MOSCOW -- Russia's government has relaxed safety and emission standards for locally built vehicles as it looks to stimulate production following an exodus of Western manufacturers over Moscow's war in Ukraine.
According to a government resolution quietly approved on May 12, airbags and seat-belt pretensioners, which lock seat belts in place in the event of a crash, will no longer be mandatory in automobiles.
The resolution, which will be valid until February 1, 2023, also allows the production of vehicles without anti-lock braking systems (ABS), electronic stability controls (ESC), and emergency signal systems, all standard safety equipment for new cars in most parts of the world.
The safety systems were introduced in car-making standards in Russia after leading foreign automobile makers came to the market in the early 2000s.
However, major car producers have exited the market since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The most recent major automaker to leave was Renault, which on May 16 said it was selling its 100 percent stake in Renault Russia to the city of Moscow, while its 67.69 percent interest in AvtoVAZ will be sold to the state-owned Central Research and Development Automobile and Engine Institute, with a provision to buy back that stake "at certain times during the next 6 years."
Lithuania has begun a ban on the rail transit of goods subject to European Union sanctions to the Russian far-western exclave of Kaliningrad, transport authorities in the Baltic nation said on June 18.
The EU sanctions list includes coal, metals, construction materials, and advanced technology.
Anton Alikhanov, the governor of the Russian oblast, said the ban would cover around 50 percent of the items that Kaliningrad imports.
Alikhanov said the region, which has an ice-free port on the Baltic Sea, will call on Russian federal authorities to take tit-for-tat measures against the EU country for imposing the ban. He said he would also seek to have more goods sent by ship to the oblast.
The cargo unit of Lithuania's state railways service set out details of the ban in a letter to clients following "clarification" from the European Commission on the mechanism for applying the sanctions.
Previously, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas said the ministry was waiting for "clarification from the European Commission on applying European sanctions to Kaliningrad cargo transit."
The commission stated that sanctioned goods and cargo should still be prohibited even if they travel from one part of Russia to another but through EU territory.
The European Union, United States, and others have set strict sanctions on Moscow for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The ministry did not comment on the issue following the state railway confirmation.
Russia's Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, became part of the Soviet Union after World War II. It has a population of about 430,000 people and hosts the headquarters of Russia's Baltic sea fleet.
Massive floods caused by monsoon rains in northeastern India and Bangladesh have killed dozens of people and left millions of homes under water, regional authorities say.
Both countries called in their militaries on June 18 to help with rescue efforts as more flooding and rains are expected over the weekend.
In India's state of Assam, at least nine people were killed and some 2 million saw their homes submerged, the disaster management agency said.
Lightning strikes in parts of neighboring Bangladesh killed at least 15 people in the past two days, authorities said.
Water levels in all major rivers across Bangladesh were rising to dangerous levels, according to the flood forecasting and warning center in Dhaka, the capital.
The government described the flooding in Bangladesh as potentially the country's worst since 2004, exacerbated by the runoff from heavy rain across Indian mountains.
"Much of the country's northeast is underwater and the situation is getting worse as heavy downpour continues," said Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, chief administrator of Bangladesh's Sylhet region.
Bangladesh and India have experienced increasing extreme weather in recent years.
Environmentalists have warned that climate change could lead to more disasters, especially in low-lying areas of densely populated Bangladesh.
KYIV -- Hundreds of people gathered at two sites in central Kyiv on June 18 to mourn the death of Roman Ratushniy, an activist who became a well-known figure in Ukraine's 2014 pro-West revolution.
Ceremonies were held at St. Michael's monastery and at Kyiv's Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti), where Mayor Vitali Klitschko spoke.
Tearful mourners placed flowers and held banners of Ratushniy at both events, with some shouting, ““Heroes never die!”
The 24-year-old Ukrainian was killed on June 9 in the battle against Russian troops for the city of Izyum in the east of the country, about 115 kilometers northwest of Syevyerodonetsk.
Ratushniy joined the Ukrainian armed forces on the first day of Russia’s February 24 full-scale invasion of his country.
The activist had participated in the 2014 Euromaidan anti-government rallies that toppled Ukraine's Russia-friendly president, Viktor Yanukovych, and helped move the country closer to the West.
Since then, he has become known for his civic and environmental activism.
German authorities are investing several hundred possible war crimes committed by Russian personnel in Ukraine, a top police official said.
Holger Muench, chief of the BKA federal police, told The Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an article published on June 18 that “up to now, we have received a triple-digit number of leads” concerning potential war crimes.
Muench said the probes do not only cover those suspected of directly committing war crimes but also political or military officials who may have ordered them.
"It's the most difficult part of our inquiry, intricate puzzle work," told the newspaper. "Our clear goal is to identify those responsible for atrocities, to prove their actions through our investigations, and bring them to justice," including in Germany.
German authorities are being aided by the country’s foreign intelligence service, using such evidence as recorded radio conversations of Russian soldiers.
Germany is operating under universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.
However, "that may take time" because probes tied to the conflict in Ukraine conflict are still at their "very beginning," the police chief said.
He added that German investigators could be sent to Ukraine but only under an international mandate.
An F-14 fighter jet belonging to Iran's military crashed in the central Isfahan region on June 18 due to a technical failure, Iranian news agencies reported.
The pilot and co-pilot ejected safely and suffered only minor injuries, IRNA reported.
“An Air Force F-14 fighter plane suffered a technical failure during a mission this morning as it was landing in the Shahid Babaei base in Isfahan,” IRNA said.
Rasul Motamedi, head of the military's public relations department in Isfahan, told Fars news agency that the U.S.-made warplane was on a training mission in the area.
Iran’s air force has an assortment of U.S.-made military aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution as well as Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi warplanes.
Decades of Western sanctions have made it hard to obtain spare parts and maintain the aging fleet.
In May a fighter jet crashed in the central desert of Iran, killing both pilots. In February, a fighter jet plunged into a soccer field in the country’s northwestern city of Tabriz, killing both pilots and a civilian.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed Brussels' support for his embattled country's European Union bid as a "historic" achievement.
The European Commission recommended Ukraine and Moldova be granted European Union candidate status, a move that marks the start of what will likely be a long journey toward full EU integration.
The recommendation, announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on June 17, will be discussed by leaders of the 27-nation bloc during a summit next week in Brussels. Launching accession talks requires unanimous approval from all member countries.
The unprecedented move by the European body comes as Kyiv fights a devastating war against Russia, which launched an unprovoked invasion of its neighbor on February 24 that has killed tens of thousands of people and caused huge material destruction.
Even though EU membership could still be years away, Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, called the decision a "historic achievement" and said it would "certainly bring our victory closer" against Russia.
"Ukrainian institutions maintain resilience even in conditions of war. Ukrainian democratic habits have not lost their power even now," Zelenskiy said late on June 17.
Announcing the move, Von der Leyen hailed Ukrainians' attachment to European values and their sacrifices in the war against Russia's unprovoked invasion. "We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream," von der Leyen said at a press conference in Brussels. In a largely symbolic move, Zelenskiy also announced that Ukraine would be scrapping visa-free entry for Russians from next month.
"According to a decision that is planned by the Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine will introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens from July 1, 2022," he said.
In Chisinau, Moldovan President Maia Sandu also hailed the European Commission's announcement, pledging that Moldovans will "work hard" to achieve ultimate membership in the EU.
"The recommendation is based on the understanding that our country would put more efforts in such key areas as justice reform, fight against corruption, public administration, and human rights," Sandu said.
"This is an important moment for the future of the Republic of Moldova, and this is the hope our citizens need," she said on Telegram, adding that "we know that the process will be difficult, but we are determined to follow this path."
The commission said another aspirant that submitted its membership this spring, Georgia, would only receive candidate status once it met certain conditions.
"It should be granted candidate status once a number of priorities have been addressed," the commission said in a statement.
"To succeed, the country must now come together politically, to design a clear path toward structural reform and the European Union -- a path that concretely sets out the necessary reforms, brings on board civil society, and benefits from broad political support," von der Leyen said at the news conference.
In reaction to the announcement, the Kremlin said that it was closely following Ukraine's efforts to become an EU member.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the issue "requires our heightened attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of strengthening the defense component of the EU."
"There are various transformations that we are observing in the most careful way," he told a telephone briefing with journalists. Brussel's groundbreaking decision was largely expected after it was recommended by the leaders of the EU's largest three economies during a visit on June 16 to the Ukrainian capital.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said after a meeting with Zelenskiy that they were in favor of Ukraine receiving "immediate" candidate status.
The visit carried heavy symbolism for the EU's backing of Zelenskiy, who has called on the European Union to offer his nation membership through a shortened procedure that would amount to a “powerful response” to Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
Zelenskiy submitted Ukraine's bid for EU membership shortly after the Russian invasion began on February 24, with Moldova and Georgia following suit immediately afterward.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on June 18 that Ukraine can and should host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest after the organizers of the popular Continent-wide music competition said they were looking to hold it in Britain instead due to the war, to Kyiv's disappointment.
Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra last month won the competition that draws hundreds of millions of viewers throughout the world, and according to tradition, Kyiv should host next year's competition.
But the organizers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), said on June 17 that given the current circumstances in war-torn Ukraine "the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize, and produce the Eurovision Song Contest...cannot be fulfilled" in Ukraine.
Therefore, the EBU said, discussions would be held with the runner up, Britain, to organize the contest.
"Of course I would love it to be in this country but the fact is they won and they deserve to have it and I believe they can have it and I believe that they should have it," Johnson told reporters on arrival back in Britain after a visit to Kyiv.
"I believe that Kyiv or any other safe Ukrainian city would be a fantastic place to have it," he added. "It is a year away, it is going to be fine by the time the Eurovision Song Contest comes round and I hope the Ukrainians get it."
Ukraine has condemned the EBU's move, with Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko saying Kyiv wants the decision reversed.
"We will demand to change this decision, because we believe that we will be able to fulfil all the commitments...We demand additional negotiations on hosting Eurovision-2023 in Ukraine," Tkachenko said in a statement on June 22.
Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point dropped to 41.4 million cubic meters (mcm) on June 18 from 41.9 mcm the previous day.
An application to supply gas via another major entry point, Sokhranovka, was rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov told reporters.
Gazprom on June 15 cut its natural gas deliveries to Germany after saying Germany's Siemens had delayed the repair work of compressor units at a station on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Berlin slammed the move as "political" and a pretext to sow uncertainty and drive up prices.
Italian energy giant Eni also reported problems, saying on June 16 it will receive only 65 percent of the gas requested from Gazprom, while France's network provider said it had not received any Russian gas by pipeline from Germany since June 15.
The shortfall coincided with a visit to Ukraine by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Romania. The leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and afterward backed “immediate” EU candidate status for Ukraine.
Desperate Ukrainian forces continued to put up fierce resistance in and around Syevyerodonetsk, buoyed politically by vocal support by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union ahead of a summit next week that could lead to EU candidacy status.
Syevyerodonetsk, the focus of Russia’s offensive to capture full control of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, remained under heavy artillery fire on June 18, as did the sister city of Lysychansk, just across the Severskiy Donets River.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 18 made a rare trip outside the capital, Kyiv, visiting the embattled southern city of Mykolaiv for the first time since the start of Russia's invasion in February.
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"Our brave men and women, each one of them is working flat out," Zelenskiy said in a video from Mykolaiv. "We will definitely hold out! We will definitely win!"
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, told Voice of America without giving details that Kyiv plans to resume peace talks with Russia by the end of August after counterattack operations have been carried out and the country is in a better position to negotiate.
Johnson, who made a surprise visit to Kyiv on June 17, urged fellow Western leaders to avoid "Ukraine fatigue" as the conflict drags on nearly four months after Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
"The Russians are grinding forward inch by inch, and it is vital for us to show what we know to be true, which is that Ukraine can win and will win," he told reporters in London.
"When Ukraine fatigue is setting in, it is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul and we are giving them the strategic resilience that they need," Johnson added.
The Ukrainian military said on June 18 there was continuous "fire from artillery and rocket-propelled grenade launchers at the positions of our troops and civilian infrastructure" in Lysychansk.
Serhiy Hayday, the military governor of Luhansk, the region where the twin cities of Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk are located, said late on June 18 that Russian offensives on towns and villages south of Syevyerodonetsk were pushed by Ukrainian forces, although the situation remains “difficult” in many areas.
"The Russians have thrown all their reserves in the direction of Syevyerodonetsk and Bakhmut," Hayday said in a posting online.
"They are trying to establish full control over the regional center and to cut the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway. They're having no success. They are dying en masse."
Rodion Miroshnik, an official in what the separatists call the Luhansk People's Republic, said in an online posting that a big explosion had rocked the Syevyerodonetsk area and that a large orange-colored cloud was seen in the air.
Battlefield claims on both sides could not immediately be verified.
The British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on June 18 that in the past 48 hours, Russian forces likely renewed their push south of the city of Izyum, some 115 kilometers northwest of Syevyerodonetsk, aiming to envelop the city from the north.
Hayday said it was impossible to evacuate more than 500 civilians who are trapped inside the Azot chemical plant in Syevyerodonetsk.
He said around 10,000 civilians, out of a prewar population of 100,000, remain trapped in Syevyerodonetsk, with essential supplies running out.
The United Nations has put the number of civilians still trapped in the city at 12,000.
Russia earlier this week offered what it said was a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians toward Moscow-controlled territory and demanded that Ukrainian fighters holed up in the Azot plant surrender. Ukraine has ignored the Russian offer.
The British intelligence bulletin noted that Russia, both earlier in the Ukraine campaign and in Syria, has used unilaterally declared humanitarian corridors as a mechanism to manipulate the battle space and impose the forced transfer of populations.
Russia’s proposed route, British intelligence said, would take civilians toward the town of Svatova, deeper inside Russian-occupied territory.
If trapped civilians refuse Moscow's offer of exiting via a corridor, Russian will likely claim justification in making less of a distinction between them and any Ukrainian military targets in the area, British intelligence concluded in its bulletin.
In Mykolaiv, Zelenskiy "inspected the building of the Mykolaiv regional state administration which was destroyed as a result of a missile strike by Russian forces," the president's office said in a statement.
Mykolaiv has been holding the defense of southern Ukraine, as it lies on the way to the key strategic Black Sea port of Odesa.
Zelenskiy's visit came a day after a Russian strike killed two people and injured 20 in Mykolaiv, which has been regularly targeted by Russian forces since the start of their invasion on February 24.
Zelenskiy also took part in a meeting with local officials in what looked like an underground basement, giving out awards for bravery.
Russian forces also launched missile strikes on Ukraine's largest oil refinery on July 18, according to the regional governor in the central Poltava region.
"Kremenchuk [oil refinery] is again under enemy strike. Between six and eight Russian missiles hit refineries and other infrastructure," Dmytro Lunin said in a Telegram message.
Ukraine said its forces sank a Russian naval tugboat with two Harpoon missiles in the Black Sea on June 17, the first time it has claimed to have struck a Russian vessel with Western-supplied anti-ship weapons.
No media source currently available
"Later it became known that it sank," Odesa military governor Maksym Marchenko said in a video statement on his Telegram channel after initial reports that the Vasily Bech vessel had been hit.
The claim could not be independently confirmed. There was no comment from the Russian side.
Ukraine has repeatedly requested more advance heavy weaponry to help its outnumbered and outgunned forces stave off Russia's all-out assault.
British PM Johnson offered to launch a military training program for Ukrainian forces during his surprise meeting with Zelenskiy in Kyiv on June 17.
Ukraine has been losing thousands of its best soldiers in the grinding war in the Donbas in Ukraine's east. Zelenskiy said as many as 100 Ukrainian soldiers are dying a day.
Russia is allegedly housing members of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in a Moscow-controlled region in southern Ukraine in unoccupied, privately owned apartments, according to a local official.
Russia gained control of Kherson, located just north of annexed Crimea, shortly after it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February and later installed a Moscow-friendly administration.
The war prompted thousands of local residents to flee Kherson for Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Now, Russia is placing FSB officers brought in to help maintain control of the region in apartments belonging to those who fled, according to Serhiy Khlan, deputy chief of the Kherson regional council in exile.
Khlan said FSB officers and their families are mainly staying in hotels in Kherson city, the capital of the region of the same name, but are seeking more “comfortable” conditions.
The FSB is making a list of apartments whose owners may have fled for good in order to use to resettle officers and their families, he said.
Due to the ongoing conflict in Kherson, RFE/RL could not immediately confirm Khlan’s claims.
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A Kazakh activist who said he was tortured and beaten while in custody earlier this year has been sent to pretrial detention on a charge of taking part in "mass disorders."
Qosai Makhanbaev was taken into pretrial detention late on June 16 after serving a 15-day sentence for picketing the Almaty city prosecutor's office without permission, according to Ainara Aidarkhanova, one of his lawyers.
Makhanbaev was one of dozens of people who claimed they were tortured by police and jail guards after they were arrested during and after anti-government protests in Almaty and other towns and cities in the Central Asian nation in January.
Weeks after his arrest in January, Makhanbaev was rushed to the hospital with severe bodily wounds and bruises and later released but ordered not to leave the city while the prosecutor's office investigated his claims of torture.
The Almaty city prosecutor’s office said at the time that it had launched 87 probes into alleged torture of inmates, but it appears to have made little headway.
Frustrated with what they believed was a deliberate attempt to quash the investigations, dozens of people who claimed they were beaten while in custody began rallying outside the city prosecutor's office in April.
Makhanbaev was detained in early June for taking part in one of the rallies and sentenced to 15 days in prison.
His lawyers said they only learned he was sent to pretrial detention the following day.
Protests in the remote town of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan's southwest over a sudden fuel-price hike in early January quickly spread across the country and led to violent clashes.
Kazakh authorities say at least 230 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed during the violence. Human rights groups say the number of those killed is much higher.
Authorities said about 800 people have been arrested for involvement in the unrest, while dozens have been sentenced to various prison terms.
There have been numerous reports that many of those in custody were tortured by the police.
Two former U.S. Marines who volunteered to fight in Ukraine against Russian forces have reportedly been captured.
Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27 -- both from Alabama -- were reportedly taken prisoner during a fight near Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast.
Russian media on June 17 broadcast images and video of the two men in custody.
Drueke and Huynh went missing last week, according to family members.
Hundreds of foreigners from the West have volunteered to fight for Ukraine after Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the first weeks of the war had called on foreigners with military experience to help defend the country.
Several foreign fighters have been killed since the war started in February, while a few have been captured.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised more military aid to Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv.
“We are with you to give you the strategic endurance that you will need,” Johnson said on June 17, shortly before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Johnson did not go into detail on what new aid his nation will provide to Ukraine.
Kyiv has been pleading with Western nations for more heavy artillery, including howitzers and rocket launchers, saying it is outgunned 10-to-1.
Ukraine has been slowly losing territory in the Donbas due to Russia’s greater firepower, experts have said.
Nonetheless, Ukrainian forces are continuing to put up fierce resistance.
Johnson, who was making his second visit to Kyiv since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24, said Russian forces are "taking heavy casualties."
Johnson’s visit comes a day after the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, and Romania visited Ukraine in a show of support.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz said in an interview in Berlin on June 17 that he is keeping an open line with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to end the war, but said Moscow will not be able to dictate peace terms.
He said he would tell Putin that he is mistaken "if you really believe that you will rob some land, and then hope that the times will change and all things will...become normal."
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of colonial arrogance and said its sanctions "blitzkrieg" against his country has failed in his latest tirade against the United States and Europe.
Addressing the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 17 -- a showcase event being held this year with almost no Western participation -- Putin defended his country’s invasion of Ukraine, which many in the United States and Europe say is akin to the colonization wars of past centuries.
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Putin baselessly claimed that the main aim of the unprovoked invasion was to defend "our" people in the largely Russian-speaking Donbas region of eastern Ukraine -- a justification that Kyiv and the West dismiss as a baseless pretext for his imperialist ambitions.
Days before the economic forum, Putin had likened himself to 17th-century Czar Peter the Great, who expanded the Russian empire following the defeat of Sweden in 1709.
Putin claimed Russia was “forced” to invade Ukraine and said he would push ahead with the 4-month-old war despite facing fierce resistance by Ukrainian forces and significant losses of men and equipment.
The Russian president lashed out at the United States for its role in global affairs, saying Washington considers itself "God's emissary on Earth.”
He said Russia would be playing a greater role in what he called an emerging new world order.
"Nothing will be as it used to be in global politics," he said.
He also dismissed the West’s sanction regime, saying predictions of economic collapse in Russia have been grossly overstated.
Western experts say Russia’s economy could contract as much as 15 percent this year due to the sanctions, though the impact would be felt mainly in the second half of the year.
Putin also said that the sanctions would ricochet hard against Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy.
Separately, Putin dismissed Western accusations that Moscow is responsible for a sharp rise in global grain prices due to what Washington and Brussels say is a Russian naval blockade of ports in Ukraine, a major exporter of wheat and sunflower oil.
He claimed Russia was ready to guarantee the transit of ships exporting Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea and that Ukraine had alternative land routes, something Western experts say is not feasible.
The St. Petersburg Economic Forum once gathered thousands of business leaders from around the world, including the CEOs of top Western firms, to discuss Russia's development and announce blockbuster investment deals inside the country.
Western participation declined following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and all but ceased this year as hundreds of companies -- from Coca Cola to Exxon -- have announced their exit from the country after the invasion of Ukraine in February.
PRUZHANY, Belarus -- A 65-year-old political activist in Belarus has been handed a 42-month prison term on charges of discrediting the nation and slandering its authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, as the government continues its heavy-handed crackdown on dissent.
Alena Hnauk was sentenced on June 17 by the Pruzhany district court in the western region of Brest, her relatives said.
Hnauk, a former lawyer, has been detained and charged with anti-government activities several times since nationwide protests erupted in August 2020 following a presidential vote that opposition leaders say was rigged in favor of Lukashenka.
The 67-year-old strongman has ruled Belarus since 1994.
Hnauk's charges stem from her online posts criticizing a migrant crisis triggered by Lukashenka along the Belarusian border with Poland and Lithuania last year.
After his nation was hit with tough European sanctions for its crackdown on peaceful protesters, Lukashenka retaliated by forcing thousands of migrants -- largely from the Middle East -- to the EU border.
The Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council says that more than 100 teachers were arrested for participating in widespread protests demanding better working conditions and the release of other imprisoned teachers.
The council said on its Telegram channel on June 17 that 60 teachers in Shiraz, about 30 teachers in Kurdistan Province, 10 teachers in Qazvin, six teachers in Rasht, and three teachers in Khomeini-Shahr were arrested during a nationwide rally the previous day. Iranian teachers have been taking to the streets across the country to demand better pay and working conditions. In response, the authorities have summoned, detained, and jailed a growing number of protesters and activists, actions that have failed to stop the rallies. Ismail Abdi, secretary-general of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, has been in prison since 2015. Iranian authorities sentenced him to six years in 2016 on charges of "propaganda against the government" and "collusion against national security." Labor protests in Iran have been on the rise in recent years in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of insurance support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right to form independent unions.
Dutch authorities say they have prevented a Russian spy posing as a Brazilian intern from infiltrating the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it investigates war crimes allegedly committed by Russian troops during Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (AIVD) said on June 16 that the suspect, identified as Sergei Vladimirovich Cherkasov, came to the country in April using an elaborate deep-cover story that he had built up over the past 12 years.
According to AIVD, the 36-year-old is an agent with Russia's military intelligence (GRU) and used a fake identity to portray himself as a 33-year-old Brazilian citizen named Viktor Muller Ferreira.
The statement also said that Cherkasov was immediately deported back to Brazil upon his arrival, where he was arrested on a charge of identity fraud.
"If this person had been given the opportunity to actually do work at the ICC, he could have gathered intelligence here, spot (or recruit) resources and gain access to digital systems. In this way, the man could have met the GRU's intelligence needs to a significant extent. He may also have been able to influence criminal cases within the ICC," the AIVD statement said.
Brazilian police confirmed Cherkasov’s arrest in a statement, adding that the Russian man initially arrived in the country in 2010, positioning himself as a Brazilian national. He then resided for several years in Ireland and the United States before he returned to Brazil and started preparations to move to the Netherlands, the statement said.
Vahid Bagheri, one of the protesters detained after deadly demonstrations in November 2019, is in critical condition as his hunger strike entered its 38th day.
Bagheri was sentenced by the Tehran Revolutionary Court to six years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the government and collusion,” of which five years are enforceable. He has been on a hunger strike since May 6 to protest his imprisonment and the authorities' refusal to grant him parole, which he was eligible for after serving the first 20 months of his sentence. “Today is the 38th day Vahid is on a hunger strike and his physical condition is very acute. We asked him several times not to harm his health and to break the strike. But Vahid says that, 'Either I’ll be released, or my dead body will come out of here,'" Rasoul Bagheri, Vahid's brother, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda on June 17. The November 2019 nationwide anti-government protests were prompted by the resumption of gasoline quotas in Iran and a 200 percent increase in gasoline prices.
News agencies and human rights organizations abroad, based on their research and sources, have put the death toll from the protests at several hundred to 1,500, while officials in Iran have refused to give the exact number of people killed.
Human rights groups have reported that at least 8,600 people were detained during the protests, which spread across 22 Iranian provinces.
Rasoul Bagheri said that he and his family went to parliament last week to protest his brother's situation, but that their calls for action fell on deaf ears before they were confronted by security forces.
"We went in front of the parliament to make our voices heard by the deputies and officials so that the responsible deputies would come and ask us about our pain. No one came. Immediately, security forces mistreated our family and arrested me, telling me that we no longer have the right to go to the parliament" he said.
MOSCOW -- Supporters of the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow --labeled as a foreign agent and shut down by a court in December -- have created a new group called Memorial, The Center To Defend Human Rights.
The group announced on June 17 that the new human rights center was established as an organization without the status of a legal entity.
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"The new organization will document and publish information about significant violations of human rights, and will contribute to the defense of the rights of victims of gross violations, including political prisoners and vulnerable groups," the founders' statement says.
The Memorial Human Rights Center was shut down by a Moscow court decision in late December at the request of Moscow prosecutors who accused one of the country's most respected human rights organizations of violating the law on "foreign agents."
In a parallel case in December, the Supreme Court ruled that Memorial International, a stand-alone group and the umbrella organization for many regional branches and the Memorial Human Rights Center, should be liquidated on the same charge.
Memorial and its supporters called the move by the Russian authorities politically motivated.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has demanded Russian authorities suspend the implementation of the courts' decisions while the ECHR hears Memorial's case.
MOSCOW -- Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov has announced the planned launch of a new media project following the suspension of the Novaya gazeta newspaper, where he was editor in chief.
Muratov said in a statement on June 16 that the two first letters of his suspended newspaper, NO, will be the name of the new project, which he sees as an appendix to Novaya gazeta. "No" can be translated from Russian as "but." "We will also launch a YouTube channel under that name," Muratov's statement said. He gave no further details. In late March, Novaya gazeta suspended its operations after receiving warnings regarding its coverage of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine from Roskomnadzor, the state communications regulator, which would have allowed Roskomnadzor to pursue closing it down through court action. Russia strictly limits how media can describe events in Ukraine, which it labels a "special military operation."
Several other Russian media outlets have already opted for suspending operations rather than face heavy restrictions on what they can report, and the Kremlin has also blocked multiple foreign news outlets. Last month, exiled journalists from Novaya gazeta launched a new publication in Latvia. Novaya gazeta.Europe appeared on newsstands in Riga and on the Internet on May 6. It is published in cooperation with a Latvian publishing house by editors of the paper who fled abroad. The issue appeared in both Russian and Latvian and reported extensively on Russia's war in Ukraine. In April, Muratov said he was attacked while riding in a train in Russia by an assailant who threw a mixture of red oil paint and acetone on him. Doctors later diagnosed Muratov with eye burns.
Although Novaya gazeta identified the attacker as an activist linked to the Union of Russian Paratroopers, Nikolai Trifonov, he has not been arrested. Earlier in June, Muratov put his Nobel medal up for auction to raise funds to help some of the millions of Ukrainians who have fled the country since Russia invaded on February 24. Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa, who co-founded Rappler, a news website critical of the Philippine government.
A former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has been handed a 14-year prison term in Russia for illegal drug trafficking after he was caught entering the country with medical marijuana he says was prescribed to him after back surgery.
A court in the town of Khimki near Moscow said on June 17 that U.S. citizen Marc Fogel, who works as a teacher at the Anglo-American School in the Russian capital, was sentenced the day before.
According to the court statement, Fogel, who was detained in August last year upon his arrival with his wife in Moscow from New York, pleaded guilty. Fogel says he had medical papers explicitly showing the marijuana was prescribed by doctors and that it was solely for medical use.
Fogel was quoted at the time as saying that he had not known that medical marijuana was illegal in Russia. His lawyers said then that Russian authorities had found 17 grams of marijuana in his possession. U.S. officials have yet to comment on Fogel's sentencing. Fogel is one of several Americans incarcerated in Russia in recent years on charges that their families, supporters, and in some cases the U.S. government, have said appear trumped up. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was sentenced by a court in Moscow to 16 years in prison in May 2020 on espionage charges condemned by the United States as a "mockery of justice." Another former U.S. Marine, Trevor Reed, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 after being arrested and charged with assaulting two Russian police officers in 2019, which he denied. He was released in a prisoner swap in April. Another American whose detention by Russian authorities has drawn criticism is basketball star Brittney Griner. She was arrested in February at a Moscow airport after the authorities said a scan of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing hash oil. Griner, who played for a Russian professional basketball team, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on illegal drug charges. She has pleaded not guilty and the United States has designated her as "wrongfully detained."
The European Commission will recommend candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, several sources familiar with the talks told RFE/RL, though the nod will come with conditions.
The commission is expected on June 17 to hand down its assessment of membership applications submitted by Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. The sources said Georgia will receive a pledge to be given candidate status once it meets specific conditions.
The recommendations are seen as a significant boost for the three countries, particularly for Ukraine, which hopes a quick path to the EU will add to its security amid Russia's unprovoked invasion. The sources said further progress for Ukraine and Moldova will be conditioned by compliance in various policy fields, with the European Commission set to assess the situation by the end of the year. For Ukraine, these conditions are believed to include transparency in prosecutorial appointments, the safeguarding of national minorities, and legislation in areas such as money laundering and de-oligarchization. For Moldova, the conditions include judiciary reforms, energy, climate action, food safety, and competition policy. For Georgia, the strict conditions to receive candidate status apply to reforms in the judiciary, amid years of concern in Brussels that Tbilisi has been backsliding in that area. The sources said that certain issues remain open, such as the possibility to reverse candidate status in case progress on the conditions laid out aren't achieved. There are also talks on whether or not there should be certain political steps taken by the countries even before the status is granted. Such issues are expected to be discussed when EU leaders meet in Brussels on June 23-24 to make a final decision on the European Commission's recommendations. There has been skepticism among several western EU member states about granting candidate status to the trio, but both France and Germany appear to be on board after a June 16 trip to Kyiv that included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The United Nations says that four months into Russia's unprovoked invasion, the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine has reached an "extremely alarming" level and keeps worsening.
"Nearly four months since the start of the war, the humanitarian situation across Ukraine -- particularly in the eastern Donbas -- is extremely alarming and continues to deteriorate rapidly," the UN's humanitarian agency, OCHA, said in a statement. OCHA said the situation was "particularly worrying in and around Syevyerodonetsk," the eastern Ukrainian city where intense fighting has raged for several weeks. "In Syevyerodonetsk, as we have said, thousands of people -- including women, children, and the elderly -- are experiencing constant bombardments and clashes," the statement said. "The parties to the conflict have not reached an agreement to either facilitate safe evacuations of civilians or enable access to aid workers to provide urgent assistance." The UN said there was "diminishing access to clean water, food, sanitation, and electricity" in the city. It said that as "active hostilities continued to escalate" in eastern Ukraine, the war was "taking an enormous toll on civilians, including aid workers." "Despite enormous access challenges, the UN and humanitarian partners have reached over 8.8 million people across Ukraine since the war started," it added.
The European Commission has taken a historic step, recommending Ukraine and Moldova be granted European Union candidate status, a move that marks the start of what will likely be a long journey toward full EU integration.
The recommendation, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on June 17, will be discussed by leaders of the 27-nation bloc during a summit next week in Brussels. Launching accession talks requires unanimous approval from all member countries.
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
The unprecedented move by the European body comes as Kyiv fights a devastating war against Russia, which launched an unprovoked invasion of its neighbor on February 24 that has killed tens of thousands of people and caused huge material destruction. "We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream," von der Leyen said at a press conference in Brussels.
"Yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country. This is based on the understanding that good work has been done, but important work also remains to be done," von der Leyen said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy immediately welcomed the decision as a "first step on the EU membership path that'll certainly bring our victory closer."
Zelenskiy thanked von der Leyen for the commission's "historic decision" and said he expected that EU leaders would give Ukraine a "positive result" at next week's summit.
In a largely symbolic move, Zelenskiy also announced that Ukraine would be scrapping visa-free entry for Russians from next month.
"According to a decision that is planned by the Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine will introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens from July 1, 2022," he said.
In Chisinau, Moldovan President Maia Sandu also hailed the European Commission's announcement.
"The recommendation is based on the understanding that our country would put more efforts in such key areas as justice reform, the fight against corruption, public administration, and human rights," Sandu said.
"This is an important moment for the future of the Republic of Moldova, and this is the hope our citizens need," she said on Telegram, adding that "we know that the process will be difficult, but we are determined to follow this path."
The commission said another aspirant that submitted its membership this spring, Georgia, would only receive candidate status once it meets certain conditions.
"It should be granted candidate status once a number of priorities have been addressed," the commission said in a statement.
"To succeed, the country must now come together politically, to design a clear path towards structural reform and the European Union -- a path that concretely sets out the necessary reforms, brings on board civil society, and benefits from broad political support," von der Leyen said at the news conference.
In reaction to the announcement, the Kremlin said that it was closely following Ukraine's efforts to become an EU member.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the issue "requires our heightened attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of strengthening the defense component of the EU."
"There are various transformations that we are observing in the most careful way," he told a telephone briefing with journalists. Brussel's groundbreaking decision was largely expected after it was recommended by the leaders of the EU's largest three economies during a visit on June 16 to the Ukrainian capital.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said after a meeting with Zelenskiy that they were in favor of Ukraine receiving "immediate" candidate status.
The visit carried heavy symbolism for the EU's backing of Zelenskiy, who has called on the European Union to offer his nation membership through a shortened procedure that would amount to a “powerful response” to Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
Zelenskiy submitted Ukraine's bid for EU membership shortly after the Russian invasion began on February 24, with Moldova and Georgia following suit immediately afterward.
The U.S. agriculture secretary has called on Russia to rapidly open Ukraine's ports to allow the export of millions of tons of stockpiled grain, while a U.S. satellite company says it has images of Russian ships delivering Ukrainian grain to Syria.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters at the UN in New York on June 16 that the situation is "serious” and said food should not be used “as a weapon.”
A Russian Navy blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for weeks has prevented commercial cargo ships from carrying grain to global markets.
Moscow has demanded that economic sanctions on it be lifted in exchange for allowing grain exports.
International grain prices have soared amid the standoff, and key importers in the Middle East and Africa are facing supply shortfalls.
UN officials, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have expressed concern that the situation could worsen hunger in some parts of the world. UN negotiators have been trying to broker a deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports, as well as Russian food and fertilizer exports.
Vilsack said he hoped that Russia's participation in the talks is not just to "create an image."
He urged Moscow "to make sure that they are negotiating in good faith about the reopening of the ports and they do so quickly. Because the need is immediate."
Turkey has said it would host a meeting with the United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine to organize safe corridors for grain exports, but there was no immediate comment from Moscow, which Ukraine says has been stealing its grain.
Those allegations appeared to be backed up on June 16 when the U.S. satellite imagery company Maxar said it has images of Russian-flagged ships carrying Ukrainian grain harvested last season to Syria.
The images show two Russian-flagged ships docked in the Russian-controlled Crimean port of Sevastopol in May being loaded with grain.
Days later, Maxar satellites collected images of the same ships docked in Syria, with their hatches open and trucks lined up to haul the grain away, Maxar said.
The company said another image from June showed a different ship being loaded with grain in Sevastopol.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have occupied since its invasion began in late February.
The deputy head of a Ukrainian agriculture producers union last week said that Russia has stolen about 600,000 tons of grain from occupied territory and exported some of it.
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