Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces captured a village in the Donetsk region near the town of Toretsk as Ukraine reportedly struck the occupied peninsula of Crimea and inside Russia.

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Russia announced on June 29 the capture of Shumy, a settlement located about 7 kilometers southeast of the mining town of Toretsk. The open-source intelligence group DeepState UA had already confirmed Russia’s capture of Shumy on June 21.

Moscow intensified its attack in the direction of Toretsk on the night of June 18 after having been inactive on this section of the front for most of the year, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said in its June 27 update on the war.

Toretsk is part of a Ukrainian salient that gives Ukrainian forces the possibility of striking in the rear of Russian forces attacking in the direction of Chasiv Yar and northeast of Avdiyivka, ISW said in the report.

“Russian offensive operations near Toretsk likely aim to reduce the threat posed by this Ukrainian salient while Russian forces continue to pursue gains in the Avdiyivka and Chasiv Yar directions,” the ISW said.

Russia has yet to commit significant forces in the direction of Toretsk, limiting its chances of making major gains in the area. Moscow may also be seeking simply to tie up Ukrainian forces in the Toretsk direction, preventing it from reinforcing other parts of the Donetsk front, the ISW said.

Meanwhile, Russia said that Ukraine targeted Sevastopol in Crimea as well as Kursk on June 29. Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev claimed Russia shot down two rockets over the Black Sea port. The rocket debris injured four people and damaged property, he said.

Kursk Governor Aleksei Smirnov said a Ukrainian drone hit a house in a Russian border village, killing five people, including two children. The June 29 incident occurred in Gorodishche, located just meters from the border with Ukraine. Smirnov said the incident appeared to come from a "copter"-style drone, fitted to carry explosives that are then dropped over targets.

With reporting by Reuters and Kommersant

The European Union has imposed new restrictions on trade and other operations with Belarus in order to curtail Russian sanctions evasion.

Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU slapped multiple rounds of sanctions on Russia, including a ban on the import of dual-use technologies and other goods.

Russia has used its neighbors, including ally Belarus, as an intermediary to get around Western sanctions. The latest EU restrictions aim to close that loophole.

“The close integration of the Russian and Belarusian economies has substantially facilitated the circumvention of existing sanctions against Russia. This new set of sanctions against Belarus mirrors several of the measures already imposed on Russia, making EU sanctions against Russia more effective,” the European Commission said in a June 29 statement.

The EU has expanded its ban on the export of dual-use goods and advanced technology to Belarus to include items that enhance the country’s industrial capacity. The bloc has also banned maritime navigation equipment, oil refining technology, and certain luxury goods. The new measures also ban the transit of such goods through Belarus.

The EU has also banned the import of goods that allow Belarus to diversify its source of revenue as well as the import of gold and diamonds. The EU had previously banned the import of gold and diamonds from Russia, which is one of the world’s biggest miners of the both natural resources.

The measures urge EU companies to prevent their foreign subsidiaries from engaging in activities that undermine sanctions. The European Council can now impose targeted measures against individuals or entities that circumvent the sanctions or that significantly undermine their purpose or effectiveness.

Belarus has deployed additional air defense forces to its border with Ukraine, claiming its southern neighbor poses threats to its "critical infrastructure facilities."

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Meanwhile, Ukraine dismissed Belarus's concerns over its movement of troops and equipment, saying it was forced to do so because Minsk continues to support Russia's invasion.

Belarus on July 29 accused Ukraine of moving forces, weapons, and military equipment toward their joint border and also claimed Kyiv was stepping up drone activity in the area.

Belarus, an ally of Russia in its war with Ukraine, said earlier this week that it had shot down a quadcopter, which had illegally crossed the border from Ukraine "to collect information about the Belarusian border infrastructure."

Ukraine and Belarus share a nearly 1,100-kilometer-long border.

"We are ready to decisively use all available forces and means to protect our territory and the population of the Republic of Belarus from possible provocations in the airspace," Andrey Severinchik, commander of the Belarusian Air Defense Forces, said on June 29 in a statement published on the Defense Ministry's Telegram channel.

Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, dismissed Minsk’s fears of an alleged buildup near the border, noting it was Minsk that allowed Russia to use its territory as a launching pad for its invasion of Ukraine.

Thousands of Russian troops stationed in Belarus poured over the border into Ukraine on February 24, 2022 seeking to move southwest toward Kyiv, the capital. They were stopped and later driven back.

“It is pleasant, of course, that they haven’t forget about our state, but they shouldn’t worry -- Ukraine does not pose a threat. On the contrary, we are forced to defend ourselves, including in the Belarusian direction, because Belarus continues to support terrorists, and at one time opened its border to Russian invaders,” Demchenko told Ukrayinska Pravda.

Following a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in September 2022 that recaptured large swaths of territory in the northeast, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization of up to 300,000 men, many of whom were sent to Belarus to train.

With reporting by Reuters and Ukrayinska Pravda

BELGRADE -- A man wielding a crossbow shot and wounded a police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy, before being fatally shot in return by the guard officer, officials said.

The incident, which occurred in the Serbian capital on June 29, was being treated as an act of terrorism, Interior Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic told reporters at a Belgrade hospital where the guard was being treated.

Dacic identified the attacker as Milos Zujovic, a resident of Mladenovac, a city located 50 kilometers southeast of the capital Belgrade. Zujovic, who is 24 0r 25, is a "convert" who goes by the religious name Salahuddin, Dacic said, without giving any more detail.

Salahuddin was a Sunni Muslim general who defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, capturing Jerusalem and reestablishing Muslim control of the Holy Land.

It was unclear if the embassy itself, or its employees, were targets of the attack, which occurred around 11 a.m. when Zujovic approached the guard to ask about a museum and other nearby sites.

The officer replied that there was no museum nearby.

Zujovic then left, and returned a short while later. He opened a gate door in front of the embassy and pulled the crossbow out of a bag, shooting the guard in the neck, officials said.

The guard then opened fire at Zujovic, who died shortly after, according to officials.

Dacic told reporters that it is not yet known whether Zujovic acted alone or was part of an organized group, and that the Special Prosecutor's Office was now overseeing the investigation.

The Israeli Embassy had no immediate comment on the incident.

Tehran has warned that "all Resistance Fronts," a grouping of Iran and its regional allies, would confront Israel if it attacks Lebanon. The comment from Iran's mission to the UN in New York on June 29 comes amid fears of a wider regional war involving Israel and Iran-backed Hizballah movement in Lebanon. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began. Israel's military said plans for a Lebanon offensive had been "approved and validated", prompting Hizballah to respond that none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict. The war in Gaza began in October when militants from the U.S.- and EU-designated terror group Hamas attacked southern Israel.

Preliminary final results showed that reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili will head to a second-round, runoff vote in Iran’s presidential election.

Mohsen Eslami, a spokesman for Iran’s election commission, said in comments on state TV on June 29 that the two candidates will face off on July 5, with Pezeshkian garnering 42.5 percent of ballots cast, and Jalili 38.6 percent.

Voter turnout, meanwhile, reached only 40 percent, he said, a record low.

The results knocked out of the race two other candidates: Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative speaker of parliament, and Mostafa Purmohammadi, a former justice and interior minister.

The early election was called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in May in a helicopter crash along with several other top officials.

All four candidates were vetted and approved by the Guardians Council, an unelected constitutional watchdog whose members are directly and indirectly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The outcome of the election is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, but it could affect the succession to 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been the country’s supreme leader since 1989.

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Last-ditch efforts to rally behind a consensus conservative candidate failed on the eve of the election, with neither Qalibaf nor Jalili willing to drop out in favor of the other.

Conservatives have expressed concern that the lack of unity could split the vote to the benefit of reformist Pezeshkian, who has been a member of parliament since 2008. He served as deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.

He has questioned Iran’s methods of enforcing the hijab, the Islamic head scarf for women, and spoken in favor of negotiating with the West. But he has said he will follow Khamenei’s policies if elected.

Jalili, who has never held elected office, serves as Khamenei’s personal representative on the Supreme National Security Council. During his 2007-13 term as the council’s secretary, he led the a delegation in failed talks with the West on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s political establishment has long maintained it derives its legitimacy from strong voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and popular protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.

WATCH: Speaking with RFE/RL's Radio Farda from inside Iran, some listeners said they would boycott the vote, while others said they hoped their participation would bring about reforms.

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The estimated 40 percent turnout in the June 28 vote signaled apathy among many Iranians tired of the country’s persistent economic woes and international isolation.

Dissidents at home and abroad called for a boycott, arguing that past voting has failed to deliver change.

Iran’s supreme leader has the final say on all state matters and the president does not have much sway on many key issues.

Raisi died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials when their helicopter crashed on May 19.

Many Iranians refer to him as the Butcher of Tehran for his alleged role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was Tehran's deputy prosecutor.

With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Kian Sharifi

A Russian official said a Ukrainian drone hit a house in a Russian border village, killing five people, including two children. The June 29 incident occurred in Gorodishche, located just meters from the border with Ukraine. Aleksei Smirnov, governor of the Kursk region, said the incident appeared to come from a "copter"-style drone, fitted to carry explosives that are then dropped over targets. Both the Russian and Ukrainian sides have used drones, including larger self-detonating copters that can fly hundreds of kilometers. Ukraine had no immediate comment on the incident.

Unidentified gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying election boxes in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan Province, killing two security force members and injuring several others, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported early on June 29. Quoting an "informed source," IRNA said the attack occurred in the village of Jakigor just minutes after voting ended in a presidential election being held to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month. Authorities did not immediately comment on the report. IRNA did not say whether the ballot boxes were damaged or taken.

LOZNICA, Serbia -- Thousands of demonstrators gathered on June 28 in western Serbia to protest the opening of a lithium mining project that has been stalled for years over environmental concerns.

The protesters gathered in Loznica to demand that the government adopt a law banning mining within 40 days or face a blockade of the railway in Serbia.

One of the leaders of the protest, Marijana Petkovic, said a letter will be sent on July 1 to the government with the request for a ban on geological research and the mining of minerals used in lithium batteries.

"If they don't fulfill the request, we will block the railways. The railway is just the beginning,” Petkovic said, telling fellow demonstrators in Loznica that they must “push this to the end."

She added that representatives of certain farmers' associations offered help if a blockade of the railways take place.

Among the protesters were citizens and activists from many parts of Serbia, members of opposition parties, and members of the informal civil initiative ProGlas.

The protest comes after an announcements by the authorities that they will approve the mining of ore by Rio Tinto despite an earlier promise to abandon the project.

President Aleksandar Vucic was quoted by the Financial Times this month as saying that mining could begin as early as 2028 following new guarantees from Rio Tinto.

The demonstrators oppose the mining project that the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto wants to launch to mine jadarite ore, which is crucial for the production of lithium batteries. The ore, a combination of lithium and boron, was discovered by Rio Tinto in Serbia.

The company said the area holds one of Europe's largest reserves of the ore. Rio Tinto also has said the project would provide thousands of jobs and secure Serbia's position in emerging energy markets.

The deposits were discovered in 2004, but the Serbian government halted the mining project in 2022 after weeks of protests sparked by fears over the environment and public health.

Protesters who spoke with RFE/RL said their concern for the effect of the mining on the environment was the main reason they participated.

"If we stop the source of pollution here, we will stop it everywhere in Serbia,” Vladimir Radosavljevic said.

Milisav Stanimirovic, a protester from Loznica, said that if there is no nature, there is no chance for people to live in the area either.

"We have to preserve what little we have so that we can continue to be born here, to grow here. Clean nature, healthy food, water, everything -- if there is no such thing, there is no us either," he said.

With reporting by AFP

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) voted on June 28 to approve a $2.2 billion payout for Ukraine under an existing loan program and lowered its growth outlook following "devastating" Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure. The IMF said in a statement that the funds bring the total amount disbursed under the loan agreement to around $7.6 billion. The international lender said it expects Ukraine's economy to grow by between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent this year and reach 5.5 percent in 2025, down sharply from the earlier projection of 6.5 percent. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that, despite the war, macroeconomic and financial stability has been preserved through "skillful policymaking by the Ukrainian authorities as well as substantial external support."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 28 announced the return of 10 Ukrainian civilians who had been held captive by Russia.

"We managed to return 10 more of our people from Russian captivity. Despite all the difficulties," Zelenskiy said on Telegram. He added that five of the civilians had been "detained on the territory of Belarus."

The Ukrainian leader noted that the returning captives include Crimean Tatar leader Nariman Dzhelyal, deputy chairman of Crimean Tatar's self-governing assembly, the Mejlis, which was banned by pro-Moscow representatives in Crimea after the peninsula was illegally annexed in 2014.

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Dzhelyal was arrested in September 2021 on suspicion of involvement in an attack on a gas pipeline.

Two others among the 10 who were released had been in captivity for about six years.

To read the original story on RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Russia has protested to Japan about Tokyo's plans to hold joint military exercises on the island of Hokkaido and accused Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of placing his country "on a path to dangerous escalation." The Russian Foreign Ministry on June 28 said a protest had been issued to the Japanese Embassy in connection with the announcement that drills would be held with Germany and Spain later this month. The ministry said Tokyo was told it was "categorically unacceptable" to engage in military activity off Russia's Far Eastern coast, particularly taking into account the participation of NATO members located far from the region. "We view such activity as a potential threat to the security of the Russian Federation," the ministry said.

As Ukrainians marked Constitution Day on June 28, Moscow unleashed a fresh wave of drone and artillery strikes on southern and eastern regions for the second day in a row, killing at least four people in a village in the Donetsk region, one person in Dnipropetrovsk, and injuring others in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials in the regions said.

At attack by Russian troops on Toretsk in the Donetsk region hit an apartment building, destroying the entrance of the five-story building, the regional prosecutor's office said. Four civilians, ages 43 to 76, died. Among the injured are a 39-year-old woman and her 8-year-old daughter, who was in serious condition.

The attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region hit a nine-story apartment building in the city of Dnipro, killing one person and injuring six others, including a 7-month-old baby, said Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Serhiy Lysak. Several floors were destroyed, the governor said.

The attack in Kharkiv occurred in the village of Tsyrkuny, Governor Oleh Synyehubov said. Russian troops fired at least three anti-aircraft missiles at the settlement, Synyehubov said on Telegram.

"At this moment, there are eight victims," he said.

He added that two houses and smaller buildings caught fire. Another 10 houses were damaged.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attacks were another reminder that Ukraine needs better air defense.

"'That's why we keep reminding all our partners: Only sufficient quantity and quality of air defense systems, only sufficient determination of the world, can stop Russian terror," he said on Telegram. "We need these solutions. We need a reliable air shield for Ukraine."

In a video message posted earlier on Telegram, Zelenskiy congratulated his compatriots on Constitution Day, which is marked on June 28, and highlighted the importance of national solidarity in times of war.

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"The 17th article of the constitution: The protection of Ukraine is the most important function of the state and the cause of the entire Ukrainian people. Millions of Ukrainians prove their devotion to this every day. Heroes on the front lines and those who work hard to strengthen the state. Ukrainians who changed their lives, changed their profession, but did not change their choice in favor of freedom, Ukraine, Europe," Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy's message came as Russia targeted Nikopol, a city that lies on the right bank of Dnieper River, for a second day on June 28.

"From very early in the morning, the Russian military struck the city of Nikopol again, targeting the district center with kamikaze drones," Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram, without specifying the number of drones.

"There are no dead or wounded," Lysak said, adding that several houses and industrial facilities in the city had been damaged in the attack.

On June 27, Russia launched a massive artillery attack on Nikopol, causing extensive damage to several schools.

Another southern Ukrainian region, Kherson, was also targeted by a fresh round of Russian strikes, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on June 28.

Prokudin said in a message on Telegram that 28 settlements across Kherson were targeted in the attack that wounded a total of six people and damaged a critical infrastructure facility. He did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, a suspected Ukrainian drone attack set an oil depot on fire in Michurinsk, in Russia's Tambov region, some 400 kilometers southeast of Moscow, regional Governor Maksim Egorov reported on June 28.

Egorov said the fire was small and it was under control.

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Aleksandr Bogomaz, the governor of Russia's Bryansk region, reported that five drones had been shot down over his region on June 28.

The governor of Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, said nine drones had been downed over a military facility in the Pochinovsk district.

Russia's Defense Ministry said a total of 25 drones had been downed over five regions. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

Ukraine, whose energy infrastructure has been devastated by constant Russian attacks, has over the past several months increasingly targeted fuel-production sites inside Russia, mainly oil-refining facilities that work for the Russian military.

Mudslides and floods caused by heavy rain killed five people in Kyrgyzstan's southern region of Osh, local emergency officials told RFE/RL on June 28. Rescue efforts are under way in the Nookat district, where mudslides took out two bridges and swept away 10 private houses. Southern Kyrgyzstan has been experiencing flooding and mudslides for days. On June 24, a 5-year-old child was killed by a mudslide in the Kadamjai district in the region of Batken. Last week, a 10-year-old boy died after mudslides and floods hit the Nooken district of the southern region of Jalal-Abad. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 28 at a session of the Security Council in Moscow that his country should start producing short- and intermediate-range missiles that were banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987. "It looks like we need to begin producing these strike systems, and then, taking into account the actual situation, to make decisions about where exactly to deploy them if it is necessary for our security," Putin said. The INF treaty banned the production, testing, and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. Both countries pulled out of the treaty in 2019, blaming each other for violations.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on June 28 that the owner of an office building in the town of Fryazino near Moscow in which six people died after a fire on June 24 has been arrested. The woman's name was not disclosed. Earlier, two men identified as the owner's representatives -- Anton Speshilov and Yury Fomin -- were arrested on charges of negligence and manslaughter after investigators concluded that the fire was connected to an electricity malfunction. Until the early 1990s, the building in question belonged to the Platan Research Institute that specializes in electronics development. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

The Homel regional court in southeastern Belarus on June 28 sentenced three members of one family to lengthy prison terms on charges of treason, inciting hatred, extremism, and failure to report a crime. Vasil Prokharau was sentenced to 11 years in prison, his wife, Larysa, and their son Paval were handed eight-year prison terms each. A co-defendant, Ruslan Prakharenka, received 10 years in prison, while the sentence of another co-defendant, Fyodar Aksyonenka, remains unknown, as the trial that started on June 20 was held behind closed doors. A source told RFE/RL that the charges were linked to taking pictures of various sites around Belarus. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office said on June 28 that a probe was launched against self-exiled Russian historian Tamara Eidelman on a charge of "rehabilitating Nazism." According to the Prosecutor's Office, the charge stems from Eidelman's words in one of her online lectures on YouTube about Victory Day "offending the memory of the Fatherland's defenders." The 64-year-old left Russia after Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In September 2022, Russian authorities added her to the registry of "foreign agents" and have fined her in absentia several times since then for failing to carry out the requirements of a "foreign agent." To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

PRISTINA -- A court in the Kosovar capital on June 28 sentenced four people to prison terms for complicity in the 2018 assassination of moderate ethnic Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic.

Ivanovic, 64, was killed on January 16, 2018, with four shots in the back as he arrived at his party office in the northern part of Mitrovica, a town bitterly divided between Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs, who dominate the northern part of the town.

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Ivanovic became known as a relative moderate in favor of dialogue and compromise between ethnic Serbs and Albanians after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

He was also seen as one of the chief interlocutors for international organizations seeking to bring stability and the rule of law to the country.

The Basic Court in Pristina sentenced North Mitrovica citizen Marko Rosic to 10 years in prison and a 10,000 euro ($10,700) fine on a charge of participating in an organized criminal group that orchestrated the killing of Ivanovic.

On the same charge, the court sentenced ex-police officer Nedelko Spasojevic to 4 1/2 years in prison and a 4,500 euro ($4,800) fine.

Two other ex-policemen, Dragisa Markovic and Zarko Ivanovic, were sentenced each to four years in prison for abuse of an official position, while the latter was also fined 1,550 euros ($1,660) for the unauthorized possession of firearms.

Ivanovic's secretary, Silvana Arsovic, was found not guilty of being part of the criminal group and was acquitted.

The defendants were not present in court during the reading of the verdict.

Earlier this week, ex-police officer Rade Basara was also acquitted of being a member of the criminal group that organized the killing.

Three other suspects -- Zeljko Bojic, Milan Radoicic, and Zvonk Veselinovic -- remain at-large.

Tensions between majority Albanians and ethnic Serbs remain high after the former province of Serbia declared independence almost a decade after the war with Yugoslavia that was quelled by NATO intervention.

Ivanovic was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2016 for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 war, but the verdict was annulled on appeal in 2017 and a new trial was ordered at the time of his assassination.

Russian mortality statistics show that the number of Russian troops killed since the all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 likely exceed 71,000, according to a new report.

The June 27 report, by the independent outlet Important Stories, was the latest effort by journalists and nongovernment groups to come up with a plausible estimate of Russian casualties.

Neither the Kremlin nor the Defense Ministry has released any official casualty figures since September 2022, when the ministry announced that 5,937 troops had been killed since the start of the invasion -- a number that was widely seen as implausible.

Western estimates vary. Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at least 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. The chief of Britain’s armed forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, estimated the Russian tally would reach 500,000 by the end of June.

Using open sources -- including published obituaries, inheritance records, and social media posts -- the Russian outlet Mediazona, along with the BBC Russian Service, have compiled a running tally of casualties. As of June 21, that tally stood at 56,858.

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Important Stories, meanwhile, used a methodology similar to what independent researchers used during the COVID-19 pandemic, when government figures appeared to have been artificially deflated.

During the pandemic, experts and statisticians looked at “excess mortality” rates -- essentially, the number of deaths that occurred beyond the average or typical number recorded from the past year -- to compile what they said was a more accurate estimate of COVID deaths.

Using data from Russia’s national statistics agency, Rosstat, Important Stories looked at excess mortality data for men between 20 and 49 years old, the age group of Russian soldiers.

The final estimate in excess of 71,000 was likely an undercount, the outlet said, because many of the troops are former prison inmates, while others are non-Russian migrants whose numbers are not always reflected in official data. Important Stories said its estimate was reviewed by outside demographers.

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For its part, Ukraine has also released little information about its war casualties. In February, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said publicly that 31,000 soldiers had been killed in the two years since the launch of the Russian invasion.

Western officials, however, have said the figure was also likely an undercount.

Russia and Ukraine have handled the issue of replenishing depleted ranks differently. After President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization in September 2022, military recruiters were able to muster an estimated 300,000 Russian men to send to Ukraine.

Troop levels were boosted further by private mercenary companies like Wagner Group, which relied heavily on prison inmates. Wagner was dissolved after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash, and its units were largely absorbed into the Defense Ministry.

Ukraine, however, which has a smaller population than Russia, has struggled to boost its troop numbers. After months of delays, parliament passed sweeping reforms to its recruitment and mobilization regulations, which officials say could bring in another 500,000 troops into the war effort.

But critics say the measures fail the address the question of rotations -- giving units a chance to rest away from frontline fighting -- or of demobilization, when an active-duty soldier can legally leave service.

Finland on June 28 approved a 24th package of military aid for Ukraine worth 159 million euros ($170 million), the Finnish Defense Ministry announced. Finnish President Alexander Stubb approved the new aid package at the request of the government. The ministry did not specify what is included in the package, as well as when and in what way the aid will be delivered. "Finland is committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against unjust Russian aggression. It is not only about Ukraine, it is also about the right of all free nations to a normal existence," said Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on June 28 dissolved the South Caucasus nation's parliament and set September 1 for elections, moving the vote up from November. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party initiated the move last week saying that events to be held in the country, including the UN climate conference (COP29), warranted moving the date. The Constitutional Court approved the change on June 27. Opposition politicians and parties criticized the move as a tool to falsify the elections' results. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, click here.

Poland will almost certainly sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine before July's NATO summit in Washington, the Polish prime minister said on June 28. A day earlier, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that before the NATO summit in Washington, which starts on July 9, talks will be held in Warsaw with the president of Ukraine. "I must, together with the defense minister, determine how we can continue to help Ukraine, but we cannot weaken Poland's defense capabilities," Tusk told reporters. "There is a 99 percent chance that we will sign this agreement with [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy (before the summit)."

A court in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya again rejected a request by Zarema Musayeva, the imprisoned mother of three self-exiled outspoken Chechen opposition activists, for an early release.

Musayeva's lawyer, Aleksandr Savin, filed the request as his client had served a half of her sentence, making her eligible for early release.

The Team Against Torture human rights group on June 27 quoted Savin as saying that the court in the city of Shali rejected the request.

The court said in explaining its decision that Musayeva continues to reject the charge of attacking a law enforcement officer, is registered as a potential threat to officials, and did not cover damages to OTP Bank in a fraud case that Savin has called baseless, stressing that the bank has never sued his client.

In early June, Musayeva's separate request for an early release due to the state of her health was also rejected after a new diagnosis made by state medical personnel.

In April, a state medical commission in Chechnya replaced Musayeva's previous diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes with multiple complications with a revised assessment of Type 2 diabetes without complications.

Musayeva, who is serving a five-year term in a colony settlement -- a dormitory-like penitentiary located near an industrial facility where convicts work alongside regular employees -- was hospitalized in late March after her eyesight deteriorated sharply and lumps appeared on her body.

Human rights groups have said Musayeva needs proper medical assistance as she has an acute form of diabetes, cataracts, and a constant pain in her knee.

Musayeva is the mother of Ibragim, Abubakar, and Baisangur Yangulbayev, all of whom have fled the country citing harassment from Chechen authorities over their online criticism of Kremlin-backed Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov.

Chechen police and security officers detained Musayeva in January 2022 in her apartment in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, some 1,800 kilometers from Chechnya, and forcibly returned her to the North Caucasus region's capital, Grozny.

In July last year, a court in Chechnya sentenced Musayeva to 5 1/2 years in prison on charges of fraud and attacking a police officer, which Musayeva and her supporters have denied.

In September, the Supreme Court of Chechnya shortened Musayeva's prison term by six months and said Musayeva must serve her term in a colony settlement instead of a correctional colony.

Kadyrov, other Chechen officials, and a member of the Russian Duma have publicly vowed to kill all members of the Yangulbayev family, calling them "terrorists."

Journalists, rights activists, and other Russians have urged the government to punish those who issued the threats.

Abubakar Yangulbayev has accused Kadyrov's law enforcement and security officers of "lawlessness on a daily basis in Chechnya" and said the case against his mother is Kadyrov's retaliation for his activities.

Ibragim and Abubakar have said they faced years of pressure from Chechen authorities over their online criticism of Kadyrov and the rights situation in Chechnya.

Many of their relatives have been similarly harassed in Chechnya and even deprived of their homes since Kadyrov and his people vowed to kill them and their families.

The activists' father, retired federal judge Saidi Yangulbayev, and a sister fled Russia in January 2022, following the threats.

Russian and international human rights groups have for years accused Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses, including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community.

Kremlin critics say Putin has turned a blind eye to the abuses because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in mostly Muslim Chechnya.

ASTANA -- Kazakh lawmaker Abzal Quspan said on June 28 that the Central Asian nation's presidential commission on clemencies had rejected a pardon request filed by Karim Masimov, a once-powerful politician who twice served as Kazakhstan's prime minister and now is serving 18 years in prison on charges of high treason and attempting to seize power during unrest in 2022.

Masimov officially asked President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev for clemency in March.

Officials said that despite the appeal, Masimov still faced charges of bribe-taking and money laundering, which are currently under investigation.

Masimov, a close ally of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev, was jailed in April 2023 over his role in deadly events that followed unprecedented anti-government protests in the former Soviet republic in January 2022.

The unrest began in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen in January 2022 over a sudden fuel price hike. But the demonstrations, buffeted by anger over corruption, political stagnation, and widespread injustice, quickly grew.

Much of the protesters' ire appeared directed at Nazarbaev, who ruled Kazakhstan from 1989 until March 2019, when he handed over power to President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.

However, Nazarbaev was widely believed to remain in control behind the scenes.

The protests were violently dispersed by police and military personnel, including troops of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization whom Toqaev invited into the country claiming that "20,000 extremists who were trained in terrorist camps abroad" had attacked Almaty.

The authorities have provided no evidence proving Toqaev’s claim about foreign terrorists.