An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan granted bail on September 16 to 10 deputies from imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party, an AFP journalist witnessed. At least 30 people from Khan's party, including the 10 MPs, were remanded in custody last week, two days after they led a major rally in the capital, Islamabad. The anti-terrorism court granted them bail of 30,000 rupees ($100). PTI has faced a sweeping crackdown since Khan was jailed in August last year on a series of charges he says are politically motivated and designed to keep him from power. The 10 MPs, some detained at their offices in the National Assembly, were charged under a new protest law and the anti-terrorism act.

The Islamic State (IS) extremist group claimed responsibility for a weekend bombing that killed two police officials in restive southwestern Pakistan, officials said on September 16. Analysts say the latest violence is a sign of increasing coordination between Islamic militants and separatists who for years have been targeting security forces and civilians in the oil- and gas-rich Balochistan Province bordering Iran and Afghanistan. IS said in a statement that it had detonated an explosive device a day earlier targeting a Pakistani police vehicle in Kuchlak town, near Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Pakistani officials say the attack killed two officers and wounded two others on a highway. The Balochistan Liberation Army has previously claimed such attacks, but the Islamic State has carried out similar attacks in recent months.

KYIV -- Ukraine says it is preparing an invitation for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit Russian territory it has captured in a surprise incursion in the Kursk region, while officials in Kyiv said one woman was injured but that air defenses had otherwise thwarted the eighth major Russian attack on the capital this month.

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on social media on September 16 that during a visit to the northeastern Sumy region, which borders Russia, that he had instructed his ministry "to officially invite the UN and ICRC to join humanitarian efforts in the Kursk region."

"Ukraine is ready to facilitate their work and prove its adherence to international humanitarian law," Sybiha said.

In an attempt to draw a contrast in light of accusations of widespread abuses by Russian troops since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, Sybiha claimed that "[s]ince the first day of the Kursk operation, Ukraine’s Defense Forces demonstrated full adherence to international humanitarian law as a professional army with high standards and values of freedom and human life. They ensured humanitarian assistance and safe passage to civilians."

Since its incursion began in Kursk in early August, Kyiv claims to have gained control of more than 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory. Kyiv has hinted that the operation was intended to better position it in the event of peace talks amid some calls for more intense efforts to end the war.

Meanwhile, on September 16, Ukraine's air force said it shot down 53 of 56 Russian drones it detected overnight that were targeting a handful of regions.

But it said the "main direction" of that bombardment was Kyiv, after military authorities there described a "massive" Russian attack.

Kyiv's regional military administration head, Ruslan Kravchenko, said one woman was hospitalized after being injured by fragments of a downed drone.

City military administration chief Serhiy Popko said Kyiv had been under attack for more than three hours overnight as air defenses shot down "almost two dozen enemy UAVs...around the capital."

Farther east, Ukrainian officials said the body of a woman was found under rubble late on September 15 at the scene of a Russian air strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said before dawn on September 16 that rescue operations were ongoing at the scene in Kharkiv of the bombardment by at least four missiles or other explosives, which struck a multistory residential building.

He said the latest information suggested 35 people were injured, including three children.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov has said that 42 people were injured.

Zelenskiy said 128 Russian guided bombs had targeted Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

In Russia, officials said eight residents of the southern Belgorod region that borders Ukraine were injured by shelling and drone attacks by Ukrainian forces.

Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov also said a gas pipeline was damaged during the shelling, which he said affected at least 10 settlements over the past 24 hours.

RFE/RL cannot independently corroborate claims of battlefield developments by either side in areas of the heaviest fighting.

Russia has bombarded Ukraine with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), rockets, and various kinds of missiles for much of the 36-month-old full-scale invasion.

Many of the most recent attacks have targeted power and other infrastructure, but bombs have frequently also struck hospitals, schools, and residential buildings, despite Moscow's assertion that it is not targeting civilians.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on September 15 that Russia is seeking "to achieve a decisive victory in Ukraine by 2026 before likely medium- to long-term economic and force generation constraints begin to significantly degrade Russia's ability to sustain its war effort in Ukraine."

It also said that, amid "growing challenges" in production and procurement of military equipment and munitions, "the Kremlin will likely become increasingly reliant on foreign partners to meet its materiel needs."

Zelenskiy recently urged the United States and other allies to "promptly implement" agreements on weapons and other supplies to help fight the invasion, underscoring Western debates on the extent and current restrictions on military aid to Kyiv.

Zelenskiy told CNN that he expects to present Joe Biden with a four-point plan to win the war when he meets with the U.S. president later this month.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on September 10 expressed hope for a second major peace summit to build on a similar gathering in Switzerland three months ago aimed at ending the war.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's allies are seemingly growing more receptive to loosening restrictions on the use of long-range weapons to allow Kyiv to hit targets deep inside Russia.

NATO, of which Ukraine is not a member, is also facing growing calls to do more to fend off Russian missiles and drone strikes, some of which have violated NATO members' airspace.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is set to make an official visit to neighboring Georgia on September 16, media reports in Georgia stated, although no official announcement has yet been made. Pashinian is expected to hold a meeting with Georgian counterpart Irakli Kobakhidze, after which public statements will be made, the reports said. Kobakhidze visited Armenia in March, declaring that both countries recognize both nations' territorial integrity in the tense south Caucasus region. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, click here.

Team McLaren and its driver Oscar Piastri claimed victory at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 15, an event marred since its launch eight years ago by ongoing complaints of rights problems in the Caucasus state, and this year by a spat with France.

The race through the Baku City Circuit on a mostly sunny day in the capital was tightly contested by Ferrari pole-sitter Charles Leclerc before the Australian Piastri outpaced the Monacan for the checkered flag.

Rights groups questioned Formula 1 organizers for allowing dynastic President Ilham Aliyev to host an annual grand prix when the event arrived there in 2016 despite what they called a dire rights situation that included arrests and harassment of dissidents that have continued in many cases in the intervening eight years.

This year, the competitors in Baku had to abandon a weather radar usually used to plan strategy due to the French system's provider's absence after French nationals were warned against traveling to Azerbaijan, which has been accused of waging a disinformation campaign and stoking violent unrest in the French-ruled Pacific island of New Caledonia.

Sixty-two-year-old Aliyev has tightened his grip on the oil- and gas-rich Caucasus nation since taking over from his ailing father in 2003.

Two decades into his rule, Azerbaijan ranks near the bottom of Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index.

The chief executive of Anglo-American mining company Rio Tinto has alleged via local media that his company and its controversial multibillion-dollar plans to create Europe's largest lithium mine in Serbia are the target of a "carefully designed and well-organized" disinformation campaign.

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm used the text reportedly prepared for the online Serbian outlet Politika to push back against widespread public protests at the recently revived project, which has enflamed fears of further environmental damage in one of the Balkans' most polluted regions.

"The topics of the project's development confuses, disturbs, and divides people," he wrote, according to a Beta news agency report of the forthcoming letter, adding, "Our employees are exposed to threats and intimidation on the Internet."

The report did not include details regarding any alleged threats.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic has long backed the 250-hectare Rio Tinto mine project in the western Jadar Valley, saying it will create jobs.

SEE ALSO:

Vucic's Delicate Balancing Act

Vucic and Rio Tinto representatives met and took public questions at a forum last week in Ljubovija designed to address some of the Serbian public's concerns.

Vucic ally and recently appointed Prime Minister Milos Vucevic then vowed his government would insist on written guarantees about the safety of the project before allowing it to go ahead.

Rio Tinto says the mine's potential capacity of 60,000 tons per year of lithium could supply nearly one-fifth of the continent's needs for a budding market for batteries for electric cars.

It has repeatedly said it will operate the mine safely and maintain high environmental standards.

Protests across Serbia erupted after the Constitutional Court nullified a previous government's nixing in 2022 of some initial permits, clearing the path for fulfillment of Vucic's pledge to ensure the Jadar mine complex's completion.

SEE ALSO:

Protests Flare Up In Serbian Towns Over Reversal On Huge Lithium Mine

Environmental and other local groups quickly accused Rio Tinto and the government of ignoring their concerns.

But German and EU officials visited Serbia after that decision to ink a document signaling support for "a strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials, battery value chains, and electric vehicles."

"This is the first time in the company’s long history that it is facing such a situation," Stausholm reportedly said.

But Rio Tinto has faced a local backlash before, including against operations in western Australia that destroyed part of a sacred Aboriginal site.

Stausholm, who took the Rio Tinto helm in 2021 following the Australian scandal, said in the Politika contribution that all environmental impact assessments include a review period in which citizens are informed and can ask questions and comment.

Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said recently that "we have already lost two years" but added it could take another two years for Rio Tinto to secure the proper permits for construction of the mine.

Lithium is also used to power computers and smartphones.

Iran's President Masud Pezeshkian will attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia, state media cited Tehran's ambassador in Moscow as saying on September 15, amid tensions with the West over military cooperation between the two countries. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran and cooperation between Moscow and Tehran threatened wider European security. The United States, Germany, Britain, and France imposed new sanctions on Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran did not deliver any ballistic missiles to Russia and that sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the three European countries against Iran were not a solution. Iran's ambassador in Russia, Kazem Jalali, reportedly confirmed that Pezeshkian will attend the summit of the BRICS group of major emerging economies, scheduled to be held in Kazan, Russia, on October 22-24.

Sources close to the family of the late Iranian-Kurdish student Mahsa Amini have told Radio Farda on September 15 that security forces "have surrounded their home" in Saghez and prevented them from leaving the house as the second anniversary passed of her death in custody.

A source said Amini's father, Amjad Amini, received a call from Iran's Intelligence Ministry earlier in the day telling the family not to leave their house.

The caller reportedly said Amjad Amini and his wife would be arrested if they went outside.

The source also told Radio Farda that they could hear helicopters flying over Saghez.

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Iranian Diaspora Marks Student's Death That Sparked Protests

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The 22-year-old Amini's death after reports of beating and abuse when she was detained by morality police over an alleged dress-code violation sparked massive nationwide protests over official abuses and the country's treatment of women.

Amjad Amini told Radio Farda last week that the family had the right to mark the anniversary and was hoping to do so if allowed by authorities.

Over the past two days, reports have said several members of the families of those killed in the state crackdown on the protests have been also arrested.

There have also been reports of activists and families of those killed being summoned by authorities, especially in Iran's Kurdistan.

On September 15, the foundation of jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi said 34 women prisoners in Iran have gone on hunger strike to mark two years since the start of the protest movement.

SEE ALSO:

'Women, Life, Freedom': Iran's Protest Movement Magnifies Defiance, Camaraderie 2 Years On

"Today, on the 15th September 2024, 34 female political prisoners in Evin Prison have gone on a hunger strike in commemoration of the second anniversary of the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement and the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini," the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said on its website.

The foundation did not provide specifics or indicate how long the hunger strike might last, but it said the women sought to "show solidarity with the protesting people of Iran against the government’s oppressive policies."

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

Following Amini's death after days reportedly in a coma in September 2022, vans carrying the police force notorious for its strong-armed enforcement of the "hijab law" temporarily disappeared from the streets as protesters across Iran staged daily demonstrations for months.

The authorities claimed she had died due to medical problems, but her family and witnesses at the scene of her arrest said she was beaten by police and died as a result of her injuries.

The anger gave rise to the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement, which Iranians say has left an indelible mark of public defiance on the country and observers say has presented one of the biggest threats to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

KYIV -- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has again urged the United States and other allies to "promptly implement" agreements on weapons and other supplies to help Ukraine fight Russia's invasion, underscoring Western debates on the extent and current restrictions on military aid to Kyiv.

In a new video message late on September 14, he said "it is critically important that all states, and especially the United States, really promptly implement the agreements reached with Ukraine."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

"It should be felt at the front," Zelenskiy said. "Every delay with military packages has its own negative consequence at the front. Every really timely, fast delivery has a positive impact."

As unprecedented international military supply efforts continue to Ukraine, NATO has faced escalating calls among some members to rescind limits on Western-supplied weapons and supply more advanced weaponry.

Kyiv has repeatedly said it needs to be able to conduct longer-range strikes into Russian territory to defend itself against invading Russian forces, an argument that has found some support among NATO officials.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on September 13 to discuss whether to approve Kyiv's request to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia but did not announce any shift.

Britain is reportedly nearing a decision on possibly letting Ukraine use its Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian territory.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on September 14 that Biden is "determined to use the four months [he has left in office] to put Ukraine in the best possible position to prevail."

SEE ALSO:

Calls Grow For NATO Members To Help Ukraine Shoot Down Russian Drones And Missiles

Threats voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and, more recently by former President Dmitry Medvedev -- who on September 14 suggested a nuclear strike on the Ukrainian capital could turn that city of some 2 million residents into a "gray spot" on the map -- have seemingly sought to ratchet up Moscow's discouragement of Western support for Kyiv.

Zelenskiy said later on September 14 that he had spoken with a delegation of U.S. Congress members and "informed [them] about the current situation and prospects."

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on September 15 that Putin had repeatedly threatened the West that supplies of tanks and missiles "would mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia."

"We sent them," Lammy said repeatedly, adding that "Putin threatens every few months to use nuclear weapons."

Lammy said there was "a lot of bluster" but "we cannot be blown off course by an imperialist fascist" who "wants to move into countries willy-nilly."

He said talks between Starmer, Biden, and Zelenskiy would resume at the UN General Assembly later this month.

Debate has sharpened since Ukrainian forces' surprise incursion into the Kursk region of Russia over paths to bolster Kyiv's position ahead of potential cease-fire talks.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine Closer To Long-Range Strike Permission As Biden, Starmer Meet

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal last week pressed for a second major international peace summit that he said he hoped could attract at least 150 countries, following up on a similar event hosted by Switzerland in June.

In a fresh wave of Russian attacks overnight on September 14-15, Ukrainian authorities said a married couple had been killed in the southern Odesa region and that other key cities had been hit.

Ukraine's military said that the country's air defenses had shot down 10 of 14 attack drones that Russia launched. It also said two Iskander ballistic missiles and a guided air missile, the latter of which was shot down, had targeted Odesa.

In a Telegram post, Zelenskiy said at least 30 people were injured when a Russian guided bomb slammed into a residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv on September 15.

"The rescue operation in Kharkiv continues. A Russian air strike. An ordinary residential building…was damaged. There is a fire and rubble between the ninth and 12th floors."

"This terror can be stopped. But to stop terror, one must stop the fear of strong decisions that are objectively needed," he added in another reference to allied reluctance to allow the use of Western-provided weapons to strike launching sites deep inside Russia.

In Pokrovsk, an important logistics and supply hub for Ukrainian troops on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, the military administration said a civilian was killed on September 15 as the result of Russian shelling. Russian forces have crept closer to taking the city with a brutal offensive in recent days.

SEE ALSO:

Interactive Map: Ukraine's Surprise Invasion Of Russia's Kursk Region

Zelenskiy has said Russia had fired roughly 30 missiles, more than 800 guided bombs, and nearly 300 attack drones at Ukraine in the past week.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on September 15 that its air defenses had destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight that were targeting seven regions of Russia, more than half of them over the Bryansk region.

Calls have also mounted among some NATO members for the alliance to do more to ward off Russian missiles and attack drones like those that members Romania and Latvia say have recently violated their airspace amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine is not part of NATO but the alliance said in July that post-Soviet country was on an "irreversible path" to membership.

With reporting by dpa and Reuters

Residents and authorities continue to battle heavy rainfall and floodwaters throughout Central Europe on September 15 as officials in Romania said at least six people were dead and two more were missing there.

Rain appeared to be easing somewhat in Romania late in the evening, although additional rainfall and strong winds are forecast across the region through at least September 16, authorities said.

In Austria, a firefighter died during rescue operations and a drowning death was reported in Poland, while four people were said to be missing in the Czech Republic with first responders battling the result of historic rains that inundated low-lying parts of the region.

In southwestern Poland, two dams reportedly failed amid what local authorities said was a "critical" situation.

In Romania, around 20 municipalities in eight Romanian counties were severely affected by the flooding.

Thousands of homes were damaged and tens of thousands were affected or being evacuated.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced temporary shelters for people endangered by the floodwaters during a visit to one of the northernmost affected counties, Galati, on September 14. He said saving lives was officials' first priority.

The head of the county council in Galati, Costel Fotea, said early on September 15 that more than 20,000 residents in at least 24 communities had been severely affected in that county alone.

Fotea said engineers would be spreading out to begin assessing the condition of bridges and roads, many of which are damaged or closed.

Romania's National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management has issued a code-red advisory for Galati and Vaslui counties as rescuers including from the army used boats and other ways to try to reach trapped residents, some of them forced to flee to rooftops.

Floodwaters in some areas were 3 meters deep.

Late on September 15, Romanian officials said a 50-year-old man died in Suhurlui, becoming the sixth known fatality in that country.

Meanwhile the water-management authority in Wroclaw in southwestern Poland said the situation was critical after a nearly 30-meter-high dam at Miedzygorze in the Klodzko Valley on the Polish border with the Czech Republic was breached, forcing evacuations. Later, a dam at Stronie Slaski, in the Lower Silesia region, was said to have failed.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at an emergency briefing in Klodzko, near the Czech border, that the situation in southwestern Poland was "dramatic."

Tusk said he would announce a state of disaster and request aid from the European Union.

Train connections between Poland and the Czech Republic were suspended.

In Austria, dozens of municipalities were declared disaster zones.

The waters were swollen of the Kamp and Kremps rivers in Austria that flow into the Danube on its way to the Black Sea via the territory or borders of Hungary and Slovakia, Serbia and Croatia, and Romania and Bulgaria, and Moldova and Ukraine.

In the Czech Republic, police reported a search for three people who were riding in a vehicle that fell into an eastern river near Lipova Lazne.

Around 250,000 households were without power in the Czech Republic.

In the capital, Prague, authorities put flood prevention measures in place around the Vltava River.

More heavy rains were forecast through the day on September 15 for Austria, the Czech Republic, southern Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Forecasters had said more than a third of the average annual rainfall of some areas could fall by September 15, with strong winds further complicating the situation.

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

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

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

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

It argued that "little or no progress is possible on the many topics the six leaders highlighted as common priorities" a year ago.

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

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

The leaders are also expected to discuss international sanctions on Russia.

Upon arrival in the historic city of Samarkand, the German leader met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and signed a migration agreement that would allow skilled workers from Uzbekistan to travel to the EU nation, with a focus on the health-care sector.

It is also intended to speed repatriation of Uzbek citizens living in Germany without legal residence authorization, who he said "must go back." An estimated 13,700 Uzbeks reside in Germany, with the vast majority holding legal residency permits, according to dpa.

“With our agreement on migration and mobility signed today in Samarkand in Uzbekistan, we are enabling people with great talents to enter our country. Also, we committed to un-bureaucratic processes so that those who cannot stay in our country must go back,” Scholz wrote on X.

Scholz is scheduled to meet with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev on his first stop in Tashkent to sign a migration deal that could enable skilled Uzbek workers to travel to Germany and lay out repatriation terms.

In the Kazakh capital, Astana, Scholz should meet with President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.

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

But energy cooperation has been on the rise with Kazakhstan.

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

Scholz hailed that step as the start of "a completely new direction in bilateral cooperation" with Kazakhstan, which also lies on huge reserves of natural gas.

In June, international rights groups urged Central Asian governments to take specific steps to end "widespread" torture of detainees and political prisoners in the region.

Such groups allege that Kazakhstan is among the worst offenders.

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

U.S. President Joe Biden will use his remaining months in office to strengthen Ukraine, national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said on September 14. Biden withdrew from the U.S. presidential election in July and will leave office in January. Sullivan said he is "determined to use the four months to put Ukraine in the best possible position to prevail." Speaking virtually to a conference in Kyiv, he said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy "has said that ultimately this war has to end through negotiations, and we need them to be strong in those negotiations," adding that Biden will meet with Zelenskiy at the next UN General Assembly in late September.

Military aid provided to Russia by North Korea is the most damaging for Ukraine, intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on September 14 at a conference in Kyiv. "Our biggest problem from all these allies of Russia is from North Korea. Because with the volume of military products that they supply, they actually affect the intensity of the fighting," Budanov said. His remarks came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to deepen ties with Russia. Kyiv has been monitoring arms deliveries from Pyongyang to Moscow and feels their effect on the battlefield. "There is a direct correlation. They are supplying huge volumes of artillery ammunition, which is critical," Budanov said.

PRAGUE -- The chairman of the NATO Military Committee said the question of whether to allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with Western-made long-range missiles is a "political discussion" but, from a military standpoint, would be within Ukraine's legal right.

Dutch Navy Admiral Rob Bauer told RFE/RL in an interview on September 14 that the lifting of the restriction is not a question that NATO is discussing, but in his opinion as military leader the answer would be yes.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

"In accordance with the UN charter and in accordance with the law of armed conflict, if you are attacked by a nation, then you are allowed to defend yourself," Bauer said. "That defense doesn't stop at your borders. You are allowed to actually attack the enemy on its own territory."

Bauer spoke with RFE/RL as the NATO Military Committee -- the alliance's highest military authority -- met in Prague for a two-day conference to discuss strategic developments within the alliance in light of decisions made during the NATO summit in July.

The meeting took place a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss whether to approve Kyiv's request to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia.

Bauer said the threats voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Dmitry Medvedev in response to those discussions showed their frustration over how the war is going 2 1/2 years after Russia launched it.

"If I think it's primarily a proof of how frustrated they are because Russia has not achieved any of their strategic goals in Ukraine," Bauer said.

SEE ALSO:

Russia's Medvedev Threatens Nuke Strike That Would Turn Kyiv Into 'Gray Spot'

Putin said earlier this week that the West would be "at war" with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike with Western-made long-range missiles, while Medvedev said on September 14 that Russia could destroy Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, with non-nuclear weapons if the West lifted its restrictions.

Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the country's security council, also said Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons.

Bauer said the threats must be taken seriously, but what NATO and the other allies of Ukraine are doing "is within the UN charter, within the international law. And we will continue doing so."

In his speech to the conference, Bauer praised the Ukrainian military for proving to the world that there is "nothing they cannot do" and only need the support from their allies to achieve their goals.

"And they will have it -- not only now, not only for the duration of the war, but also in the decades to follow," Bauer said in comments to the conference.

SEE ALSO:

NATO Strongly Backs Ukraine's 'Irreversible Path' To Membership, Outlines Plans To Make Alliance Stronger

NATO allies led by the United States have donated tens of billions of dollars of military equipment to help Ukraine fight the war, and Bauer said Ukraine's forces are growing "more and more interoperable" by the day with NATO forces, moving the country closer to NATO membership.

"One day, we will stand side by side under the NATO banner," he said. "Ukraine deserves our unrelenting support, not only because of who they are as a people but also because of who we are as NATO."

Bauer also said NATO needs need a much larger defense-industry production capacity and it must be better coordinated to increase deterrence.

"The more we ramp up our deterrence, the better chance we have of protecting the freedoms that we hold dear and preventing war from ever entering our soil," he said.

Army Lieutenant General Karel Rehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, also commented on the war in Ukraine, saying it is a matter of survival for Ukraine and a fight for the principles of democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity that NATO exists to defend.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine Closer To Long-Range Strike Permission As Biden, Starmer Meet

"It is imperative that we -- at the top of our militaries -- provide all necessary assistance to Ukraine, be it in the form of training or supplying weapons and other military equipment," Rehka said in an address to the conference on September 14. "By supporting Ukraine, we are also strengthening our unity and containing the Russian threat."

Both Bauer and Rehka agreed on the need for greater defense expenditures, with Rehka saying, "It is evident that 2 percent of GDP on defense spending will not be enough."

Rehka also warned that threats from Russia come not only on the conventional battlefield but also in the form of hybrid tactics, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and kinetic acts of violence.

"All these actions are designed to sow fear and undermine the unity of our societies. We must, therefore, take a broad approach…that integrates our conventional military capabilities with robust cyberdefenses and strong civil-military cooperation."

The foreign ministers of the Group of the Seven countries on September 14 condemned "in the strongest terms" Iran's export and Russia's procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles. "Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly," the G7 foreign ministers said in a statement issued from their meeting in Rome. The G7 members -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States -- are the world's leading industrialized countries.

Iran's foreign minister said Tehran is open to diplomacy to solve disputes but not "threats and pressure," state media reported on September 14 after the United States and three European countries imposed new sanctions, including measures against Iran Air. Abbas Araqchi's comments came a day after the EU's foreign policy chief said the bloc is considering similar sanctions in reaction to reports Tehran supplied Russia with ballistic missiles in its war against Ukraine. Araqchi said Iran continues "on its own path with strength, although we have always been open to talks to resolve disputes" but dialogue should be "based on mutual respect, not on threats and pressure," according to state news agency IRNA. Araqchi on September 11 denied Tehran had delivered any ballistic missiles to Russia, adding sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States Germany, Britain, and France would not solve any problems between them.

At least five people died and more than 20 others were injured on September 14 when a bus ran off the road and plunged into a ravine in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province, local officials told RFE/RL. The bus was on its way from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, when it crashed in the Danasar area of Sherani district. The head of the hospital in Zhob district, Akhtar Muhammad, told RFE/RL that injured people and bodies were brought to the hospital. A local official said speed was the cause of accident. The provincial government expressed regret over the accident and ordered an investigation. Serious road accidents are common in Pakistan mainly due to speed, poor roads, and poorly maintained vehicles.

Russian officials have threatened that a possible decision by the West to allow Kyiv to use donated weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory would result in a major escalation of its war against Ukraine that could include the use of nuclear weapons.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, warned on September 14 that Kyiv could be turned into a "gray melted spot" if restrictions against Ukraine's use of Western weapons were loosened.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Kyiv has repeatedly said it needs to be able to conduct longer-range strikes into Russian territory to defend itself against invading Russian forces.

The idea has gained traction in recent weeks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr made his case, with some European leaders taking up the argument for giving Ukraine longer-range capabilities and Britain reportedly nearing a decision to let Ukraine use its Storm Shadow missiles against Russian territory.

U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were expected on September 13 to discuss the issue during their talks in Washington.

However, the White House made no mention of the topic in its statement following Biden's meeting with Starmer.

The statement said only that the two leaders had discussed a range of issues and "reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend against Russia's aggression."

In an apparent reference to the meeting, Medvedev wrote on September 14 that "the Anglo-Saxon imbeciles" do not want to admit that there is an end to Russia's "patience" and that experts who have suggested Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons against Ukraine would be proven correct if that patience is exhausted.

"What do Western leaders and their political establishments, playing at war, think our country's reaction to probable missile strikes 'deep into the territory [of Russia]' would be?" wrote Medvedev, who has frequently used his position to voice threats against Kyiv and the West since Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Medvedev said a nuclear conflict is a "very bad story with a very difficult outcome," claiming that is why Russia has not decided to use "nonstrategic or strategic" nukes to this point. However, he said, if it came to that there would be a "giant gray melted spot" on the site of Kyiv, which called the "mother city of Russia."

SEE ALSO:

Biden, Starmer Reaffirm Support For Ukraine But Weapons Restrictions Remain In Place

Such rhetoric has increased from Moscow as Zelenskiy has increasingly lobbied for greater strike capabilities against Russian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 12 said any change in policy that would allow Western weapons to be used for long-range strikes would mean the NATO alliance would be "at war" with Russia.

"If that's the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will make the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face," Putin said.

In June, Putin threatened to send long-range weapons -- in what he called an "asymmetrical" response -- to areas of the world in a position to strike countries supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Russia has also said it is amending its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov saying on September 1 that the move was "connected with the escalation course of our Western adversaries."

• RFE/RL

Recent media reports claim Russia has received Fath-360 missile systems from Iran, along with hundreds of missiles. Here is what that weapon system looks like, and how it could influence the war in Ukraine.

On September 14, Ryabkov claimed the decision to grant Ukraine permission to conduct long-range strikes against Russia had already been made by the West, and that Moscow is "ready for everything" and would "respond to the fullest."

On September 14, State Duma deputy Andrei Kolesnik suggested Russia detonate a nuclear weapon on its own territory to remind the West of the threat posed by Russia's nuclear arsenal.

"We shouldn't relax. We need to carry out a nuclear explosion somewhere, at some testing ground," Kolesnik was quoted as saying in an interview with the online newspaper Lenta.ru. "Nuclear tests are currently banned here, but maybe people should see what all this actually leads to."

Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote in response to the comments coming out of Moscow that "the loud horror stories of Putin's regime only testify to his fear that his terror may come to an end."

"Strong decisions are needed," Yermak wrote on Telegram on September 14. "Terror can be stopped by destroying the military facilities from which it originates."

Permission to conduct longer-range strikes, he said, "would speed up the solution" and would not allow "Russian terror" to "spread to other countries of the world."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 14 confirmed that an exchange of prisoners of war had taken place between Ukraine and Russia involving 103 prisoners on each side.

Zelenskiy posted photos of the released prisoners on Telegram, saying the group included defenders of the Kyiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kharkiv regions along with soldiers who fought in Mariupol and other soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces, the national guard, border guard, and police force.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

"Thank you to our exchange team for such good news for Ukraine," he said.

Of the 103 Ukrainians who returned home, 38 are members of the Ukrainian National Guard, eight belong to the country's border guard, four are police officers, and one is a rescuer, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

"Most of them are defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal," Klymenko said, referring to the steel mill in Mariupol that was the scene of a siege in 2022.

Russia said earlier on September 14 that it had swapped 103 Ukrainian POWs in exchange for an equal number of captured Russian soldiers in the third such swap since Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region of Russia.

Nearly 50 Ukrainian POWs were released from Russian custody on September 13 in exchange for an unknown number of Russian soldiers.

On the battlefield, Russian forces continued their offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

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Donetsk regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on September 14 that four civilians were killed and seven wounded after Russian forces carried out more than 20 separate strikes, prompting the evacuation of more than 900 people.

As Russian forces continue their advance on Pokrovsk, an important logistics and supply hub for Ukrainian troops on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, regional authorities have repeatedly said the area is not safe for civilians.

More than 130 clashes were reported by the Ukrainian military, most of them either in the direction of Pokrovsk or 50 kilometers southeast of that city near Kurakhove, which is home to a large power station.

In the southern Kherson region, a civilian died from injuries sustained in Russian shelling, Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. The 60-year-old man, who was seriously injured in an attack on September 14, died in the hospital despite doctors doing "everything possible to save his life," Prokudin said.

In the Odesa region, a married couple in their 60s was killed and a 65-year-old woman was injured in a Russian missile attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. Residential buildings and commercial buildings in the suburbs of Odesa also were damaged in the strike, he said.

On September 14, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had captured the village of Zhelanne Pershe, just 20 kilometers northeast of Kurakhov.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine Closer To Long-Range Strike Permission As Biden, Starmer Meet

Russia also continued to target areas across Ukraine with drone strikes, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying on September 14 that more than 70 drones had been shot down.

Regional authorities in the Black Sea region of Odesa reported significant damage to several buildings near the regional capital as well as to grain storage facilities.

The heavy fighting comes as Russia continues its efforts to push Ukrainian forces out of its territory. Ukraine has taken control of more than 1,300 square kilometers of territory in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region following a surprise incursion in late August.

Observers suggest the incursion could distract Russian forces from their offensive in eastern Ukraine, while Zelenskiy has said it could give Kyiv more leverage in possible future peace talks and in collecting captured Russian troops for prisoner exchanges.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the Kursk and Belgorod regions were targeted by an attack on September 14. The ministry said 19 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the two regions.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said at least five people had been injured in the attack on the Belgorod region. Gladkov said several grenades hit a section of road between Belgorod and Shebekino, injuring four people and damaging several vehicles.

A woman was reportedly injured in a separate incident in a nearby village when a drone struck a private house. The information could not be independently verified.

With reporting by AP and dpa

At least four people have died and hundreds of others had to be evacuated in eastern Romania after massive flooding inundated roads and low-lying areas.

Galati and Vaslui counties in the Moldova region of eastern Romania were especially hard-hit on September 14 by flooding that followed heavy rain the day before. The counties were under a code-red flood advisory as rescuers tried to reach people, including some stranded on rooftops.

Many roads have been closed throughout the two counties, where floodwaters reached heights of 3 meters in some locations due to the rainfall. Authorities said two women and two men died as a result of the floods. A fifth body was found, but authorities determined that the person had been dead for two days and had not died as a result of the weather.

Emergency authorities released video showing teams of rescuers evacuating people using lifeboats and carrying elderly people to safety. A military helicopter was also deployed to help with the search-and-rescue missions.

The Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) said 12 communities in Galati County suffered major damage from the storm and approximately 300 residents had to be evacuated. About 5,000 households were affected.

In Vaslui County, 40 people were evacuated from five communities, and several households were flooded or damaged by high winds.

The IGSU also said at least three major highways and 10 smaller roads were affected.

More than 300 firefighters, police, and pilots have helped in the rescue effort, and the IGSU said four shelters are being set up in Galați. Each will have a capacity of approximately 200 people. Shelters also will be set up in Vaslui and Iasi counties so that people can be evacuated as a precaution if the situation requires, the IGSU said.

Authorities in Galati County will have to find accommodations for more than 800 people who can no longer live in their homes.

With reporting by AP

Iran has sent a research satellite into orbit with a rocket built by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' aerospace division, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on September 14. The report said the Chamran-1 satellite has a weight of 60 kilograms and successfully reached a 550-kilometer orbit in space. In January, Iran said it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket. The United States has previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. UN sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.

NATO could have done more to arm Ukraine to try to prevent Russia's invasion in 2022, the outgoing head of the Western military alliance said in an interview released on September 14. "Now we provide military stuff to a war -- then we could have provided military stuff to prevent the war," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the German weekly newspaper FAS. Stoltenberg pointed to alliance’s reluctance to provide weapons that Kyiv had asked for before Russia's full-scale invasion because of fears that tensions with Russia would escalate. Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, will step down in October from his role at NATO.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to deepen ties with Russia as he held talks with visiting security chief Sergei Shoigu, state media reported on September 14. Western powers have accused cash-strapped North Korea of selling ammunition to Russia in defiance of sanctions over the more than 30-month war in Ukraine. North Korea has recently bolstered military ties with Russia, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, where he signed a mutual defense agreement with Kim. Kim "affirmed that his government would further expand cooperation and collaboration" with Russia based on the agreement.

The US State Department on Friday said it had approved the sale of dozens of F-35 fighter jets to its NATO ally Romania, a deal worth $7.2 billion. The contract, which must still be approved by the U.S. Congress, covers Bucharest's purchase of 32 F-35A aircraft and related equipment produced by the U.S. aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin. The contract announcement comes as Ukrainian pilots began training this week at a special center in Romania on F-16s, U.S.-made fighter jets that Washington has approved Kyiv to use to repel Russia's invasion.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed their "unwavering support" for Ukraine at a meeting on September 13, according to a White House statement on the talks that didn't mention the topic of loosening restrictions on Kyiv's use of donated long-range weapons deeper inside Russian territory.

Meeting amid signs that Ukraine's allies are growing more receptive to loosening restrictions on the use of the long-range weapons to allow it to hit targets deep inside Russia, Starmer was expected to press Biden on the issue.

But a White House statement afterward failed to mention the topic and instead mentioned several global topics along with a pledge of continued support for Ukraine.

"The leaders had an in-depth discussion on a range of foreign policy issues of mutual interest. They reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend against Russia’s aggression," the statement said.

The only other mention of the war in Ukraine was an expression of "deep concern about Iran and North Korea’s provision of lethal weapons to Russia and the People’s Republic of China’s support to Russia’s defense industrial base."

The United States has restricted the use of the weapons over concerns that allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia could cause an escalation in the war and possibly prompt Russia to use a nuclear weapon.

Hours ahead of the talks, White House national-security spokesman John Kirby looked to tamp down speculation of a lifting of the restrictions, saying the United States was not planning to announce any new policy with regard to the issue.

The Biden-Starmer meeting came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a tour of Europe in which he heard repeated appeals from Ukraine and its allies to lift the restrictions.

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Polish Leaders Urge Blinken To Lift Limits On Ukraine's Use Of Long-Range Weapons

He said at the conclusion of the trip that he would relay the comments to Biden, noting that in the past the United States has adapted its policies to fit the situation on the battlefield.

Biden in May altered U.S. policy to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-donated missiles into Russia to defend itself against a major Russian offensive that included missile and drone barrages fired from Russian territory.

But he maintained a limit on the distance the U.S. missiles could strike, meaning Ukraine could only hit targets in regions close to the border.

The Guardian newspaper, quoting government sources, reported on September 12 that London had already given Ukraine permission to use its Storm Shadow missile for strikes deep into Russian territory. Other British media, however, reported that the United Kingdom might require Washington's permission first because the weaponry contains U.S.-made components.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 12 warned against any change in policy that would allow Western weapons to be used for long-range strikes on his country's territory, saying it would mean that the NATO alliance of which the United States and Britain are members, would be "at war" with Russia.

"If that's the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will make the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face," Putin said.

Putin claimed that the Ukrainian military would only be able to carry out such strikes when using data from NATO satellites and that only military personnel of NATO "can carry out flight tasks for these missile systems."

When asked about the Russian president's warning, Biden said before meeting Starmer that "I don't think much about Vladimir Putin."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on September 13 reiterated Berlin's refusal to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, telling a news conference that Germany "has made a clear decision about what we will do and what we will not do. This decision will not change."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has recently ramped up his calls for Kyiv's Western partners to loosen restrictions on donated weapons.

Zelenskiy has argued that longer-range capability is needed to allow Ukraine to better defend itself against attacks as Russia has moved its long-range weaponry beyond Ukraine's reach.

Russia has also made significant territorial gains on the ground in Ukraine's east amid an ongoing offensive. It has also begun a counterattack to retake Russian territory overrun by Ukraine following a surprise incursion into Russia, the first since World War II.

Zelenskiy said on September 13 that the counterattack in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine took more than 1,300 square kilometers of territory in the space of a few weeks, was expected but had so far seen “no serious success.”

The Ukrainian president also said at a conference in Kyiv that the situation around the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which Russian forces aim to capture as they advance in the Donetsk region, remained difficult but was stabilizing.

Zelenskiy said that he plans to present a “victory plan” to end the war with Russia to Biden later this month.

"[It] can pave the way for a reliable peace -- for the full implementation of the peace formula," he said at a conference organized by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation charity.

In recent weeks, Zelenskiy has said that Ukraine has no intention of holding the Russian territory it controls as a result of the incursion launched in August. However, he said it gave Ukraine leverage for future negotiations and that captured Russian soldiers were valuable in exchanges for Ukrainian troops captured by Russia.

During the conference, Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed the full support from its allies in order to be in a strong position to negotiate with Russia, and repeated his calls for the West to help Ukraine carry out long-range strikes into Russia.

Starmer and Biden also reiterated their "ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, the urgent need for a ceasefire deal that will free the hostages and enable increased relief in Gaza, and the need for Israel to do more to protect civilians and address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza," the White House said.

The two leaders also had an "in-depth discussion" on a range of foreign policy issues of mutual interest, including attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, environmental issues, and economic ties, the White House said.