Features

• October 21, 2025

  Brussels Moves To Leverage $204 Billion In Russian Assets For Ukraine Loan

  EU leaders will task the European Commission with designing a plan to use $204 billion in frozen Russian assets to back a loan for Ukraine, aiming to fill funding gaps as US support wanes. Key disputes remain over legality, spending rules, and who will share the risk.

• October 21, 2025

  Nord Stream Sabotage Case Back In Court Amid Legal Setbacks, Political Blowback

  Germany’s ongoing effort to pursue Ukrainian citizens it suspects of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines faces its next battle in the high-security bunker courtroom at Bologna prison in northern Italy on October 23, following a series of recent legal and political setbacks.

• October 21, 2025

  Wider Europe Briefing: EU Leaders Might Agree On Russia Sanctions...But Little Else

  In this week's newsletter, RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, previews the upcoming EU summit and looks at Brussels' plan to train Ukrainian soldiers on their own soil.

• October 21, 2025

  Ex-NATO Chief Stoltenberg Says Alliance Let Ukraine Down, US Was 'Defeatist'

  Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance “was letting Ukraine down” by failing to deliver enough support during 2023-24, describing a “defeatist” mood in Washington and European nations as they failed to make promised arms deliveries.

• October 20, 2025

  Here's Why Russia's Vladimir Putin Is Fixated On Ukraine's Donbas

  Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region is central to the Kremlin’s political and military priorities; its importance -- economic, cultural, historic -- stretches back decades, if not centuries. Why the fixation?

• October 20, 2025

  EU Readies New Trade Routes -- And A Challenge To Beijing And Moscow -- At Luxembourg Summit

  Brussels will host top officials from across Central Asia and the Caucasus as the EU aims to use its influence and pocketbook to push back against Beijing and Moscow.

• October 19, 2025

  EU May Train Troops Inside Ukraine As Part Of Expanded Mission

  The EU is considering training Ukrainian troops inside Ukraine and expanding its support with border monitoring, cybersecurity aid, and war veteran reintegration -- moves that would deepen Brussels’ role as Kyiv pushes for stronger defense and eventual EU membership.

• October 18, 2025

  Ukraine, European Leaders Anxiously Eye Trump-Putin Summit After White House Meeting

  Analysts and Ukrainian lawmakers told RFE/RL that the lack of a commitment on Tomahawk missiles, another summit between Putin and Trump, and the US president’s apparent softening rhetoric towards Putin raises the anxiety level in Kyiv.

• October 18, 2025

  Tajik Man Dies In Detention Amid Crackdown On Islam

  A 29-year-old Tajik man has died in custody after he was detained at Dushanbe airport. Authorities accused of Islamic extremism, an allegation that his family vehemently denies.

• October 17, 2025

  Are China's Spy Satellites A Lifeline For Russia's Struggling Space Intelligence?

  The Kremlin has denied that China is providing it with battlefield information, saying it has its own satellites. But experts suggest that, in fact, Russia has a dire need for Chinese assistance.

• October 17, 2025

  Iran's Sudden And Brief 'Shadow Fleet' Reveal

  This edition of the Farda Briefing looks at the surprising -- and brief -- reactivation of the tracking systems on Iran’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers after years of staying in the shadows.

• October 17, 2025

  Inside Bulgaria's Kamikaze Drone Factory

  RFE/RL gained exclusive access to a plant in Bulgaria producing Shahed-like drones as Europe focuses on unmanned aerial weapons, and the technology to stop them.

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