due for the full 2025 budget year, which ends on September 30. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for mid-April for that balance.
“Terminating our freelance contracts and furloughing our employees will significantly impede our ability to deliver uncensored news in the 23 countries we serve,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a filing to the court outlining the impact the withholding of funds has had on the company.
RFE/RL's court filing adds: “The Court should grant the modest TRO that RFE/RL has requested to avoid irreparable harm before the preliminary injunction motion can even be heard.”
The USAGM said in its filing that the District Court is the wrong venue for the case and that Congress had imbued USAGM “with broad discretion to oversee its grantees; even if this Court had jurisdiction to grant the Plaintiff’s request to override USAGM’s judgment, it would not be in the public interest to do so.”
'A Ray Of Light' Through 'The Darkness Of Lies'
The threat to the broadcaster’s funding has sparked a wave of support from the audiences in the 27 languages and 23 countries it broadcasts in.
From Iran to Belarus, Afghanistan to Russia, Pakistan to Ukraine: Readers and listeners praised RFE/RL journalists for their brave, impartial, and honest reporting on the front lines of war and in some of the world’s most repressive political and media landscapes -- and expressed concern that it could vanish.
“Sometimes you were like a ray of light that broke through the darkness of lies,” Oleh Prozorov, a reader from Ukraine, wrote on Facebook while thanking RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service for its “protection of political freedoms.”
The directive to terminate funding came hours after an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump called for the reduction of seven agencies -- including the USAGM -- to “the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
RFE/RL’s grant was terminated in a letter, which was signed by Kari Lake, who listed her title as senior adviser to the (USAGM) acting CEO with authorities delegated by the acting CEO. The letter stated that “the award no longer effectuates agency priorities.” It gave no further explanation.
Trump's Clashes With USAGM
Lake has been nominated by Trump to take over as head of Voice of America, though her nomination must still be approved by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB).
The members of the IBAB, an consultancy body established by Congress to oversee the activities of the USAGM, were removed from their positions by the US administration in January and have not been replaced.
While USAGM and Voice of America are federal agencies, RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit corporation, chartered in the U.S. state of Delaware. Though funded by Congress through grants, RFE/RL staff are not U.S. federal government employees.
Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.
He has reiterated those concerns since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.
“It is vital that Congress protect USAGM, ensure the safety of its affiliate journalists, and reaffirm the US government’s commitment to a free and independent media at home and abroad,” a group of 28 press freedom and journalist groups from around the world wrote in a letter to US lawmakers on March 19.
Will The EU Step Up?
With the future of RFE/RL uncertain, European Union politicians have been looking into the possibility of supporting the broadcaster.
The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in more than 60 languages to over 400 million people each week.
The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.
This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.
The 2025 budget request for RFE/RL itself was about $153 million, according to USAGM documents.
- By RFE/RL
Mass Protests Continue Across Turkey After Erdogan Rival Imamoglu Arrested
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Istanbul and other cities across Turkey for a fifth night on March 23, after the main political rival to the country’s strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was formally arrested and charged with corruption.
Police officers were seen using tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons against the protestors, who were waving Turkish flags and pro-opposition banners. There were also reports of clashes between police and demonstrators.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was due to be selected in a vote on March 23 as the opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate for Turkey’s next presidential election, which is currently scheduled for 2028.
But Imamoglu, 54, and dozens of others, including politicians, journalists, and entrepreneurs were detained as a part of a corruption investigation on March 19.
The popular mayor was formally arrested on March 23 and charged with "establishing and managing a criminal organization, taking bribes, extortion,” and other crimes.
The mayor -- who is a member of the CHP, the main opposition against Erdogan's ruling alliance -- has denied the allegations against him, describing them as “unimaginable accusations and slanders.”
"I will never bow," Imamoglu wrote on X before his arrest.
Imamoglu’s detention is widely seen as a politically motivated act to remove him from the presidential race. But the government insists the country's courts are independent entities.
Imamoglu's wife, Dilek Kaya Imamoglu, addressed the protesters outside Istanbul city hall in the evening on March 23, telling the large crowds that the "injustice" her husband has faced has "struck a chord with every conscience.”
The arrest of Imamoglu and others has further intensified political tensions and sparked protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in at least 55 provinces to express support for him.
Police have detained 1,133 people across the country since the start of protests five days ago, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on March 24.
He added that 123 police officers had been injured during the protests and that the government would not allow what he described as "terrorizing of the streets.”
The Journalists' Union of Turkey said, nine journalists who covered the demonstrations were among those detained by police. It was not immediately clear why the reporters were detained.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, who is also a member of the CHP, told reporters on March 23 that jailing his colleague was a disgrace for the judicial system.
Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the CHP, slammed Imamoglu's detention as an "attempted coup against our next president."
Several European countries have voiced concern over the developments in Istanbul, saying they feared the consequences for democracy over the move.
“The arrest of the mayor is deeply concerning,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, told reporters in Brussels.
“Turkey must uphold the democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.”
Imamoglu tops Erdogan in some opinion polls. Erdogan has reached his two-term limit as president after having earlier served as the country's prime minister.
If he seeks to run again, as expected, he must either call an early election or change the constitution.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
War In Ukraine Rages On As US, Russia Hold Daylong Talks In Saudi Arabia
American and Russian officials held more than 12 hours of talks in Saudi Arabia as part of US President Donald Trump's effort to end the war in Ukraine, where Moscow's full-scale invasion is in its fourth year.
The US-Russia meeting, which broke up late in the evening on March 24, came one day after separate talks between the US and Ukraine -- also in Saudi Arabia -- which Kyiv called "productive."
Little news emerged from the talks, which were expected to address details of a potential pause in long-range attacks by both Russia and Ukraine against energy facilities and civilian infrastructure as well as a halt on attacks in the Black Sea.
Russian state news agency TASS cited an unnamed source in the Russian delegation as saying the Kremlin and the White House would release a joint statement on March 25. There was no immediate word from US officials following the talks.
Russian and Ukrainian diplomats did not meet directly, and the fighting continued. A Russian air attack on March 24 damaged a school and a hospital in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, wounding nearly 90 people including 17 children, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A Russian occupation official in Ukraine's Luhansk region said later on March 24 that Ukrainian shelling had killed six people there including a correspondent for the Russian newspaper Izvestia and a camera operator and driver.
The US team at the talks was reportedly being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.
Russia was represented by Grigory Karasin, a longtime former deputy foreign minister who heads the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia's upper parliament chamber, and Sergei Beseda, adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service, according to Russian state media.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the negotiations between Moscow and Washington were focused on technical issues, including the security of commercial shipping in the Black Sea region.
In Washington, Trump told reporters broadly that the talks in Saudi Arabia were touching on issues including territory in Ukraine, where Russia occupies about one-fifth of the country, and about the possibility of the United States controlling the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is Europe's largest and has been held by Russia since early in the full-scale invasion.
"We're talking about territory right now. We're talking about lines of demarcation. Talking about a power plant ownership. Some people are saying the United States should own the power plant...because we have the expertise," Trump said.
He also said the United States and Ukraine would "soon" sign an agreement on joint development of Ukraine's rare-earth minerals and other resources.
'Constructive And Meaningful Talks'
US officials said little about the talks with Ukraine on March 23, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said the session had been "constructive and meaningful."
“The discussion was productive and focused -- we addressed key points including energy," Umerov said in a Facebook post. He said that Zelenskyy’s goal "is to secure a just and lasting peace for our country and our people -- and, by extension, for all of Europe. We are working to make that goal a reality.”
The talks in Saudi Arabia marked a milestone in US-led efforts to bring about a cease-fire in the Ukraine war. Previously, there have been breaks of a day or more between different rounds of bilateral talks. Having everyone in the same place could speed things up.
But despite the proximity of the talks in time and place, there were few expectations of a major breakthrough.
Zelenskyy said on March 23 that the "conversation is quite useful.... But no matter what we say to our partners today, we need to get [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes."
US officials had voiced optimism ahead of the Saudi meetings.
"I think that you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress,” US envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on March 22.
The view from Kyiv and Moscow was been more sober.
"The maximum result is a pause. But this is still unknown, because the negotiations could drag on for a month or two,” political analyst Serhiy Taran told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.
“I think the most that can be imagined is that, perhaps, some technical details about the cease-fire will be worked out. And they will then be taken back to Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington in the form of proposals,” he said.
Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko expressed doubt that Putin would actually observe the conditions of any potential cease-fire.
"He follows his usual model," he told RFE/RL.
"He says one thing and does something completely different. One telling example was he'd allegedly ordered an end to strikes on energy infrastructure and an hour later he started an intensive bombing of Ukrainian civil facilities."
"Unfortunately, the United States may still be under the illusion that you can make an agreement with Putin," he added. "They may need more time to realize he doesn't respect agreements."
In Russia, where RFE/RL has been declared an undesirable organization and is effectively banned, it was Peskov who doused cold water on any hopes of a quick deal.
"One shouldn't get one's hopes high. Very serious, thorough work is ahead. We will have to delve into the details," he said in an interview on state TV on March 23.
“We're only [at] the beginning of this road," he added.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of playing for time and feigning interest in ending the war, and many analysts say Russia wants to drag out any peace process in the hopes of gaining as many concessions as it can.
Russian political scientist Ivan Preobrazhensky was skeptical of the prospects for peace anytime soon.
"This attempt to reach a cease-fire agreement [lacks any proper framework] and is hanging by a thread." he told Current Time. "It looks weaker, not stronger. The negotiations aren't getting more straightforward with the sides trying to overcome obstacles and reach common ground. On the contrary, they're becoming more complicated, which reduces the chances of a deal."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X on March 24 that the March 24 attack on Sumy, in which several high-rise residential blocks in the city center were also damaged, showed Moscow's talk of peace ring "hollow."
"Moscow speaks of peace while carrying out brutal strikes on densely populated residential areas in major Ukrainian cities," he wrote.
A plan agreed with Ukraine on March 11 for a 30-day general cease-fire was stonewalled by Putin. After a phone call with Putin on March 18, Trump said they had agreed to a pause on attacks on infrastructure.
But the Kremlin narrowed the focus further, saying that the deal only concerned energy infrastructure -- which its forces subsequently attacked anyway. Ukraine hoped to clear this up in Saudi Arabia by bringing a list of what Russia must agree not to target.
There was similar confusion after Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy. While US officials were speaking of a new plan for US ownership of Ukrainian nuclear plants, as a form of security guarantee for Ukraine, Zelenskyy made it clear these plants were state property that belonged to all Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, the Black Sea was a focus of the talks in Saudi Arabia.
Witkoff, the US envoy, said there would be progress on “a Black Sea cease-fire, on ships between both countries. And from that, you'll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting cease-fire."
Witkoff also said he was confident that Putin wanted peace, something that Ukraine and European countries do not believe.
As the faltering diplomatic process has edged forward, both Ukraine and Russia reported shooting down a barrage of drones from the opposition side on March 24.
Kyiv said that Russia launched 99 drones at Ukraine overnight, of which 57 were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense systems and 36 were lost from radar.
The remaining drones caused damage in at least five regions of Ukraine, authorities said. At least four people were wounded as the drones struck residential buildings in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhya regions, local authorities said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on March 24 that Russia downed 227 Ukrainian drones overnight.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ray Furlong, RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Russian Services, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
5-Year-Old Child Killed In Latest Russian Attacks On Ukraine
Russian forces launched a drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killing three people -- including a 5-year-old child -- and injuring 10 others, according to the city administration.
Among the dead were a father and his young daughter. The youngest casualty was 11 months old.
The air raid alarm lasted for more than five hours, the city administration said.
Natalya, a Kyiv resident, told RFE/RL that her apartment had been hit by an "enormous" blast shortly after midnight on March 23.
"Everything was shaking," she said. "I was thrown from the room into the hallway by the shock wave with glass shards flying. Thank God the curtains were drawn -- that saved us from cuts."
Although her family survived the explosion, she said it had been "very, very hard" for the children.
"They kept crying the whole night," she said. "I couldn't calm them down."
Ukrainian police said drone debris fell across several districts of Kyiv, damaging buildings in the Podilskiy and Dniprovskiy districts. Cars were damaged in the Shevchenkivskiy district and an industrial zone in the Holosiyivskiy district was also hit by falling debris.
Ukraine’s state emergency service also reported fires caused by the strikes, saying a blaze broke out on the upper floors of a nine-story building in Diniprovskiy and spread to the roof. One woman died and 27 people were evacuated.
RFE/RL correspondent Olha Armianyshyna said the Red Cross were at the scene, adding that the neighborhood was “still being cleaned up” the following morning and that “a distinct smell of burning” hung in the air.
Another fire was reported on the 20th floor of a 25-story residential building in Podolskiy.
Ukraine’s air force said on March 23 that 147 Shahed drones and drone decoys had been used in the overnight attack on the country. The assault affected multiple regions -- including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Donetsk -- according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on March 23 that Russian troops had struck training sites for drone operators and the infrastructure of Ukrainian military airfields.
The ministry also said it destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight, and claimed that Russian forces had captured the village of Sribnoye, near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency.
Meanwhile, inside Russia, the acting governor of the Rostov region said a drone strike killed one person traveling in a car on the Morozovsk-Tsimlyansk highway. Acting Governor Yury Slyusar said an apartment building was also hit in the city, although there were no casualties.
In a separate development, the Ukrainian General Staff said its forces had killed or wounded nearly 1,500 Russian troops over the last 24 hours and destroyed nine tanks.
Reports of battlefield strikes cannot immediately be independently verified.
The ongoing fighting comes even as the rest of the world discussed a potential cease-fire and a day after a family of three died in attacks in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region.
The latest wave of strikes is part of a sharp escalation by both Russia and Ukraine in drone warfare, which has followed cease-fire negotiations between Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
The Russian attacks have employed drones, missiles and glide bombs, and followed a pledge made by President Vladimir Putin in a March 18 phone call with the White House to halt strikes on energy infrastructure. Hours after that two-hour talk with US President Donald Trump, Russian drones hit Ukrainian energy and water supply facilities, along with schools and hospitals.
Moscow has denied allegations of deliberately striking civilian targets in Ukraine throughout the war, even though repeated attacks on hospitals, schools, energy facilities, and residential buildings have been documented throughout the conflict.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, RFE/RL's Russian Service, Reuters, AP, and Interfax
Uncertainty Clouds The Future Of Thousands Of Afghans Seeking US Migration
For over three years, Syed Abdul Samad Muzoon, a middle-aged former Afghan security official, has lived with his wife and their teenage daughter in Pakistan to pursue immigration to the United States.
During Washington’s nearly two-decade-long war in Afghanistan, he worked for the Afghan security forces in sensitive roles, he said, helping the US war effort.
Yet, there is still no clarity on whether they will ever be able to make a fresh start in the United States because of new curbs on immigration.
In January, hundreds of Afghans cleared for resettlement in the United States were prevented from traveling to the country after President Donald Trump immediately suspended Washington’s refugee program and foreign aid after assuming office on January 20.
On February 18, Reuters reported that the State Department's program to manage Afghan resettlement in the United States will be shut down in April.
Media reports suggest that the Trump administration could impose a new travel ban to bar the entry of people from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would close all pathways for Afghans to move to the United States.
The State Department, however, disputes this. “There is no list,” Tammy Bruce, its spokesperson, told journalists on March 17.
Trump has been elected twice on an anti-immigration platform. In a Gallup poll from 2024, a majority of Americans (55 percent) said that they believed there should be less immigration to the United States.
Since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, Washington has helped some 200,000 Afghans resettle.
But Muzoon and many more Afghans might never have a chance to begin a new life in the United States. Tens of thousands of them have been living in Pakistan, Qatar, Albania, and other countries for years as they wait for a final decision on their refugee and immigration cases. Fearing retribution by the Taliban, many are fearful of returning to Afghanistan.
'Extreme Predicament'
Advocacy groups estimate that up to 200,000 more Afghans may be eligible for US immigration. Meanwhile, after reviewing government documents, CBS reported that more than 40,000 Afghans who have already been cleared to leave the country are now stranded.
“I and other Afghan refugees here are in an extreme predicament,” Muzoon said.
Since late 2023, Pakistan has expelled more than 800,000 Afghans, and in the capital, Islamabad, Afghans face constant harassment and police brutality.
Muzoon and 20,000 more Afghans in Islamabad now fear repatriation to Afghanistan after the Pakistani government announced it would forcefully deport some 1.5 million documented and undocumented Afghans if they fail to leave by the end of this month.
“I am suffering from the uncertainty and the seemingly endless wait for our cases,” he said.
Muzoon said threats to his life and family prompted him to flee Afghanistan soon after the Taliban seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021, as it toppled the pro-western Afghan republic.
He is among more than half a million Afghans, mostly educated professionals and officials who were integral to running the Afghan republic, who fled the Taliban’s takeover.
Most feared being persecuted for working with the US-led international forces in Afghanistan. Others were senior officials in the Afghan government or worked in the civil society sector.
Three years on, those still waiting for a decision on their US immigration are stuck.
“We are living in extreme despair,” said Maiwand Alami Afghan. He leads an informal association of Afghan refugees in Islamabad.
'Hanging By A Thread'
He said most families in Islamabad sold their properties and belongings in Afghanistan, but that money is now running out.
“Most of us are hanging by a thread,” he said.
Afghan said he had worked for US-funded development projects, which, he fears, makes it impossible for him to return to Afghanistan because the Taliban have persecuted some Afghans associated with the US presence in the country.
“We will still be refugees in our own country, because we don’t have a house, job, or any prospects to earn a livelihood,” he said.
Washington, however, does not look like it will be welcoming any more migrants. During his election campaign, President Trump promised stricter controls on immigration.
In his speech to Congress on March 4, Trump said his administration “has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history.”
Steps taken by Trump after taking office have effectively blocked or suspended the two primary routes for Afghans to immigrate to the United States.
Under the Special Immigration Visa (SIV), Afghans who worked directly for the US government, such as embassy staff or translators for its forces, qualify for relocation. Afghans granted visas under this program can still relocate to the US without financial assistance from Washington, according to Afghans seeking relocation under the program.
“Those who have assisted us and worked with us, that’s been a policy and a dynamic that we’ve worked on from certainly even the previous administration, working to try to get that happening,” said Bruce, the State Department spokesperson.
The refugee program, which enabled former Afghan government officials, lawmakers, and civil society figures to immigrate to the US, is suspended for the next couple of months.
However, the suspension of the State Department's Afghan resettlement program has rattled Americans involved in or supporting the initiative.
“Right now, there's a lot of uncertainty,” said Shawn VanDiver, head of the Afghan Evacuation Association, a coalition of US veterans and advocacy groups that support Afghan resettlement.
'Nothing But Problems And Worries'
VanDiver is now lobbying the US Congress to remove the “complete stop” Trump’s executive orders have put on Afghan resettlement. He says that Congress had authorized Afghan resettlement through December 2027.
“President Trump needs to listen to the voices,” he said, pointing to the bipartisan support in Congress, veterans and service members, who want the immigration of Afghans to continue.
In a statement on March 18, the Afghan Evacuation Association said the ambiguity surrounding the immigration of Afghans “is unnecessary and cruel”. It called on Washington to provide “clear and unequivocal answers” to its wartime Afghan allies.
In media statements and letters, scores of lawmakers have urged President Trump to “fully restore humanitarian and refugee protections for our Afghan allies.”
Several courts across the United States are hearing cases regarding refugee and foreign aid suspensions. Some have issued injunctions against Trump’s executive orders.
A State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “At this time, no decisions have been made” about its Afghan relocation program.
The spokesman said the department is “considering” the future of its Afghan relocation program, officially called Enduring Welcome and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE).
The spokesperson noted that it “continues to provide life-sustaining support to Afghan allies and partners previously relocated to our overseas case-processing platforms.”
In Islamabad, Muzoon has little understanding of how his future will unfold amid the domestic US wrangling over the fate of Afghans seeking immigration to the country.
He hopes to avoid being deported back to Afghanistan. He wants to move to the United States to send his daughter to school, treat his wife’s depression, and seek some treatment for his heart ailment.
“I have nothing but problems and worries,” he said.
- By RFE/RL
Istanbul Mayor, Erdogan Rival Jailed Ahead Of Likely Presidential Nomination
A Turkish court has ordered Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu jailed pending trial on graft charges, local media reported -- a move that is likely to intensify the largest wave of protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in over a decade.
The move comes as Imamoglu was expected to be selected as the opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) 2028 presidential candidate in a ballot on March 23.
The court’s decision on March 23 to formally charge and incarcerate Imamoglu, widely seen as Erdogan’s main political rival, follows days of mounting criticism from Turkey’s main opposition party, European leaders, and tens of thousands of protesters who say the actions against him are politically motivated and undemocratic.
Imamoglu, 54, and at least 20 others were jailed as part of one of two corruption investigations launched against him last week, according to the court.
In a separate terror-related case involving alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the court opted to release Imamoglu under judicial supervision, a decision which could prevent the government from appointing a trustee to oversee Istanbul’s municipal leadership.
The mayor -- who is a member of the CHP, the main opposition against Erdogan's ruling alliance -- has denied all the allegations against him, describing them as “unimaginable accusations and slanders.”
The decision to jail Imamoglu on March 23 came a day after thousands of his supporters protested in front of the city’s courthouse where he was undergoing hours of questioning over the allegations of corruption and links to terror groups.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency says the Istanbul mayor is among nearly 100 people, including businessmen and journalists, for whom arrest warrants have been issued. The charges run the gamut from leading a criminal organization and extortion to bribery and illegally accessing personal data.
The arrest of Imamoglu and others has further intensified political tensions and sparked protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in several cities to express support for him.
Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters on March 22 as the crowd in Istanbul tossed firecrackers and other objects at security personnel.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on social media that more than 340 people had been detained in protests in major cities.
“There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation,” he said, naming the cities, which included Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya, and Edirne.
However, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, who is also a member of the CHP, told reporters on March 23 that jailing his colleague was a disgrace for the judicial system.
Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the CHP, slammed Imamoglu's detention as an "attempted coup against our next president."
Several European countries have voiced concern over the developments in Istanbul, saying they feared the consequences for democracy over the move.
“The arrest of the mayor is deeply concerning,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, told reporters in Brussels.
“Turkey must uphold the democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.”
Many critics have said the arrest is driven by political calculations and that it is an attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race.
The government rejects the accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated, insisting that the country's courts are independent entities.
Imamoglu tops Erdogan in some opinion polls. The next election is technically scheduled for 2028. However, Erdogan has reached his two-term limit as president after having earlier served as the country's prime minister.
If he seeks to run again, as expected, he must either call an early election or change the constitution.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
Russian-Occupied Ukrainian Regions Key To Ending War, Says US Envoy Steve Witkoff
US envoy Steve Witkoff said the resolving the status of the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia is key to ending the war in Ukraine as he appeared to move away from Washington's long-standing position rejecting Moscow's annexation of the regions.
In a wide-ranging interview with U.S. conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, Witkoff said negotiations over the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, and Crimea regions of Ukraine would likely determine how the conflict is settled.
Russia has said part of the reason it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was to "protect" Russian speakers in the eastern regions.
Many experts disagree with that assessment, saying Russian imperial ambitions underpin the conflict.
"That's the elephant in the room," he said. "When that gets settled, we're having a very, very positive conversation."
Seven months after the start of the invasion, the Kremlin declared the four eastern Ukrainian regions annexed and a part of Russia after a referendum vote that the Kremlin professed was an expression of voters' true will.
The vote came even though the regions are only partially occupied by Russian forces, governed by Russian-installed proxy administrators, and the fact that several million potential voters from the region were displaced and unable to cast ballots.
Shortly after the vote, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned Russia's proclaimed annexation of the regions, while then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated Washington's position that the United States would never recognize the "sham" referendums.
Trump and his team have repeatedly said that Ukraine will have to make concessions on land to secure a peace deal to end the more than three-year-old war. Russia currently controls about 20 percent of Ukraine, including large chunks of the four regions.
Witkoff appeared to move away from the position of the Biden administration and the international community at large, telling Carlson that "there have been referendums [organized by Moscow] where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule."
"The question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories?"
Kyiv has consistently rejected Russian claims to have annexed the Ukrainian territories as well as the referendums.
“There are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory,” Witkoff added.
“Can [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy survive politically if he acknowledges this?”
Many in Ukraine reacted angrily to the suggestion that the Moscow-run votes in occupied territories could be considered legitimate.
Kostyantyn Reutskiy, journalist, human rights activist, and former executive director of the East SOS Ukrainian charitable organization, said, "We, the residents of the Ukrainian east and Crimea, saw with our own eyes how this [the Moscow-controlled vote] happened.”
“It had nothing to do with the expression of the people's will," he added. "A tiny part of the local population took part in these so-called referendums, and in fact it was a performance to legalize Russia's decisions on annexation, occupation, and gaining control over part of the territory of a sovereign state.”
Kostyantyn Batozskiy, who now heads the Azov Development Agency and in 2014 observed the beginning of Russian aggression in Donetsk, said, "I saw with my own eyes how staged, implausible, and orchestrated [the vote was] on the part of Russia."
"In Donetsk -- which has a population of millions – there were not enough so-called ‘polling stations’ and those that were there -- anyone could come, take as many ballots as they wanted, and go from one polling station to another,” Batozskiy added.
Dainiel Fried, a longtime US diplomat and former ambassador to Poland, wrote on X that Witkoff's "credulous acceptance of Putin’s good will & Kremlin claims about Ukraine damage the US position going into the next talks with Russia. Blindness = weakness. "
"Mike Waltz & Marco Rubio won’t say anything publicly, but probably get this," he added, referring to the US national-security adviser and secretary of state.
In recent months, Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine may be unable to regain all its Russian-occupied territories by force, but he has stressed that Kyiv will not recognize any part of Ukraine as Russian.'
Witkoff, who has been actively involved in diplomatic efforts concerning the conflict in Ukraine, said that he remains hopeful after the recent round of high-level contacts, including US President Donald Trump's telephone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy.
“I am very, very optimistic that we're going to be able to bring the two sides together,” he said.
Witkoff has been actively involved in diplomatic efforts concerning the conflict in Ukraine, traveling to Russia last week to meet with Putin.
The two spoke for a few hours. Witkoff said his message to Putin was that he and Trump “were going to be two great leaders figuring out this conflict.”
Separately, Witkoff said it was important to end Putin’s political isolation to halt the conflict. Western leaders had cut off contact with the Russian president shortly after the start of the war in February 2022.
“How would we settle a conflict with someone who is the head of a major nuclear power unless we establish trust and good feelings with one another,” Witkoff said.
He said that, at their meeting, Putin handed him a portrait of Trump he had made by a top artist. He also said Putin told him he went to pray for Trump after he was almost killed by an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July 2024 while campaigning for the presidency.
- By RFE/RL
VOA Sues Overseer USAGM To Restore Operations After Trump Order
A group that includes six Voice of America (VOA) journalists has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and other officials accusing them of illegally shutting down several publicly funded broadcasters.
The lawsuit, filed on March 21 in the Southern District of New York, charges that the Trump administration has taken “a chainsaw” approach to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) through an executive order signed a week earlier.
The order gutted seven federal agencies, including USAGM, telling them to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”
Hours later, VOA staff were put on administrative leave and its premises shut.
Many media rights watchdogs and analysts have said the decision halting the operations of VOA and other publicly funded broadcasters will embolden authoritarians around the globe with the loss of “a critical lifeline” of information for their populations.
“What is happening to the VOA Journalists is not just the chilling of First Amendment speech; it is a government shutdown of journalism, a prior restraint that kills content before it can be created,” the filing says.
USAGM Acting Director Victor Morales and Special Adviser Kari Lake, are named in the lawsuit, which says the Trump administration’s moves to close the USAGM violated the First Amendment rights of VOA’s employees.
It also asks for the court to restore USAGM-grantee news outlets and that funding for grantees, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle Eastern Broadcast Network (MBN), resume. Those outlets had their grants terminated the same day as VOA was shuttered.
“Defendants have violated all of these laws by closing USAGM and ceasing altogether the business of gathering and disseminating news and opinion via VOA and its sister service Radio y Television Marti, as well as its grantee-affiliates RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN. Defendants’ actions are unconstitutional and unlawful; they must cease immediately,” the complaint says.
'Tragic Attack On Democracy'
In addition to the six VOA journalists, plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), The NewsGuild-CWA, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
David Seide, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a nonpartisan civil rights defense and whistle-blower protection organization that is representing the VOA journalists in the case, called the administration’s moves “another tragic attack on democracy.”
"Over eight decades, VOA and its sister organizations have been renowned, evidenced by the over 400 million viewers, listeners, and readers who tune in every day," he said. "That reputation is now in tatters. Our lawsuit is intended to stop the bleeding.”
Lake, a vocal Trump supporter, did not respond immediately to the news, but around the same time as it was published, she wrote in a post on X that when The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, CBS, and 60 Minutes reached out for interviews this week, she declined.
“I do not do interviews with disreputable ‘news’ outlets,” she wrote.
Many Republicans, including Trump and Lake, have alleged that VOA and the other broadcasters are infected by left-wing propaganda, an accusation its operators say isn’t supported by the facts.
RFE/RL on March 18 filed a suit against the USAGM, Lake, and Morales, to block their attempt to terminate RFE/RL’s federal grant, which provides the broadcaster with funds to operate.
The complaint argues that denying the funds Congress has appropriated for RFE/RL violates federal laws and the US Constitution, which gives Congress exclusive authority over federal spending.
The suit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
"This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America's adversaries," RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said.
"We believe the law is on our side and that the celebration of our demise by despots around the world is premature," he added.
Andrew Tate Returns To Romania To Fight Human Trafficking Charges
Internet influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have returned to Romania from the United States where they are accused of human trafficking and other crimes.
"We've come here to prove our innocence because we deserve our day in court," Andrew Tate told reporters on March 22 outside his house in the town of Voluntari, near Bucharest.
The two brothers, who have British and American passports, face charges in Romania that include human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group. Andrew Tate is also accused of rape.
According to prosecutors, they recruited several women and forced them to produce pornographic content, from which they earned large sums of money. Both have strongly denied the charges.
5 Things To Know About The Tate Brothers
Case In Romania: Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan, 36, are dual U.S.-U.K. citizens. They were arrested in December 2022 and indicted with two Romanian women on charges that include human trafficking and sexual misconduct. In December, a Bucharest court ruled the case couldn’t proceed due to legal and procedural irregularities but it remained open, alongside a separate case against them.
Infamy And Fame: Former kickboxers turned influencers, the brothers gained notoriety for Andrew’s controversial views and self-proclaimed misogyny. He has 10.7 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) but was banned from platforms like Facebook and TikTok for hate speech.
Support For Trump: During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Tates endorsed Donald Trump, and they have ties to his administration. One of Andrew’s lawyers, Paul Ingrassia, was recently appointed White House liaison for the Department of Justice.
A Sudden Departure: The Tates left Romania after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu’s said that a U.S. official in Trump’s administration showed interest in their case at the Munich Security Conference. He denied any political pressure. The Tates have rejected all the charges they are facing, with Andrew claiming a political conspiracy against him.
Charges In Britain: Pending the resolution of their Romanian case, Britain is also seeking the extradition of the Tates in connection with rape and human trafficking allegations. Andrew also faces a civil lawsuit from four British women alleging sexual violence.
Although they are under "judicial control," meaning they must regularly report to authorities, Romania lifted a travel ban in February that had kept them from leaving the country. On February 27, the brothers traveled to Florida.
Now that they are back in Romania, the two have been summoned to a police station in Voluntari on March 24, an obligation they must comply with, according to judicial control procedures.
"We got our passports back. We live in Romania, we love Romania. We will never leave Romania. We have a house in Romania, we have Romanian children," Andrew Tate said, according to Ştirileprotv.
He insisted that the two, investigated in Romania for forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, including minors, rape, and money laundering, "should never have gone to prison" and that "our assets should not have been confiscated" and that "our names should not have been slandered."
In December, a Romanian appeals court ruled that the trafficking case against the Tates could not go to trial because of several legal and procedural irregularities from the prosecutors. The case has since been returned to the prosecutors and remains open.
Andrew Tate, 38, told reporters on March 22 that he and Tristan, 36, had come back to Romania "to clear our names and exonerate ourselves."
Before arriving in Voluntari, he wrote on his X account, which has nearly 10.8 million followers, that he spent $185,000 just to sign a paper in Romania. "Innocent men don't run," he wrote in the post, accompanied by a photo of him and his brother on a private plane.
Often described as the "king of toxic masculinity," Andrew Tate -- a former kickboxer and reality TV star -- found global notoriety through controversial online videos promoting hypermasculinity. He has since built a multimillion-dollar brand targeting "alpha males."
In addition to the charges they face in Romania, the brothers are also under investigation in the United Kingdom over allegations of rape and human trafficking.
In the United States, the Tate brothers face a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who says they coerced her into sex work and defamed her after she gave evidence to Romanian prosecutors.
The brothers also face tax evasion charges in the United Kingdom.
They have denied those accusations as well.
- By RFE/RL
UN Children's Agency Calls On Taliban To Lift Ban On Girls' Education
The UN children’s agency has urged Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government to immediately lift a ban on girls' education beyond primary school, saying that if the ban continues until 2030 more than 4 million girls will have been deprived of their right to education.
Afghanistan's ban on girls' secondary education "continues to harm the future of millions of Afghan girls," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on March 22. “The consequences for these girls -- and for Afghanistan -- are catastrophic.”
The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan, where girls beyond sixth grade have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
The Taliban justifies the ban, saying the education of girls beyond the sixth grade doesn't comply with their interpretation of Shari’a law.
Russell called for all girls to be allowed to return to school.
“Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education,” Russell said in the statement, adding that if the rights of young girls continue to be denied, “the repercussions will last for generations.”
She pointed out that the ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.
“With fewer girls receiving an education, girls face a higher risk of child marriage with negative repercussions on their well-being and health,” she said.
The consequences of the ban will affect the number of female doctors and midwives, and this in turn will leave women and girls without crucial medical care.
UNICEF projects an estimated 1,600 additional maternal deaths and over 3,500 infant deaths because of the situation.
The Taliban has allowed limited exceptions to the ban in the health and education sectors, but these jobs come with severe restrictions and the number of women in the workforce continues to fall, according to the United Nations.
Pakistan hosted a global conference in January at which Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned the state of women’s and girls' rights in Afghanistan as gender apartheid.
Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders not to "legitimize" the Taliban-led government and instead to "raise their voices" and "use [their] power" against the militant group's curbs on women and girls' education.
"Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. They cloak their crimes in cultural and religious justification," Yousafzai told the gathering in Islamabad.
With reporting by AP
- By RFE/RL
American Glezmann Returns Home After 2-Year Detention In Afghanistan
George Glezmann, an American who was released from detention in Afghanistan on March 20, has arrived in the United States and been reunited with his wife, a State Department spokesperson said.
Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on March 21 that Ryan Corbett, another former American prisoner in Afghanistan who had been held in the same cell as Glezmann, was in a welcoming party for Glezmann at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
"After a brief ceremony, George and [his wife] Aleksandra flew to another location in the United States to rest and recover," Bruce told reporters at a regular State Department news briefing.
Glezmann, 66, was released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country in August 2021.
Former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on X that he and Adam Boehler, a senior adviser at the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Taliban officials in Kabul on March 20.
"We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to [President Donald Trump] and the American people," Khalilzad said.
Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
“I feel like born again,” Glezmann said on Fox News after arriving at Joint Base Andrews. “I’m just thankful. I’ve got no word to express my gratitude for my liberty for my freedom.”
Glezmann also thanked President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others who helped free him, he said on Fox News, recalling how he was abducted in the streets of Kabul and thrown "into a dungeon with no windows no nothing."
Boehler told Fox News he expects to see more Americans released.
“The Taliban understand that there is a new sheriff in town. That president Trump is that new sheriff and that’s why you are seeing something like this," he said.
One of the other US citizens being held in Afghanistan is Mahmood Habibi, who also has been held since 2022.
Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken into custody by Taliban authorities while on a tourist visit to Afghanistan in December 2022 and had been deemed wrongfully detained by the US government.
Rubio called Glezmann's release "a positive and constructive step" that was aided by officials in Qatar, which has often hosted negotiations between Washington and the Taliban.
"It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan," he added.
The release comes two months after two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.
Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022.
16th Person In Serbian Train Station Disaster Dies As Protesters Seek Explanation For 'Sonic Scare'
A teen injured in the collapse of a roof at a train station in Serbia has died, becoming the 16th victim in the disaster that has pushed the prime minister out of office and sparked massive demonstrations against President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.
The Military Medical Academy (VMA) in Belgrade said the 18-year-old, one of three people rescued from the rubble, succumbed to injuries they suffered when the canopy of the Novi Sad train station collapsed in November.
"Despite all the treatment measures...the patient succumbed to complex injuries and resulting complications," the hospital said, identifying the victim only by the initials V.C.
Demonstrators have flooded streets across the country to protest against the roof collapse, which they say is tied to government corruption and mismanagement.
The announcement of the 16th victim of the collapse comes as questions linger over how student demonstrators in Belgrade last week were dispersed after a disturbing audio incident disrupted the protest.
Serbian authorities, facing the largest protests in Vucic's 10-year reign, have rejected accusations that an "audio cannon" was used against protesters, saying they're ready to invite the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its Russian equivalent to investigate amid speculation that police might have used either Russian or American-made equipment on the crowd.
However, those at the March 15 protest are demanding an explanation as to what caused mass panic to break out out as a crowd of thousands stood in silence to honor the victims of the Novi Sad railway station disaster.
"Suddenly, a very strange sound erupted—it was unfamiliar to me, and to everyone around. The atmosphere turned ghostly and terrifying," Tatjana Rosic, who was among the demonstrators, told RFE/RL.
"It felt like a stampede of horses was coming toward me. I lost consciousness for a moment."
A coalition of non-governmental organizations said it had received testimony from more than 3,000 people describing the event, with most reporting intense fear, panic, and shock induced by an unknown source.
They added that common symptoms experienced during the incident included rapid heartbeat, trembling, disorientation, and loss of control. Others described headaches, ear pressure, ringing, nausea, vomiting, a sense of intense cranial pressure, and heat spreading through the body.
Serbian police, military, and top government officials have also denied that sonic weapons were used during the protest, with Interior Minister Ivica Dacic saying the country doesn't possess such instruments and even naming specific models manufactured by California-based Genasys, as well as Russian-made devices produced by Russia's state-owned radio-electronic industry firm Ruselectronics.
Two days later, however, photos emerged showing a Serbian police vehicle equipped with a device resembling a Genasys-made LRAD system, while opposition politician Marinika Tepic told a press conference that the Interior Ministry may have bought as many as seven LRAD 450XL devices, which she described as "sound cannons."
The LRAD 450XL was not one of the models mentioned by Dacic, who later confirmed that Serbian police do possess LRAD-450XL and LRAD-100X models, which broadcast powerful warning tones and for public safety, law enforcement, maritime, and defense applications.
But Dacic insisted that the devices are used strictly for crowd communication and emergency warnings, not for dispersal or intimidation.
Contacted by RFE/RL, Patrick Wilcken, a researcher at Amnesty International, described LRAD systems as “a long-range acoustic device, essentially an extremely loud speaker that emits sounds over 150 decibels.”
Originally developed around two decades ago for military communication, "its most controversial use [today] is in law enforcement,” Wilcken said.
But manufacturer Genasys has now had its own say on the March 15 incident, and it has not brought any clarity to the discussion.
“The video and audio evidence we have seen and heard so far does not indicate that an LRAD was used during the incident on 15 March in Belgrade,” the company said.
Russian Strikes Cut Power In Odesa During Visit By Czech President Petr Pavel
Russian drone strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, leaving at least three people injured and several districts of the city battling power cuts while Czech President Petr Pavel was visiting for talks with officials.
The head of the Odesa region's military administration Oleh Kiper reported on March 21 that minors were among the three known injured in the strikes that sparked fires in various parts of the city.
The ASTRA Telegram channel, citing information in local media, said an apartment building, a shopping center, a store, and several businesses were among civilian infrastructure facilities hit in Odesa.
The strikes resulted in power outages in at least three districts of the city, according to the DTEK electricity company.
“This is yet another reminder to the entire world: the war continues, and Ukraine continues to fight,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.
A 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure in the Russia-Ukraine war was agreed on March 18 at talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But since the Trump-Putin talks, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of breaking the limited agreement and it appears to have had little impact on the course of the war.
Russia accused Kyiv on March 21 of blowing up a major gas pumping and measuring station in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine in what it called "an act of terrorism."
Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to meet separately with US officials in Saudi Arabia next week, though face-to-face meetings between the two are not expected to be held.
Hurting Odesa has been a priority for Russia in its three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow looks to obstruct Kyiv's maritime access.
While Russia's hopes of reaching the strategic port with conventional forces faded in the first year of the war, it has continued to target it with regular strikes.
Strikes on January 31 damaged buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list in Odesa's storied city center, including the Hotel Bristol, a luxury hotel built at the end of the 19th century.
Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office said Russian armed forces used ballistic missiles in that attack.
In a post on X on March 20, Pavel said Odesa "has been resisting Russian aggression since the beginning of the war.”
“The Czech Republic is sending aid here in the form of combat vehicles, drones, protective vests, and mobile jamming devices that protect residents from drone attacks, as well as medical equipment, such as ventilators and hospital beds," Pavel said.
Pavel met with Kiper, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, and other Ukrainian officials to discuss cooperation.
Russian attacks late on March 21 killed two people in Zaporizhzhya, the regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said, adding that the attack caused three fires. Pictures posted on social media showed rescuers searching in the rubble and apartment blocks and homes with windows and facades badly damaged.
Two other people were killed on March 21 in the Sumy region on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia when Russian forces dropped at least six guided bombs on the village of Krasnopillia, prosecutors said.
In eastern Donetsk region, prosecutors said Russian forces had dropped three bombs on the town of Kostyantynivka, killing one person.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on March 21 that Kyiv was continuing to hold talks with the United States about a minerals deal.
“Ukraine was even ready to sign the agreement in Jeddah,” Heorhiy Tykhyy, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said, referring to the March 11 talks between US and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia.
Tykhyy said that US officials at that time requested additional consultations in Washington about the deal.
Trump said on March 20 that the United States would sign the minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly.
- By RFE/RL
2 Men Convicted In New York For Plotting To Kill Iranian Dissident Journalist
Two men identified by prosecutors as members of the Russian mob have been convicted in New York City for plotting to kill Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad in a murder-for-hire scheme financed by Iran's government.
The verdict was returned on March 20, ending a two-week trial that included testimony about how Iran targeted Alinejad, 48, for her online campaigns encouraging Iranian women to defy Iran’s law requiring women to cover their hair in public.
Prosecutors said Iranian intelligence officials first plotted in 2020 and 2021 to kidnap Alinejad and move her to Iran to silence her criticism of the government. When that failed, Iran offered $500,000 for her to be killed, prosecutors said.
Assistant US Attorney Michael Lockard told the jury on March 19 that the “Iranian government” had set the award to “fund the plan to silence” Alinejad.
Alinejad called the verdict “a powerful gift from the American government” to the people of Iran because it shows that justice is beginning to be served.
“I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,” she told The Associated Press. “Right now, I am bombarded with emotions. I have cried. I have laughed. I have even danced.”
Leslie R. Backschies, who heads the FBI's New York office, said the verdicts show that the “Iranian government's shameless conduct and attempt to violate our laws and assassinate a critic of their human rights atrocities will not be tolerated.”
Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were members of the Russian mob. Defense lawyers argued at trial that their clients were innocent and evidence was flawed.
“We respect the jury's verdict, but plan on filing an appeal on Mr. Omarov's behalf,” Elena Fast, an attorney for Omarov, was quoted by the AP as saying in an e-mail. A lawyer for Amirov did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment on the verdict.
In court on March 19 his lawyer, Michael Martin, said there was no doubt "Iran targeted Alinejad, but his client was not part of any plot."
Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and after the newspaper where she worked was shut down.
After establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched a campaign that told Iranian women to send photos and videos of themselves exposing their hair when the morality police were not around.
She ultimately inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of women. The crackdown only caused her following to grow.
Prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government enlisted organized crime figures to kill Alinejad.
Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob, testified that he was hired as the hitman.
Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad in July 2022, but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found. Mehdiyev, like Amirov and Omarov, are citizens of Azerbaijan.
American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including one against President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign last year.
In a separate case, US prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) with plotting to kill former US national-security adviser John Bolton. Tehran has denied being behind any such plots.
The plots came after Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others over the 2020 drone strike that killed prominent IRGC General Qassem Soleimani.
With reporting by AP
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