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Ten Injured After Grenade Explodes At Kosovar Market
Ten people were injured when a hand grenade exploded at an animal market early on November 22 in the city of Prizren in southern Kosovo, local authorities told RFE/RL. Prizren police spokesman Vesel Gashi said three people suspected of involvement in the incident have been identified and that police are looking for them. Local news portal Gazeta Express reported that one of the three suspects threw the grenade following a quarrel in the market. Prizren, Kosovo's second-largest city, is located some 86 kilometers southeast of the capital, Pristina. To read the original stoy by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.
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- By RFE/RL
N. Korean Soldier Claims He Thought He Was On Training Mission, Ukraine Says
Ukrainian investigators are questioning two soldiers from North Korea whom the country’s forces captured in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
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“These are two soldiers who, although wounded, survived and were brought to Kyiv and are talking to SBU [Ukrainian Security Service] investigators," Zelenskiy said in a statement on Telegram on January 11.
Zelenskiy's Telegram post included photos of the soldiers he says were taken prisoner. He did not provide evidence that they were North Korean, but if this is confirmed, it will be the first time Ukrainian authorities have published images of captured North Korean troops.
The Ukrainian president said it was “not easy” to capture the North Korean soldiers, claiming that Moscow attempted to hide their presence by letting Russian and North Korean troops kill their wounded comrades on the battlefield to avoid being taken prisoner by Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials said the prisoners were talking through interpreters working with South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS).
The SBU said one prisoner, who said he was born in 2005, claimed he believed he was "going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine."
The other man was forced to write his answers because of an injured jaw, the SBU said. That soldier said he was born in 1999 and was a sniper in the North Korean army.
The developments followed new Ukrainian attacks in Kursk to prevent Russia from snatching back territory. A lightning Ukrainian offensive first captured large swaths of the Kursk region in August 2024. It was the largest incursion onto Russian soil since World War II.
Last fall, Moscow sent some 11,000 North Korean troops to the Kursk region to support Russian forces there. Moscow has reclaimed some 40 percent of the territory, but Ukrainian troops still control more than 500 square kilometers in Kursk, and Pyongyang's troops have reportedly been experiencing mass casualties there.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said these were the “first” North Korean prisoners of war who were regular troops, not mercenaries.
“We need maximum pressure against regimes in Moscow and Pyongyang,” he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack killed a woman in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region.
Ivan Fedorov, the head of the region’s military administration, said a 47-year-old woman was killed instantly after a Russian drone hit a civilian car with five passengers.
“The occupiers attacked Prymorske all night,” he said.
Fedorov said the wounded included two men aged 46 and 60. Two women, 49 and 52, were also injured.
Earlier on January 11, Yevgeny Pervyshov, the governor of the Tambov region in western Russia, said Ukrainian drones crashed into two apartment buildings in the town of Kotovsk, which injured several people.
Photos and videos of the incident, which have not been verified by RFE/RL, were posted online by local residents, who said there had been no air raid siren before the drones struck.
With reporting by AP and AFP
Taliban Absent As Pakistan PM Opens Summit On Girls' Education
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said preventing girls from receiving an education is “tantamount to denying their voice” as he opened a major Muslim-led summit on the subject that remains sensitive in the Islamic world.
The gathering attracted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai – who is scheduled to speak on January 12 – while it was apparently shunned by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, who activists say are among the world’s leading violators of the rights of women and girls.
"The Muslim world, including Pakistan, faces significant challenges in ensuring equitable access to education for girls," Sharif said at the opening of the event in Islamabad.
"Denying education to girls is tantamount to denying their voice and their choice, while depriving them of their right to a bright future," he added.
On January 11, no Taliban representatives were present among participants from some 50 Muslim-majority countries when the two-day conference opened in the Pakistani capital.
A senior Taliban diplomat in Islamabad told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that “so far, Kabul has not told us anything about this event.”
Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Pakistan's education minister, said, “No one from the Afghan government was at the conference," but they were formally invited to the event.
The Taliban government banned teenage girls from education soon after returning to power in August 2021.
Since then, the Islamist group has imposed draconian education on women’s work, education, and mobility despite domestic opposition and a global outcry.
It is now the only nation among the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that bans women’s education. The ban has been widely opposed by Afghans and internationally.
"The entire Muslim world has agreed that girls' education is important,” said Muhammad al-Issa, a Saudi cleric and secretary-general of the Muslim World League, who organized the event with the Pakistani government.
“Those who say that girls' education is un-Islamic are wrong," he added.
Nobel laureate Yousafzai wrote on X ahead if the conference that “leaders must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women and girls.”
In 2012, Pakistani Taliban militants shot Malala in the northwestern valley of Swat because she campaigned for girls' education.
The Taliban banned women’s education despite promising to allow it while it negotiated a peace agreement with the United States.
Senior Taliban government leaders, who are Sunni Deobandi clerics, have adopted a "fringe opinion" of Islamic Shari'a law to enforce the ban on the education of teenage girls and women.
Pakistan has also faced criticism for violation of the rights of girls and women in the country, particularly in rural areas. But poverty, lack of infrastructure, and cultural issues have also hampered the educational system.
“Millions of Pakistani children do not attend school, and those that do must deal with absent teachers and poor learning environments, among other things,” the U.S.-based Wilson Center said in a report.
Injuries Reported In Western Russian Town After Drone Attack
Drones crashed into two apartment buildings in the town of Kotovsk in the Tambov region of western Russia, injuring several people, the region’s governor said early on January 11.
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Yevgeny Pervyshov said on Telegram that several people suffered injuries from glass shards and were being treated. Pervyshov said the buildings did not catch fire and sustained only minor damage.
Photos and videos of the incident, which have not been verified by RFE/RL, were posted online by local residents, who said there had been no air raid siren before the drones struck.
The Russian state news agency TASS said the drones were launched by Ukraine, but the General Staff of the Ukrainian military has not reported any drone attacks on Russian regions.
TASS added that authorities in other parts of Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea also reported Ukrainian drone attacks on the night of January 10-11, including in the Krasnodar Krai region to the east of Crimea. Explosions were also heard in the Kursk and Voronezh regions of Russia.
Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev said more than 15 drones were shot down on the night of January 10-11. There were no casualties or damage, he said.
Eyewitnesses also reported seeing a fire in the port area of Novorossiisk on the Black Sea, and the bridge connecting the Russian mainland to Crimea was closed for more than three hours.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several drones were destroyed in the Kursk region. There were no casualties, but three private houses were damaged, he said on Telegram.
The governors of the other regions that came under drone attack have not commented on any damage or casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry has also not yet reported on drones being shot down.
Russia on January 10 accused Ukraine of conducting a deadly missile strike on a supermarket in the Moscow-controlled city of Donetsk.
Another Russian state news agency, RIA, said investigators were looking into the supermarket attack, claiming a U.S.-supplied HIMARS missile hit the supermarket, killing two people.
Video on social media, which has been verified by RFE/RL, appears to show a massive explosion in an area where a small market is located.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on the Russian accusation.
The Ukrainian Air Force, meanwhile, said Russia attacked Ukraine with 72 Shahed-type strike drones on January 10 in the Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Khmelnytskiy, Vinnytsya, and Kherson regions.
The Ukrainian General Staff said several small towns east of Pokrovsk and an important highway a few kilometers south of the area had been the site of intense battles on January 10. The city has been the target of a brutal, bloody drive by Russia in recent months.
The January 10 fighting came a day after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting in Ramstein, Germany, where Kyiv's allies vowed no letup in aid to bolster Ukraine's air defenses amid Moscow's relentless assaults throughout the east, including attacks on civilian and infrastructure sites.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who traveled to Rome following the Ramstein gathering, also praised new actions by the United States and Britain to sanction Russia's oil producers, a major liquefied natural gas project, and more than 100 tankers in its “shadow fleet" as the West looks to deprive Moscow of funds needed to carry on its war.
U.S. Makes Romania Part Of Its Online Visa Waiver Program
Romanians will no longer need to visit a U.S. Embassy or consulate to obtain a visa before traveling to the United States for business or tourism, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on January 10.
The department announced that starting on March 31, Romania will be part of the Visa Waiver Program, which simplifies the process of obtaining a visa.
U.S. Ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec told a gathering at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest that it was a “historic moment” for U.S.-Romania relations and the result of several years of work between the two countries.
“With today’s announcement, it is clear that our relations are only getting stronger,” Kavalec said. “I expect it will supercharge our relationship, giving a boost to our growing economic ties, encouraging more investment in both directions.”
She said the change will allow most Romanian travelers visiting the United States for business or tourism to skip in-person visits to an embassy or consulate and long waits for approval.
The Visa Waiver Program processes applications online, saving travelers money and lowering barriers for Romanian businesses, Kavalec said.
The online application, known as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), must be completed before travelers leave for the United States, and Kavalec said the processing time in most cases will be less than three days.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told the embassy gathering the decision was the "success of the entire Romanian society" and noted that it comes after the lifting of the European Union land border controls.
Romania and Bulgaria celebrated on January 1 when the two EU members gained full entry into the bloc’s free-travel Schengen Zone.
Romania became the 43rd country to enter the Visa Waiver Program. Bulgarian citizens do not yet have access to it.
German Foreign Minister Says Stricken Tanker In Baltic Sea Belongs To Russia's 'Shadow Fleet'
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a heavily loaded oil tanker that Germany's maritime emergencies agency had to secure on January 10 in the Baltic Sea is part of the "shadow fleet" that Moscow uses to avoid sanctions on its oil exports.
Baerbock criticized Russia's use of such tankers, calling them "dilapidated” and labeling them a threat to European security, after the 274-meter-long Eventin was reported adrift.
"With the reckless deployment of a fleet of rusty tankers, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is not only circumventing sanctions, but also accepting that tourism on the Baltic Sea will come to a standstill -- be it in the Baltic States, in Poland, or in our country," Baerbock said.
"Russia is endangering our European security not only with its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, but also with severed cables, displaced border buoys, disinformation campaigns, GPS jammers and, as we have seen, dilapidated oil tankers," she added.
The environmental organization Greenpeace also says the ship belongs to Russia’s shadow fleet and names it on a list published on its website. It says all the tankers on the list are old and many have technical defects.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys also reacted to the incident, saying he favored more decisive action against Russia's shadow fleet.
"The Baltic Sea is the most important gateway for Russia's oil exports and we must stop this," he said during a visit to the Estonian capital Tallinn.
At the same time, the "shadow fleet" is an "instrument in hybrid activities" and poses a threat to the environment, he said.
Germany's Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) said the vessel, which is carrying almost 100,000 tons of oil, experienced an engine failure on January 10 and "was drifting at low speed" off the island of Ruegen.
An emergency tug intercepted the Eventin to stabilize the ship and was joined by two tugboats that successfully attached towing lines to the stricken vessel and held it in place, the German command said.
No oil leaks were detected by surveillance aircraft, and a spokesman for the CCME quoted by the dpa news agency said the vessel did not pose an immediate environmental risk or a danger to the crew on board.
No decision has been made on whether to tow the ship to a port.
Since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022, Western countries have taken steps to reduce oil revenues that Russia has used to fund the war. In response, Russia has relied on the shadow fleet to continue lucrative oil exports.
In addition to direct action against Russia's oil industry, Western countries have moved to sanction individual ships thought to be in the shadow fleet.
The United States and Britain announced sweeping sanctions on January 10 to impose restrictions on more than 180 ships in the fleet.
The Eventin was built in 2006 and is sailing under a Panamanian flag, according to Greenpeace. Its owners are unknown. It left the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region on January 6 and was heading to Egypt's Port Said.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
Swiss Demand Answers After Death Of Man In Iranian Prison
Swiss authorities have called on Tehran to provide full details on the death of a 64-year-old Swiss national in an Iranian prison following his arrest last month on allegations of spying.
“Switzerland is demanding that the Iranian authorities provide detailed information on the reasons for his arrest and a full investigation into the circumstances of his death,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Valentin Clivaz told RFE/RL in an e-mail on January 10.
Clivaz added that the Swiss Embassy in Tehran has been in daily contact with Iranian authorities since it was informed of the arrest on December 10, 2024, but that, because the allegations included espionage, it was not granted access to the detainee.
“On January 9, 2025, the embassy was informed that the Swiss man had taken his own life in prison,” the Swiss statement said.
It added it was withholding the name of the deceased for the protection of the victim's family but that repatriation of the body to Switzerland is a "top priority."
The Mizan news website, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, said the Swiss citizen had been "arrested by security agencies for espionage and his case was under investigation" when he took his own life at the prison in the eastern city of Semnan on January 9.
Mizan quoted Mohammad Sadeq Akbari, the chief justice of Semnan Province, as saying the individual was being held in a cell with another prisoner and took his life when the cellmate was not present.
Akbari did not name the Swiss citizen or provide further details, saying an investigation is being conducted and that, so far, "suicide is certain" as the cause of death.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said the man was traveling in Iran as a tourist at the time of his arrest and that he had not lived in Switzerland for nearly 20 years. He last lived in southern Africa, it said.
Several European countries and the United States have characterized the Islamic republic's arrest of Western citizens as "hostage diplomacy," claiming Tehran uses such detentions as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
On January 10, the French Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest Tehran's detention of three French citizens it says are state “hostages” and demanded their immediate release.
“The situation is intolerable, with undignified detention conditions that, for some, constitute torture under international law," the ministry said.
Teacher Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, were detained in Iran in May 2022, accused of organizing labor protests. A third French national, identified only by the first name Olivier, has also been held since 2022.
In 2021, a Swiss diplomat died under mysterious circumstances in Iran.
Iranian media said the person died from a fall from a high-rise building just outside of Tehran. Swiss authorities did not identify the victim, nor did they give details on the incident.
In December 2024, the Swiss Attorney General's Office said the case of the diplomat's death had been closed and that an investigation had not proven any "criminal interference by a third party."
The investigation reportedly was complicated by the absence of organs in the victim after an initial autopsy was performed in Iran.
Switzerland has represented the United States diplomatically in Iran since Washington and Tehran cut ties in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry, in its January 10 statement, said that there were no other Swiss nationals in Iranian custody at this time.
- By Todd Prince
Biden Slaps Broad Sanctions On Russian Energy Sector In Final Bid To Punish Kremlin
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Biden administration has slapped sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil producers, a major liquefied natural gas project, and more than 100 tankers in its “shadow fleet” in what U.S. officials say are the most significant economic measures yet against the country.
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The sanctions, announced by the White House on January 10, days before President Joe Biden leaves office, aim to further squeeze Russia’s ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year. Oil is Russia’s most important source of revenue, accounting for more than a third of the federal budget.
The new measures target Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, Russia’s second- and fourth-largest oil producers, as well as 183 vessels transporting Russian oil and oil products to foreign markets. The Biden administration also sanctioned “opaque” traders of Russian oil, more than 30 Russia-based oilfield service providers, and more than a dozen leading Russian energy officials and executives.
"These measures will collectively drain billions of dollars per month from the Kremlin's war chest and, in doing so, intensify the costs and risks for Moscow to continue its senseless war," Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics, said in a statement.
Britain joined the United States in sanctioning the two oil companies, which combined produce more than 1 million barrels a day. Their majority-owned subsidiaries, such as Gazprom Neft's Serbian unit NIS, also come under the sanctions.
“Putin is in tough shape right now, and I think it’s really important that he not have any breathing room to continue to do the god-awful things he continued to do,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he spoke with Biden by phone and thanked him for his "unwavering support" of Ukraine's independence and for the "vital role the United States has played in uniting the international community."
Earlier in a statement on X, he thanked the United States and Britain for the new measures, saying he expected them to cut income for the Kremlin.
"The less revenue Russia earns from oil and other energy resources, the sooner peace will be restored," he said.
The latest measures are meant to complement sanctions previously slapped on Russia's energy sector.
In December 2022, the United States and Europe imposed a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian oil sold with the use of Western ships and insurance.
The novel measure aimed to trim Kremlin revenues while also keeping Russian oil flowing to global markets to avoid a price spike at a time of surging global inflation.
Western firms dominated the oil transportation industry, pushing Russia to scoop up hundreds of tankers to circumvent the sanctions.
Within two years, Russia had more than 300 vessels in its "shadow fleet" transporting oil mainly to India, China, and Turkey at prices exceeding the cap.
As a result, Russia has continued to reap hundreds of billions of dollars in energy revenue despite the sanctions. Ukrainian officials and Western supporters of Kyiv had been urging the Biden administration for months to impose greater measures on Russia's oil industry and tighten and enforcement.
In the statement, Singh defended the decision to move ahead with additional energy sanctions now, just 10 days before the Biden administration leaves office, saying oil supply is forecast to exceed demand this year.
Some experts have said that Biden was holding back on tougher sanctions against Russia until after the November 5 U.S. presidential election lest they hurt his party's chances of winning. Rising prices for many goods, including energy, were a major issue during the campaign. Biden’s Democratic Party lost the presidency and both chambers of Congress.
Following the announcement of the latest sanctions, oil prices jumped more than 3 percent to their highest since October amid concern they could curtail Russian supply. Russia is currently the largest exporter of oil and oil products, shipping more than 6.5 million barrels to global markets a day.
LNG Project Targeted
The sanctions announced on January 10 also target a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Russia’s Arctic, those involved in Russia's metals and mining sectors, and senior officials from Rosatom, the state-owned builder of civilian nuclear power plants.
Singh said the new sanctions are intended to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in any negotiations that take place to end the war.
Republican President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to start negotiations to end the war soon after he takes office on January 20 but has not given any details on timing.
A senior Biden administration official declined to say whether the incoming Trump administration supported the latest round of sanctions. However, the official said a number of Republican members of Congress had called on the Treasury Department to impose the type of sanctions included in the January 10 announcement.
Chris Weafer, a Russia energy expert and founder of Macro-Advisory, said the impact of the latest round of sanctions will depend on whether China, India, and Turkey observe them. Russia sells its oil to those countries at a discount to global prices.
"Despite this escalation in sanctions, it is not clear that they will work. It entirely depends on those countries. Will they give up cheap Russian oil in order to buy more expensive oil from someone else? They haven't done it thus far," he told RFE/RL.
Nonetheless, he said sanctions are now at their "most dangerous level" for the Russian economy since the Kremlin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The latest sanctions come on the heels of stinging measures imposed by the United States on Russia's financial sector.
In late November, the Biden administration designated Gazprombank, one of Russia’s largest lenders, and more than 50 other financial institutions, further cutting the country off from U.S. financial markets and increasing pressures on the economy. Those measures forced the Russian Central Bank to significantly weaken the currency.
Weafer said Trump could use the latest measures on the energy industry as leverage to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
"Nobody in Moscow is going to panic over these sanctions just yet because the U.S. administration is about to change. They are a further complication but no one is going to push any panic buttons until after they hear what Trump has to say," Weafer said.
One of the officials on the call said the measures, combined with previous sanctions, “provide the next administration a considerable boost to their and Ukraine's leverage in brokering a just and doable peace.”
Thousands Of Pro-Russian Candidate's Supporters Protest Halt In Romanian Presidential Vote
Thousands of Romanians rallied in front of parliament to demand the reinstatement of the second round of a presidential election, which was canceled by the Constitutional Court as the country lurches through a constitutional crisis after a Moscow-friendly, far-right candidate won the first round.
The protest, organized by pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu, blocked traffic in central Bucharest on January 10, demanding the reversal of a court decision last month that annulled the entire presidential election -- even as a runoff vote was under way. He was to face pro-European centrist candidate Elena Lasconi.
The runoff had been seen as a referendum on the NATO and EU member's future course amid accusations of Russian meddling that brought thousands of Romanians on to the streets in support of the country's place in the Euro-Atlantic community.
"We want democracy and freedom in Romania, we want a functional state, true justice, competent people, and a functional state," Gabriela Iordachita, a university professor, told RFE/RL.
The court ruling came after the Supreme Defense Council declassified documents allegedly proving Georgescu's presidential bid had been aided by a campaign led by an unnamed "state actor" with the help of the Chinese-owned TikTok social media platform.
In its ruling, the Constitutional Court said the electoral process for the vote "will be resumed in its entirety, with the government to establish a new date for the election of the president of Romania, as well as a new calendar program for carrying out the necessary actions."
"I came for freedom to vote, to be free to vote however I want," Marian Zamfir, who works as an administrator at a company in Bucharest, told RFE/RL at the protest.
The protest was organized by the EPACE platform, which said it has almost 57,000 signatures supporting Georgescu's call for the second round of the election to proceed.
A new coalition government was sworn in on December 23 after parliamentary elections three weeks earlier.
One of the government's first tasks will be to set a date for the new presidential election.
- By Kian Sharifi
Election Of New Lebanese President Signals Iran's Waning Influence
Lebanese lawmakers have elected army chief Joseph Aoun as the country’s new president, ending a two-year gridlock in a clear sign of the weakening of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed political party and military force that had scuttled past efforts to name a president.
Lawmakers from Hezbollah, which is a U.S.-designated terrorist group, and its ally Amal had for two years obstructed attempts to elect a president by walking out of the parliament, preventing it from reaching a quorum.
This time, however, they voted for Aoun in the second round on January 9 after their preferred candidate dropped out.
In the end, Aoun secured a commanding second-round victory, winning 99 out of 128 votes after falling short of the two-thirds majority required for victory in the first round.
Hezbollah’s devastating war with Israel late last year caused significant damage in Lebanon, particularly in the capital, Beirut, and weakened the Shi’ite group militarily, socially, and, it seems, politically.
Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said the election of the U.S-backed Aoun indicates that Hezbollah has “come to terms with the new political realities” in Lebanon.
He said that, by backing Aoun’s election, Hezbollah sought to avoid being blamed for prolonging Lebanon’s political gridlock while also ensuring that more staunchly anti-Hezbollah figures such as Samir Geagea did not become president.
“[Hezbollah’s] focus remains on survival while working toward a more stable situation in the country, which they hope to use over time to regain strength and rehabilitate their position,” Azizi added.
Aoun’s election was backed by the United States, France, and Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia, indicating that Riyadh’s influence in Lebanon will likely grow at Tehran’s expense.
“It is quite evident that, as Hezbollah’s role diminishes in Lebanon’s political and military affairs, Iranian influence is also waning,” Azizi argued.
Losing influence in Lebanon caps off a catastrophic few months for Iran, which has witnessed the battering of its sprawling network of regional proxies and the fall of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Still, Tehran appears supportive of Hezbollah’s strategy of maintaining a lower profile and focusing on rebuilding its strength, according to Azizi.
Even Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian has welcomed Aoun's election, saying it was a "reinforcement of stability and unity" in the country.
Iranian state-affiliated media, meanwhile, have avoided criticizing Aoun, with one news agency even describing him as an “impartial” and “relatively popular” figure.
In his victory speech, Aoun vowed that only the Lebanese state would have a "monopoly" on weapons in a comment seen as a pledge to disarm Hezbollah, which has long been considered a more powerful force than the Lebanese military.
Azizi said disarming Hezbollah is a longer-term goal which is “easier said than done” and that for “clear-eyed” Aoun, the immediate priority is establishing stability in Lebanon.
Of more immediate concern, analysts say, is the implementation of an Israeli-Hezbollah cease-fire while also seeking funding to rebuild Lebanon, especially in areas in the south and east that were hit hard by the fighting.
"Aoun has interlocking objectives. He has to address Hezbollah's weapons through some sort of dialogue forum. Yet he can only do so if he secures funding to rebuild mainly Shi'a areas. And for this he must engage in economic reform, because the Gulf states now demand it," said Michael Young of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Russia Blames Ukraine For Deadly Supermarket Strike; Kyiv, Pokrovsk Blasted
Russia accused Ukraine of conducting a deadly missile strike on a supermarket in the Moscow-controlled city of Donetsk, while Kyiv reported a massive wave of Russian drone attacks on several regions and fierce fighting near the strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.
The January 10 fighting came a day after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting in Ramstein, Germany, where Kyiv's allies vowed no letup in aid to bolster Ukraine's air defenses amid Moscow's relentless assaults throughout the east, including attacks on civilian and infrastructure sites.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who traveled to Rome following the Ramstein gathering, also praised new actions by the United States and Britain to sanction Russia's oil producers, a major liquefied natural gas project, and more than 100 tankers in its “shadow fleet" as the West looks to deprive Moscow of funds needed to carry on its war.
Russian state RIA news agency said investigators were looking into the supermarket attack early on January 10, claiming a U.S.-supplied HIMARS missile hit the supermarket, killing two people, in the occupied city.
Video on social media, which has been verified by RFE/RL, appears to show a massive explosion in an area where a small market is located.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on the Russian accusation.
The Ukrainian Air Force, meanwhile, said Russia attacked Ukraine with 72 Shahed-type strike drones in the Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhyzha, Khmelnytskiy, Vinnytsya and Kherson regions.
In Kyiv, bright flashes and explosions were seen as defense systems intercepted several drones in the sky. No deaths were reported, though some damage from debris was seen at a high-rise residential building, military officials said.
The Ukrainian General Staff said several small towns east of Pokrovsk and an important highway a few kilometers south of the area had been the site of intense battles on January 10.
Pokrovsk has been the target of Russia's brutal, bloody drive in recent months, mainly destroying the city with a prewar population of about 64,000 people.
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As intense attacks and fighting on the front lines continue, diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict appear to be picking up momentum.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on January 10 that it expects Kyiv to have high-level talks with the White House once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in 10 days.
"We are waiting for a meeting between our presidents because for us the main thing is to work together with America... we are preparing for contacts at the highest and high levels immediately after the inauguration," ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhiy said.
The Kremlin said it remains willing to meet with Trump and that there has been progress in setting up a meeting after the new president is inaugurated on January 20.
"No conditions are required for this, just a mutual desire and political will to conduct a dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue is required," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow a day after Trump said a meeting was being set up between him and President Vladimir Putin, though he laid out no timeline.
"We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue, we welcome this," he said.
Members of the contact group have said the January 9 meeting could be the last one as its fate remains unclear under Trump, whose advisers have floated multiple proposals to end the war that would effectively cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future.
At Ramstein, hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid was pledged -- including $500 million from Washington as part of the outgoing President Joe Biden's goal of sending as much support as possible before Trump returns to office.
Zelenskiy, meanwhile, thanked Washington and London for their "synchronized action" in sanctioning Russian energy firms and ships operating the Kremlin's so-called "shadow fleet" of sanctions-busting vessels in the Baltic Sea -- which are also suspected of sabotaging communications and electrical cables in the body of water.
- By RFE/RL
3 Of Navalny's Lawyers Set To Be Sentenced On 'Extremism' Charges
A Russian court is set to sentence three lawyers who worked for opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and were charged in 2023 with "extremism" charges.
The sentencing hearing for lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser, and Igor Sergunin is scheduled to begin on January 10 at 10:00 a.m. local time in the Vladimir region east of Moscow.
They are accused of participating in an "extremist" organization, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of six years in jail. Prosecutors are demanding jail terms of at least five years for each of the lawyers. They are expected to be found guilty as acquittals are practically unheard of in Russian courts, especially in political cases.
Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and Navalny’s other groups were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in 2021.
The trial of Kobzev, Sergunin, and Liptser began in September and was held behind closed doors, however the sentencing is to be open to the media.
Investigators said the lawyers used their “status" to pass messages between Navalny and his associates, helping him to “conduct extremist activities from behind bars." Two other former lawyers for Navalny, Aleksandra Fedulova and Olga Mikhailova, fled Russia last year.
Before his death, Navalny condemned the arrest of the lawyers as "outrageous," saying it was part of a campaign to further isolate him in jail.
The Kremlin critic died in suspicious circumstances in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024. His associates have said he was killed, most likely on the Kremlin's command, which the Kremlin has vehemently denied.
Navalny was able to communicate from his jail cell, with his criticism of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and sarcastic comments, often about the conditions he was held in, appearing on social media.
Kobzev was the most high-profile member of Navalny's legal team defending him in court. He also released statements on Navalny's health in prison.
With reporting by AFP
NATO Defense Ministers Discuss Trump’s Suggested Increase In Spending To 5 Percent Of GDP
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- NATO defense ministers meeting in Germany on January 9 expressed skepticism about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that members of the alliance should increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.
During a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the ministers said that the ability of NATO members to fulfill defense tasks is more important than spending relative to GDP.
"All the numbers and percentages don't help us at all at the moment. Two percent of a strong GDP can be a lot, and three and a half percent of a weak GDP can be very little," said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, 5 percent of GDP would be around 40 percent of the federal budget.
"I don't know which country could afford that. So it's not a question of percentages. It is about the question that the capability goals of NATO should be fulfilled," Pistorius said.
Trump put forth the 5 percent spending proposal during a press conference on January 7, raising his long-standing claim that European allies are underpaying for U.S. protection.
"They can all afford it, but they should be at 5 percent not 2 percent," said Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20.
"Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we're in," Trump said. "We have a thing called the ocean in between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than Europe?"
The United States spends 3.38 percent of GDP on defense. Given the size of the U.S. economy, that accounts for more than 60 percent of NATO's total.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told RFE/RL that the United States should demonstrate its readiness to raise its defense spending to 5 percent. He said this would increase it to $1.5 trillion.
But Latvia, which is already one of the few NATO countries spending more than 3 percent of GDP on defense, plans to increase spending further.
"This year, the contribution is 3.4 percent of our GDP. Next year it will be 3.7 percent. And recently political leadership announced that we are willing to move forward with 4 percent," Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds told RFE/RL.
The level of spending demonstrates an understanding of the threats facing the world, he said.
"During the Cold War years…it was around 4 percent on average. So that's why certainly 2 percent [as] we discussed previously [is] not enough," Spruds said.
Adopting a new defense spending target would require agreement from all 32 NATO member states. As of July, 23 countries in the alliance had reached the 2 percent of GDP defense spending target.
It was the first time that several large European economies -- namely Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Turkey -- achieved the target.
Republika Srpska Holds Parade To Mark Banned Independence Day
Former soldiers, students, and representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s rescue services and police departments marched on January 9 in Banja Luka to mark Republika Srpska Day despite the the country's Constitutional Court declaring it unconstitutional three times.
The marchers carried flags, including the national flag of Serbia and the flag of Republika Srpska, and banners of Republika Srpska military units as the procession passed before a government officials and military officers standing on a dais.
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, who is recovering from surgery, was not present, but Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, who has been blacklisted by the United States, attended the event.
Dodik is under U.S. and U.K. sanctions for actions that Western governments say are aimed at the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia. Dodik has denied that the Serbian entity of Bosnia has ever pursued a policy of secession.
January 9 marks the anniversary of the region's 1992 declaration of independence. Bosniaks and Croats did not participate in the adoption of the declaration and view January 9 as the beginning of the 1992-95 Bosnian War. In years past, the banned holiday has been marked in Banja Luka by parades and marches by armed police.
This year's event took place despite warnings from the international envoy for Bosnia, the EU delegation to Bosnia, and the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo.
International envoy Christian Schmidt warned that disobeying the decisions of the Constitutional Court may constitute a criminal offense and said Bosnia’s law enforcement agencies are obliged to investigate.
The U.S. Embassy noted that the Constitutional Court had ruled on multiple occasions that celebrating the Republika Srpska Day on January 9 is unconstitutional.
“This ruling stands regardless of who participates in the celebration. The issue is not simply commemorating a holiday, but specifically choosing January 9, which coincides with an Orthodox religious holiday and violates several provisions of the [Bosnian] Constitution that prohibit discrimination,” the embassy said on January 8 on X.
The embassy said under the Dayton agreement that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian War all entities in Bosnia are obligated to fully comply with the decisions of Bosnian institutions, including the binding and final rulings of the Constitutional Court.
“Failure to adhere to these rulings constitutes a criminal offense under the [Bosnian] Criminal Code,” the embassy said, adding that the United States expects law enforcement and judicial authorities to investigate.
The Prosecutor-General's Office of Bosnia did not respond to RFE/RL's inquiry about whether an investigation had been launched into this year's commemoration or whether anything had been done about it last year after the Prosecutor-General’s office said it monitored activities on January 9.
The U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions against three individuals for their work in helping to organize the Republika Srpska Day parade.
The three were members of the organizing committee and participated in a meeting when the event plan was approved. Dodik appointed the committee and demanded it plan the celebration, which included events taking place over three days beginning on January 8.
The Bosnian Serb nationalist leader is on trial for failing to comply with Schmidt’s decisions.
Republika Srpska Interior Minister Sinisa Karan said that after the end of the proceedings against Dodik "it will be known whether the Dayton peace agreement and Bosnia will survive."
Swiss Citizen Dies In Iran After Being Accused Of Spying
A Swiss national who was accused of spying by Tehran was found dead in prison in what officials say was a suicide.
The Mizan news website, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, said the Swiss citizen had been "arrested by security agencies for espionage and his case was under investigation" when he took his own life at the prison in the eastern city of Semnan on January 9.
The Swiss foreign minister confirmed in an e-mail to RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Switzerland had been informed of the situation and is seeking further details.
"The FDFA (Swiss Foreign Ministry) confirms the death of a Swiss citizen in Iran. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran is in contact with the local authorities to clarify the circumstances of the death in an Iranian prison," said ministry spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger.
"The FDFA is providing consular protection to the relatives. At this stage, the FDFA cannot provide any further information."
Mizan quoted Mohammad Sadeq Akbari, the chief justice of Semnan Province, as saying the individual was being held in a cell with another prisoner and took his life when the cellmate was not present.
Akbari did not name the Swiss citizen or provide further details, saying an investigation is being conducted and so far "suicide is certain" as the cause of death.
No details of the charges against the Swiss citizen were revealed.
Several European countries and the United States have characterized the Islamic republic's arrest of Western citizens as "hostage diplomacy," claiming Tehran uses such detentions as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
Three years earlier a Swiss diplomat died under mysterious circumstances.
Iranian media said the person died from a fall from a high-rise building just outside of Tehran. Swiss authorities did not identify the victim, nor did they give details on the incident.
In December, the Swiss Attorney General's Office said the case of the diplomat's death had been closed and that an investigation had not proven any "criminal interference by a third party."
The investigation reportedly was complicated by the absence of organs in the victim after an initial autopsy was performed in Iran.
Switzerland has represented the United States diplomatically in Iran since Washington and Tehran cut ties in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
U.S. Pledges New Ukraine Aid In What May Be Biden Office's Final Move
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced a new $500 million package of military aid as part of the outgoing Biden administration's goal of sending as much support as possible before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office.
The package includes "additional missiles for Ukrainian air defense, more ammunition, more air-to-ground munitions, and other equipment to support Ukraine's F-16s," Austin said.
Austin spoke at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is made up of about 50 partner nations that the U.S. Defense Secretary brought together to coordinate weapons support months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"It's important to look at this as a comprehensive effort by the international community to support Ukraine," U.S. General Patrick Ryder told RFE/RL at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is also attending the meeting, called on Europe to coalesce around Kyiv if U.S. support wanes under the incoming White House administration.
"It's clear that a new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world -- just 11 days from now, a time when we have to cooperate even more, rely on one another even more, and achieve even greater results together. I see this as a time of opportunities," he said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, also in Ramstein, said he expects leaders of the defense coalitions to approve "road maps" for strategic goals and key needs for military assistance until at least the end of 2027.
"These documents, developed and agreed upon jointly by Ukraine and partners, will become the basis for support and allocation of assistance in areas such as air defense, artillery, armored vehicles, drones, air force, maritime security, and other important areas. There is a lot of work ahead," he added after a meeting with Austin.
The Ramstein gathering comes a day after Ukraine suffered one of its worst single losses of life in weeks -- an attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya that killed 13 people.
Authorities believe Russia carried out the attack using glide bombs aimed at an industrial site.
Ukraine claimed earlier on January 8 that its forces hit an oil depot inside Russia that served as a strategic air base in the southern Saratov region. The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said the strike created serious logistical problems for Russian aviation and significantly reduced its ability to strike Ukrainian cities and civilian objects.
Members of the contact group have said the January 9 meeting could be the last one as its fate remains unclear under Trump.
"The most important format is to have a strong-willed determination for finding specific funding and equipment and training possibilities for Ukrainians," Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds told RFE/RL at the meeting, adding that bilateral commitments and willingness to support Ukraine are a "backbone of support."
The outgoing U.S. administration has been working to get as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump takes office on January 20 to improve Kyiv's negotiating position. Trump -- who has repeatedly criticized U.S. assistance to Kyiv -- has claimed he could quickly negotiate an end to the war after he returns to office.
This has raised fears in Ukraine that any hastily arranged negotiations would be used by Russia to hold on to Ukrainian territory it occupies and allow its troops to rest and rearm.
Austin has said it is important for the contact group to continue providing military aid, while German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has also warned against the West slacking off on support for Ukraine.
Designated U.S. Envoy For Ukraine Says Trump Wants Equitable End To War
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s designated envoy for Ukraine and Russia said Trump will take Ukraine’s interests into account when he starts working on a settlement to end the war in Ukraine and will aim to make sure the solution is equitable.
“People need to understand he’s not trying to give something to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or the Russians,” said Keith Kellogg, the retired lieutenant-general whom Trump has designated as his envoy and tasked with leading negotiations to end the war.
“He’s actually trying to save Ukraine and save their sovereignty,” Kellogg said in the interview with Fox News on January 8. “He’s going to make sure it’s equitable and it’s fair and he’s said that repeatedly,” including to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Trump said during last year’s election campaign he could end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. He now says he hopes to end the fighting within six months.
"I hope long before six months," Trump said at a news conference on January 7 when asked if he could solve the war within half a year.
Kellogg said he would prefer to set an even shorter time span of 100 days from Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
“I’m on the clock. He’s on the clock as well because he wants to end [the war] as quickly as he can,” Kellogg said. “He knows it’s tough one…but he’s committed to it.”
Kellogg declined to divulge the content of any of his conversations with Trump on the war, saying Trump “speaks for himself” and more information would be forthcoming after the inauguration.
He indicated that the groundwork is being laid for Trump and Putin to talk.
“We’ll set the conditions…and he will eventually get to the position where he’ll be talking with Putin and also President Zelenskiy as well, and I think they are going to come to a…solution in the near term,” Kellogg said.
He was not asked about the postponement of a trip that he was expected to make this month to Kyiv and other European capitals. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced on January 7 that the trip would be rescheduled.
The envoy-designate in the interview criticized President Joe Biden for not talking with Putin, saying it has been more than two years since they spoke. Trump on the other hand speaks with America’s adversaries and allies alike, he said.
“He actually knows that you need to talk to people to get to an end state and that is what we are going to do,” Kellogg said.
With reporting by Fox News
Austin Expected To Announce Military Aid Package At Ukraine Defense Contact Group Meeting
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to meet on January 9 with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany, and is expected to announce another large package of military aid as part of the outgoing Biden administration's goal to send as much support as possible before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office.
An announcement of an additional $500 million in weapons to Ukraine is expected to be made during the meeting, according to news reports on January 8 quoting unidentified officials.
“Our focus will be on maintaining momentum, delivering results, and sending a clear message: The international community stands resolute in its support for Ukraine,” Austin told reporters traveling with him to Germany.
Austin will meet with the contact group, which is made up of about 50 partner nations that Austin brought together to coordinate weapons support months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A senior defense official who briefed reporters traveling with Austin said the weapons in the new package will be drawn from U.S. stockpiles and the goal is to get them into Ukraine before the end of the month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on January 8 that he would attend the meeting and said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was already in Ramstein.
"The key task for Ukraine is to strengthen our air defense to at least enable Ukraine to keep the Russian air force away from our cities and borders," he said.
The meeting comes a day after Ukraine suffered one of its worst single losses of life in weeks -- an attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya that killed 13 people. Authorities believe Russian carried out the attack using glide bombs aimed at an industrial site.
Ukraine claimed earlier on January 8 that its forces hit an oil depot inside Russia that served a strategic air base in the southern Saratov region. The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said the strike created serious logistical problems for Russian aviation and significantly reduced its ability to strike Ukrainian cities and civilian objects.
Members of the contact group have said the January 9 meeting could be the last one as its fate remains unclear under Trump.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
The outgoing U.S. administration has been working to get as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump takes office on January 20 to improve Kyiv’s negotiating position. Trump -- who has repeatedly criticized U.S. assistance to Kyiv -- has claimed he could quickly negotiate and end to the war after he returns to office.
This has raised fears in Ukraine that any hastily arranged negotiations would be used by Russia to hold on to Ukrainian territory it occupies and allow its troops to rest and rearm.
Austin said it is important for the contact group to continue providing military aid. He told AFP after landing at Ramstein that he hopes it will “because it's not over."
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also warned against the West slacking off on support for Ukraine.
"If we do that tomorrow, it would be the end of Ukraine, a free, sovereign, democratic country, the day after tomorrow. And who comes next?" Pistorius said on January 8 at an election campaign event in the central German city of Marburg.
He said he was very much in favor of "always leaving the doors open for negotiations." It must be possible to talk about peace at any time, but not on the terms that Russian President Vladimir Putin has set," Pistorius added.
Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa
Deadly Russian Strike On Zaporizhzhya Causes Dozens Of Casualties
A Russian strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya has killed more than a dozen people and wounded scores of civilians. The January 8 strike caused extensive destruction in the city's industrial district as firefighters worked to put out several blazes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram: "There is nothing more cruel than air strikes on a city, with the knowledge that ordinary civilians will suffer."
U.S. Lawmakers Seek To Ban Recognition Of Georgian Government, Report Says
U.S. lawmakers are reportedly poised to introduce a bill prohibiting the recognition of a Georgian Dream government less than two weeks after the party's Russia-friendly billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, was sanctioned for undermining Georgia's democracy for the "benefit of the Russian Federation."
Fox News reported on January 8 that the bill, which has bipartisan support, would be introduced in the House of Representatives during the day.
Fox said it exclusively obtained the bill, which bars the recognition or normalization of relations "with any Government of Georgia that is led by Bidzina Ivanishvili or any proxies due to the Ivanishvili regime's ongoing crimes against the Georgian people."
"No federal official or employee may take any action, and no Federal funds may be made available, to recognize or otherwise imply, in any manner, United States recognition of Bidzina Ivanishvili or any government in Georgia," Fox quoted the bill as saying.
The move comes after the State Department on December 27 sanctioned Ivanishvili "for undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia."
Georgia, once a closer U.S. ally, has angered Washington and the European Union with its perceived tilt toward Russia and its violent crackdown on dissent in the Caucasus nation.
The sanctions come at a crucial time as Georgia's fate hangs in the balance -- whether it will intensify its tilt toward Moscow, return to the pro-Europe path or remain in an environment of unrest and uncertainty.
Police in Tbilisi have clashed with pro-West protesters over the past several weeks, detaining dozens and injuring scores of people who were angered by a government decision in November to halt negotiations on joining the European Union until 2028.
The political crisis erupted after Georgian Dream claimed victory in October parliamentary elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation.
Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023, but ties with Brussels have been tense in recent months following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012.
Georgian Dream pushed through its candidate, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former soccer player and right-wing populist, as the country's new leader on December 29.
Salome Zurabishvili, his predecessor, continues to call herself Georgia's "only legitimate president."
She and the tens of thousands of Georgians demonstrating in the streets have pushed for new parliamentary elections as the only way out of the current crisis.
Earlier on January 8, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who is chairman of the Helsinki Commission and a sponsor of the new bill, released a letter signed by 43 American and European politicians calling for fresh elections.
"Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream party has chosen to ignore the legitimate concerns of the opposition and international monitors about the recent elections, seated a one-party legislature, and unilaterally elected a new president," the letter reads.
"They have responded with brutality to nightly protests of hundreds of thousands of protesters. The Georgian people demand free and fair elections and we must stand with them."
- By RFE/RL
Italian Podcaster Held By Tehran Released, On Way Home
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was held by Tehran police for almost three weeks for her "journalistic activities," has been released and is headed home.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced in a post on X that Sala, who was detained on December 19, was on a plane to Italy on January 8.
"Thanks to intense work on diplomatic and intelligence channels, our compatriot has been released by the Iranian authorities and is returning to Italy," Meloni said.
The 29-year-old, who has a podcast called Stories that covers life in places around the world, was held for over a week before Iranian authorities confirmed her detention.
No details of the charges were made public, but they came after Sala posted a podcast from Tehran on December 17 about patriarchy in the Iranian capital.
Three days before Sala's detention, Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian-Swiss businessman who is wanted by the United States for his alleged involvement in a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan, was arrested in Milan, Italy.
Iran called Abedini's arrest "illegal" and subsequently summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran over the issue.
The United States called Sala's detention "retaliatory," while media watchdogs Reporters Without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists described her arrest as "arbitrary" and aimed at "extortion."
Iran is routinely accused of arresting dual nationals and Western citizens on false charges to use them to pressure Western countries.
Reza Valizadeh, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and former journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Farda, was handed a 10-year sentence by Tehran's Revolutionary Court in December on charges of "collaborating with a hostile government."
Valizadeh resigned from Radio Farda in November 2022 after a decade of work. He returned to Iran in early 2024 to visit his family but was arrested on September 22.
His two court sessions, held on November 20 and December 7, reportedly lacked a prosecution representative, with the judge assuming that role.
Sources close to the journalist claim he fell into a "security trap" despite receiving unofficial assurances from Iranian security officials that he would not face legal troubles upon returning to Iran.
Iran is among the most repressive countries in terms of freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 176th out of 180 countries in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
The Paris-based media watchdog says Iran is now also one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists.
At Least 13 Killed, Dozens Injured In Russian Strike On Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian officials said at least 13 people were killed and dozens injured in a Russian air strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya, the latest in a series of Russian attacks causing widespread civilian casualties.
The January 8 strike hit an industrial district of the city around midafternoon, said Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional administration.
According to reports, debris hit a tram and a minibus with passengers, damaging cars parked nearby.
Video released by emergency services showed bodies mangled and bloodied on sidewalks as firefighters rushed to put out car fires and extinguish a blaze in a nearby administrative building.
"There is nothing more cruel than air strikes on a city, with the knowledge that ordinary civilians will suffer," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Telegram post that included graphic footage of the blast's aftermath.
It's unclear what weapon was used, though the scope of the damage and casualties suggested a larger weapon.
Ukrainian authorities, who earlier sounded air-raid sirens, warned of the possibility of a missile launch or a possible glide bomb -- an air-dropped guided weapon that Russia has used to devastating effect on Ukrainian defenses.
"The number of injured and dead is constantly increasing. Police, rescuers, medics, and other specialized services are continuously working to eliminate the consequences of the enemy attack," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said.
"They are clearing the rubble, searching for people, providing assistance to the victims.... In particular, police paramedics saved five people."
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Russian officials.
Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure since the start of the war. It has also been accused by Kyiv of targeting residential buildings, which Moscow denies despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
Ukraine has also been accused by Moscow of targeting civilian infrastructure, but to a far less decgree.
Earlier, Ukraine claimed to have hit an oil depot inside Russia that served a strategic air base in the southern Saratov region.
The January 8 strike "creates serious logistical problems for the strategic aviation of the Russian occupiers and significantly reduces their ability to strike at peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilian objects," Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces claimed on social media.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, added that "long-range capabilities" were deployed in the strike, while he also used the hashtag #MadeInUkraine, implying locally made weapons, not arms supplied by the West, were used.
"Numerous explosions were recorded in the area of the target, a large-scale fire broke out. It should be noted that this oil depot supplied fuel to the Engels-2 military airfield, where the enemy's strategic aviation is based," the General Staff of the Armed Forces said.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Since the beginning of 2024, Russian refineries have been regularly targeted by Ukrainian drones. At some, primary oil-processing units have failed and required repairs. Russia has said it has partially restored capacity at some key oil refineries.
The strike comes as Ukrainian forces resume their offensive operations in several directions within the Kursk region, which analysts told Current Time gives Kyiv a bargaining chip in any possible cease-fire or peace talks with Moscow.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on January 7 that he is eager to see negotiations with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine begin soon after he returns to the White House later this month, but gave no specifics on when they would take place.
Trump said he wants to see negotiations soon because “Russia is losing a lot of young people and so is Ukraine.”
Trump, who spoke with reporters at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, didn’t say whether or how soon he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin but said such a meeting would not be appropriate until after he is inaugurated on January 20.
"I can't tell you that, but I know Putin would like to meet," Trump said.
At the end of December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no preconditions for a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
Dmytro Levus, a political analyst at the United Ukraine think tank, told Current Time on January 8 that Trump has limited levers to use against Russia if it does not agree to any peace deal.
"It's possible to put pressure on Russia in the oil sector," he said.
The president-elect said during his election campaign he could end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
At the news conference on January 7, Trump said he hoped to end the fighting within six months.
Trump’s return to the White House brings with it uncertainty on what impact it will have on Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is nearly three years old, and whether negotiations can take place. But Trump told the news conference he is determined to get it "straightened out," adding that it is "a tough one."
Ukrainian officials are concerned that any hastily arranged negotiations could allow Russia to hold on to Ukrainian territory it has seized and would also give Russian forces time to rest and reorganize.
The Ukrainians also want to encourage Trump to continue U.S. military support for their country.
With reporting by RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak
- By RFE/RL
Finland Says Ship Linked To Cable Damage Not Seaworthy As NATO Boosts Baltic Presence
Finland says a tanker alleged to be part of Russia's “shadow fleet” that was detained over the damaging of Baltic Sea cables has "serious deficiencies," putting it under detention amid reports NATO is due to begin patrolling near key underwater cables.
"The deficiencies detected are of a nature that operating the ship is forbidden until the deficiencies have been rectified," Sanna Sonninen, director-general of the Maritime Sector at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), said in a statement on January 8.
"Rectifying the deficiencies will require external assistance for repairs and will take time,” it added.
Finland is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the oil tanker Eagle S. It is suspected of sabotaging the EstLink-2 power cable -- which sends electricity between Finland and Estonia -- on December 25.
Several other incidents have taken place in recent months in the Baltic Sea, including damage to an Internet cable linking Finland and Germany and another linking Finland and Sweden.
In response to the threat of further incidents, Finnish state broadcaster YLE reported that NATO ships will begin patrolling the areas in the Baltic where cables run. The move is intended to act as a deterrent and reduce the risk of further sabotage that is believed to have been carried out by Russia's "shadow fleet."
YLE reported that up to 10 ships will take part in the security patrols and will remain until at least April.
The “shadow fleet” consists of a number of old, uninsured oil vessels used to bypass Western sanctions on Russia and maintain a source of revenue for the Kremlin. The ships carry Russian crude oil and petroleum products that have been barred following Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Finnish police said on January 7 that an anchor had been recovered from the bottom of the Baltic Sea as part of investigations into the cable-damaging incidents.
Authorities have said they suspect the damage to the EstLink-2 cable was caused by a ship dragging its anchor and said the Eagle S was missing one of its anchors.
The Swedish Navy said earlier on January 7 that it had recovered the anchor after sending a submarine to assist Finland in the investigation. A spokesman for the navy told the AFP news agency that the anchor had been handed over to Finnish authorities.
Investigators said earlier that they found a track on the seabed dozens of kilometers long indicating that the ship dragged its anchor. However, they had not yet located the missing anchor at that time.
“The location where the anchor was found is along the route of the Eagle S toward the western end of the drag trace found on the seabed," Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in a statement.
The captain and another crew member of the seized oil tanker are Georgian nationals, Georgia's Maritime Transport Agency told RFE/RL on January 6. The agency said a representative of the Georgian Embassy had been informed of the two crew members' detention.
Moscow has said it has no connection to the Eagle S and that Finland's seizure of the vessel is not a matter that concerns Russia. It has regularly denied that it is involved in any of the other incidents involving infrastructure assets in the Baltic Sea region.
Britain said on January 6 that it was leading a new initiative using artificial intelligence to "track potential threats to undersea infrastructure and monitor the Russian shadow fleet."
"Specific vessels identified as being part of Russia's shadow fleet have been registered into the system so they can be closely monitored when approaching key areas of interest," the Defense Ministry in London said.
It added that if a "potential risk is assessed, the system will monitor the suspicious vessel in real time and immediately send out a warning" shared with nations of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) and NATO.
The 10-nation JEF also includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Netherlands, and Sweden.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service and YLE
Jump In Iranian Executions In 2024 Prompts UN Outrage
Iran executed at least 901 people in 2024 -- including 31 women, some of whom were convicted of killing their husbands while fighting off a rape or other cases of domestic violence -- a nine-year high that has sparked outrage at the United Nations.
About 40 of the total executions came in the last week of December alone, the UN high commissioner for human rights said in a report published on January 7.
"The increase in the number of people executed in Iran over the past year is very worrying," High Commissioner Volker Turk said, adding that the total had climbed from 853 in 2023.
“It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions,” he added.
The UN said that most of the executions were for drug-related offenses, but it added that dissidents and people connected to protests in 2022 were also executed.
Protests erupted across Iran in 2022, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law, while in police custody.
During the protests, women and girls removed and burned their head scarves.
The authorities waged a brutal crackdown on protesters, killing hundreds and arresting thousands.
In the latest report, Turk called on Tehran to halt all future executions.
“It is incompatible with the fundamental right to life and raises the unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. And, to be clear, it can never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law,” Turk said.
UN spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva that the number of women executed in Iran was the highest figure in at least the past 15 years.
"The majority of cases involved charges of murder. A significant number of the women were victims of domestic violence, child marriage, or forced marriage," she said.
Throssell told Reuters that one of the women executed for murder had killed her husband to prevent him from raping her daughter.
The conservative Islamic state has a long history of violating the rights of citizens, especially women and girls.
Masud Pezeshkian, who many labeled as a reformist, won Iran’s presidential election in July, vowing to better protect the rights of women and minorities, but many rights activists and international observers remain skeptical pending substantive actions.
With reporting by Reuters
Trump Says Ukraine Peace Talks Could Begin Soon After Taking Office
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said again that he is eager to see negotiations with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine begin soon after he returns to the White House but gave no specifics on when they would take place.
Trump said he wants to see negotiations soon because “Russia is losing a lot of young people and so is Ukraine.”
Trump, who spoke with reporters at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, didn’t say whether or how soon he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin but said such a meeting would not be appropriate until after he is inaugurated on January 20.
"I can't tell you that, but I know Putin would like to meet," Trump said.
At the end of December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no preconditions for a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
The president-elect said during his election campaign he could end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. At the news conference Trump said he hoped to end the fighting within six months.
"I hope long before six months," Trump said, when asked if he could solve the war within half a year.
Trump’s return to the White House brings with it uncertainty on what impact it will have on the nearly three-year-old conflict and whether negotiations can take place. But Trump told the news conference he is determined to get it "straightened out," adding that it is "a tough one."
Ukrainian officials are concerned that any hastily arranged negotiations could allow Russia to hold on to Ukrainian territory it has seized and would also give Russian forces time to rest and reorganize.
The Ukrainians also want to encourage Trump to continue U.S. military support for their country. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced on January 7 that a trip to Ukraine by Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia had been canceled and would have to be rescheduled.
The envoy, Keith Kellogg, has been tasked with leading negotiations to end the war. Kellogg has said that potential cease-fire talks could begin once Trump takes office and, in a December interview with Fox News, said the war could "be resolved in the next few months."
The planned meetings between Kellogg and Ukrainian officials are “extremely important,” Sybiha said during a news conference with his visiting Icelandic counterpart.
“I am confident that this meeting will take place in due course,” he told reporters in Kyiv. “We are in contact to clearly define the timeline for its organization and to ensure that the meeting is as meaningful as possible.”
Ramstein Meeting
Trump was not asked about a report that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce a massive final military aid package for Ukraine as part of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Germany on January 9.
Austin is scheduled to meet with representatives of about 50 partner nations in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at an air base in Ramstein, Germany.
The package is expected to be “substantial," according to two officials who briefed reporters on Austin’s trip. The officials did not provide an exact dollar amount.
Austin's trip will be his final meeting with the contact group, which he organized after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Together those nations have provided more than $126 billion in weapons, military training, and assistance since the war started. The U.S. portion of the total is $66 billion.
The package to be announced later this week will draw from existing U.S. stockpiles with a goal of getting most of the weapons to Ukraine by the time Trump is sworn in, one of the officials said.
Trump also urged NATO members to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, up from the current 2 percent target, reinforcing his long-held claim that they are not paying enough for U.S. protection.
U.S. Imposes Sanctions On Senior Hungarian Official Over Alleged Corruption
The United States has announced sanctions on a senior Hungarian official with a critical role in Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government for his alleged involvement in corruption.
The sanctions are being imposed on Antal Rogan, who “has used his role to enrich himself and those loyal to his party,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a news release on January 7.
Rogan “orchestrated schemes designed to control several strategic sectors of the Hungarian economy” and skim the proceeds from the sectors for himself and loyalists to Orban’s Fidesz party, the department said.
Under Orban's right-wing government, Hungary has been accused, at home and abroad, of democratic backsliding.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto blasted the U.S. action, calling it a “personal vendetta” of the U.S. ambassador.
“How good it is that in a few days' time the United States will be led by people who see our country as a friend and not an enemy,” he added, referring to the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has often praised Orban.
The U.S. statement noted that, in his role as minister in charge of Orban’s cabinet office, Rogan controls many government entities, including the National Communications Office, the Digital Government Agency, and the Hungarian Tourism Agency. Rogan also has been a member of parliament in Hungary since 1998.
“Throughout his tenure as a government official, Rogan has orchestrated Hungary’s system for distributing public contracts and resources to cronies loyal to himself and the Fidesz political party,” the department said.
He is being designated under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and corruption around the world.
“Corruption undermines a country’s governing institutions and limits its economic development, providing short-sighted gain to a select few while depriving future generations of longer-term benefit,” said acting Treasury Undersecretary Bradley T. Smith.
The department said public sector corruption in Hungary has been worsening for more than a decade, leading to Hungary receiving the lowest score of any European Union (EU) member state on Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index for the second consecutive year.
It also said whistleblowers in Hungary have criticized the government for operating a kleptocracy with a notable lack of transparency and equity in public and private expenditure deals made between administrators such as Rogan and loyalist business leaders.
"Hungary’s failure to address transparency issues in its public procurement mechanisms has most recently led to a loss of over 1 billion Euros in future funding from the European Union, disadvantaging Hungarian citizens,” the department noted.
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. The sanctions freeze any property Rogan holds within U.S. jurisdiction and bar any dealings with him by a U.S. person.
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