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Western Balkans Can Celebrate 'Big Step' If Kosovo, Serbia Agree On Document, Borrell Says
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the entire Western Balkans region will benefit from Serbia and Kosovo implementing an EU normalization proposal they agreed on in Brussels last month.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are scheduled to meet on March 18 in Ohrid, North Macedonia, to continue talks on the agreement on the path toward the normalization of relations.
The European Union expects them to agree during the meeting on the implementation annex of the agreement, which is considered an integral part of the document.
"If this happens…then Western Balkans will celebrate a big step forward toward [a] European Union path," Borrell said on March 16 in Tirana, where he participated in a meeting of the Stabilization and Association Council with Albania.
"The agreement will put their relations on a new more sustainable basis and will ensure that dialogue will continue on its trajectory toward full normalization," Borrell said, echoing comments he wrote in a blog on March 16.
The Ohrid meeting is a follow-up to a discussion that leaders of Kosovo and Serbia had on February 27 in Brussels at which they agreed on the text of the initial plan.
Vucic said on March 16 that he "does not plan to sign anything" but added, "When someone signs something, I will sign it, and the people will decide on that.”
Vucic also said that Belgrade has not yet received a draft of the text from the European Union.
"We submitted our proposal, the Albanians theirs. We have not received anything from Brussels yet and that paper still does not exist," said Vucic.
During the meeting in Ohrid, he will try to do what is best for Serbia, he said. "And that is to work on the normalization of relations with Kosovo, to build the best relations with the European Union and to firmly hold our red lines. I am not giving up on that."
He has previously described Belgrade's red lines as any kind of formal or informal recognition of Kosovo and Kosovo's membership in the United Nations. That stance, however, is at odds with the provisions of the agreement, notably Article 4, which states that "Serbia will not object to Kosovo's membership in any international organization."
The EU normalization proposal, previously known as the Franco-German plan, does not oblige Serbia to formally recognize Kosovo's independence, but the two countries would recognize each other's documents, such as passports, diplomas, and license plates.
Under the plan, Serbia would also not object to Kosovo's membership in any international organization.
Earlier on March 16, the U.S. special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, voiced optimism that an agreement on the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo could be reached this year.
"I think it is completely possible," Escobar said, adding that the EU proposal is primarily an agreement on normalization and not on Serbia's recognition of Kosovo's independence.
"The American position is that Kosovo is an independent state with territorial integrity and sovereignty. We also believe that the region would benefit from mutual recognition, but that's not what this is about," Escobar added.
Serbia and Kosovo fought a war in 1998-1999 that ended when NATO bombed Serbian forces.
Kosovo declared its independence from Belgrade in 2008 and has since been recognized as a sovereign nation by most countries, including the United States. All EU countries except Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus, also have recognized Kosovo’s independence.
Serbia and its traditional ally Russia, however, have yet to do so.
Serbia and Kosovo have been engaged in Brussels-led dialogue since 2011. In 2013 the then prime ministers of both countries, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, reached a so-called Brussels agreement. Many elements of this agreement remain unimplemented to this date.
The major stumbling block for the process is the formation of an association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo, which Pristina refused to execute fearing a Republika Srpska-like entity in the country would jeopardize its functionality. The international community insists that Kosovo implement its international obligation and establish the association.
With reporting by Gjeraqina Tuhina in Brussels
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- By Mike Eckel
Top Russian Diplomat Again Signals Readiness For Trump's Ukraine Proposals
Russia’s foreign minister signaled that Moscow was ready to hear from President-elect Donald Trump and advisers on proposals to resolve the Ukraine war, saying the incoming administration had "started to acknowledge the realities on the ground."
The comments from Sergei Lavrov, made during an annual news conference on January 14, were the latest in a series of remarks by Russian officials ahead of potential cease-fire proposals for the conflict, which will mark its third anniversary next month.
Trump has said he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly to try and resolve the war, which has killed or wounded more than 1 million troops on both sides.
Russia, whose troops currently occupy around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, has justified its all-out February 2022 invasion of Ukraine in a series of shifting rationales, including preventing it from ever joining the NATO military alliance.
"We will be waiting for specific initiatives. President Putin has said on multiple occasions that he is ready to meet, but no proposals have been made yet," Lavrov told reporters during the three-hour news conference.
"President Trump also said that Putin wanted to meet and he believed they should meet but he first needed to take office.”
In the waning days of his tenure, President Joe Biden has rushed to ship billions of dollars in weaponry and other equipment to Ukraine, seeking to bolster its arsenals in the event that the incoming Trump administration scales back arms shipments.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have also signaled an openness to hearing Trump’s peace proposals.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmax on January 13, Trump asserted that Putin was ready to meet soon after Trump's inauguration on January 20.
"I know he wants to meet and I’m going to meet [him] very quickly," he said.
"I would've done it sooner but...you have to get into the office. For some of the things, you do have to be there."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters shortly before Lavrov's event that there were no specifics agreed on yet for a Trump-Putin meeting.
Trump's incoming national-security adviser, Mike Waltz, also emphasized a new diplomatic push to resolve the fighting. But he also signaled Ukrainian demands that Russia withdraw from all occupied territories was unlikely.
"I just don't think it's realistic to say we're going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil, even Crimea," Waltz told ABC News in an interview broadcast on January 12.
"President Trump has acknowledged that reality, and I think it's been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality. Now let's move forward."
Ukraine Targets 'Strategic Sites' With Drone Attacks In Russia
Ukraine launched a massive attack on targets inside Russian territory on January 14, hitting weapons production plants, oil refineries, and warehouses.
Hours after the attacks, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv in an unannounced visit as European leaders look to underscore their support for Ukraine.
Two industrial facilities in Russia's western Saratov region were damaged in a drone attack, regional Governor Roman Busargin said on social media, while Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, said five Russian cities had been targeted.
Kovalenko did not specifically say Ukraine launched the attacks -- officials rarely comment directly on such events -- but he did say in a post on Telegram that a series of drone attacks targeting critical infrastructure across Russia have been undertaken.
"The porous Russian air defense continues to fail, allowing strikes on strategic economic facilities," he said, noting targets include factories manufacturing parts for weapons, oil refineries, fuel depots, warehouses, and air defenses, which are crucial for the Russian military and economy.
The January 14 attacks also targeted facilities in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan, where a fire broke out near the Kazan Orgsintez plant, which produces high-strength plastics.
Kazan, Tatarstan:
Local Telegram channels shared videos of an enormous fire with officials in Tatarstan attributing the blaze to falling debris from intercepted drones. There were no reports of casualties.
In the Saratov region city of Engels, drones struck an industrial plant, igniting a fire at one of the fuel depots damaged in a previous attack on January 8.
Engels, Saratov region:
Busargin confirmed the facility was destroyed but provided no other specifics.
Flights at airports in the surrounding area -- which serve cities including Saratov, Penza, and Kaluga -- saw operations limited as a precaution.
Ukrainian officials said the Russian military sent 80 drones from several directions overnight, but Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down 58 drones over various regions, including Kyiv, Poltava, and Odesa.
While there were damages to private and residential buildings and injuries, no deaths have been reported.
Pistorius's visit comes a day after NATO chief Mark Rutte told members of the European Parliament that Ukraine is currently not in a position to begin peace talks with Russia as the three-year anniversary of the war nears.
"This visit proves that Germany, as the largest member of NATO in Europe, stands in solidarity with Ukraine and our allies," he said.
Among other things, Pistorius discussed the potential for joint military exercises and intelligence sharing. He also negotiated further military aid, including delivering new RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers that would help significantly increase the strength of Ukraine's artillery.
- By Kian Sharifi and
- Iliya Jazaeri
Lebanon Names ICJ Chief As Prime Minister In Latest Blow To Iran
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's designation of Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as the country's new prime minister appears to deal another blow to Iran's declining regional influence.
Lawmakers on January 13 nominated Salam for the post, favoring him over the incumbent, Najib Mikati, who was said to be the preferred candidate of Hezbollah, the political party and armed group backed by Iran and designated as terrorists by the United States.
Aoun himself was elected president by lawmakers on January 9, filling a role that had been vacant for over two years, not least because lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shi'ite ally Amal Movement would refuse to attend sessions to prevent the parliament from reaching quorum.
The U.S.- and Saudi-backed former army chief was elected president in the second round of voting after Hezbollah lawmakers opted to vote for him, having withheld their ballots in the first round in an apparent attempt to show that the group still held some power.
However, Salam's designation as prime minister further reflects the weakening of Hezbollah -- and by extension the waning of Iran's influence.
"It means that Iran's dominance in the region has come to an end," Makram Rabah, a history lecturer at American University of Beirut, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
Mohammad Raad, leader of the Hezbollah bloc in parliament, claimed on January 13 that opponents of the group were working to exclude it from power and sought to divide the country.
The Lebanese lawmaker said the group had "extended its hand" by helping Aoun become president but found the "hand was cut off" after meeting him following the parliament's nomination of Salam.
Raad warned any government that "opposes coexistence has no legitimacy whatsoever."
Rabah said Salam's designation as prime minister "does not pose a challenge for anyone," but if Iran and Hezbollah believe that his becoming Lebanon's premier is "an attempt to end them," that means the Islamic republic and its Lebanese ally "harbor ideas and policies that contravene the principles of governance and progress."
Once a powerful force in Lebanon, Hezbollah's recent war with Israel has left it politically and socially weak and militarily degraded.
Under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing political system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shi'ite Muslim.
Salam, who comes from a historically political family, served as Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations in 2007-17 before elected to serve on the ICJ, with his term beginning in 2018. In 2024, he became the first Lebanese judge to be elected as the head of The Hague-based court.
- By RFE/RL
NATO Baltic Sea Leaders To Discuss Increasing Security In Region
The leaders of several NATO countries are scheduled to meet in Helsinki on January 14 to discuss increasing security in the Baltic Sea region following the suspected sabotage of several undersea cables.
The leaders of Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden are expected to attend the meeting and discuss measures required to secure critical underwater infrastructure. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the executive vice president of the European Commission are also expected to attend.
The meeting will focus on "strengthening of NATO's presence in the Baltic Sea and responding to the threat posed by Russia's shadow fleet," according to a statement from the office of Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
NATO said in late December it would increase its presence in the region following the suspected sabotage of cables between Finland and Estonia, but it has yet to announce an official operation.
Several undersea telecommunications and power cables have been damaged in the Baltic Sea since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Experts and politicians have blamed vessels in Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of aging oil tankers. The Kremlin denies any involvement.
Rutte told members of the European Parliament on January 13 that "such hostile actions" will not go unanswered, promising to strengthen NATO's military presence in the region.
“Of course, we will discuss the shadow fleet and what to do about it, so we are responding and will continue to ensure no country can exploit us, control our infrastructure, or disrupt our societies," Rutte said.
Rutte is scheduled to hold a joint news conference with Stubb and co-host of the meeting Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal.
Finland said last week that NATO would contribute two vessels to a monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea, while the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which comprises Nordic and Baltic states as well as the Netherlands, also said it would increase its surveillance.
Sweden is sending up to three warships and a surveillance aircraft.
The first major incidence of sabotage of infrastructure occurred in September 2022 when a series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Europe. The cause has yet to be determined.
An undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down in October 2023 after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
The most recent incident occurred on December 25 when the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were damaged.
That came just weeks after two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed on November 17-18.
Suspicion over the December 25 incident has fallen on the Eagle S, a Cook Island-flagged oil tanker believed to be part of Russia’s "shadow fleet." Investigators suspect the cables were damaged when the tanker dragged its anchor over them.
Finnish police seized the Eagle S as part of a criminal investigation, and Finnish authorities last week deemed the ship unseaworthy following an inspection. They barred it from sailing and banned eight crew members from leaving the country pending the investigation.
With reporting by AFP
Slovak Prime Minister Criticizes End Of Russian Gas Transit, Demands Meeting With Zelenskiy
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico sharply criticized Ukraine in an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for his decision to let a contract for the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukrainian territory expire on January 1.
Fico emphasized the economic and political fallout of the move, which ended the flow of gas through the pipeline serving Slovakia and several other European countries.
"Your decision to block gas transit through Ukraine has caused enormous harm not only to Slovakia but to the European Union as a whole," Fico wrote in the letter, dated January 13. "It undermines the competitiveness of an organization Ukraine aspires to join."
Fico demanded an immediate meeting with Zelenskiy to discuss potential solutions, including alternative technical arrangements to restore transit.
The pipeline brought gas from Siberia to the Russia town of Sudzha, which is now under the control of Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. It then flowed through Ukraine to Slovakia, where the Soviet-era pipeline splits into branches going to the Czech Republic and Austria.
Ukraine repeatedly said it would not sign a new deal to replace the one expiring. The decision aligned with efforts by Ukraine and its allies to cut off the Kremlin's source of funding for the war.
The decision, presented as a matter of national security, represented one of the most critical changes in Ukraine's energy policy since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago and since Kyiv began reducing dependency on Russian energy supplies.
The European Union said preparations ahead of the end of the contract had included energy efficiency measures and renewable energy development. It also said Europe's gas infrastructure was "flexible enough to provide gas of non-Russian origin to Central and Eastern Europe via alternative routes."
But Fico said the end of the flow of natural gas through the pipeline has thrown Slovakia into an immediate energy supply problem since it depends heavily on Russian natural gas and revenues from transit.
Last year, the pipeline delivered about 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas, including some 3 billion cubic meters to Slovakia.
Fico said in his letter that Slovakia stands to lose 500 million euros annually in revenue and see its energy insecurity worsen, which may reduce the EU's economic competitiveness even further. Fico also points to long-term consequences for Europe's energy stability and bilateral relationships.
He said he hoped Ukraine would engage constructively with a special EU working group looking into the crisis. Potential solutions could involve renegotiating the transit agreement or finding alternative energy sources.
Zelenskiy reacted to Fico's open letter by inviting him to Kyiv on January 17.
Zelenskiy on January 12 attacked Fico in a statement, accusing him of mismanaging Slovakia's energy policy and, in essence, putting "shadow deals with Moscow" above European unity and national interest.
"Many in Europe warned him that the 'do nothing, wait' tactic would go this way. Now, he is trying to shift the responsibility regarding PR and lies and thunderous accusations," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine had offered to help Slovakia during its transition away from Russian gas, but Fico "arrogantly refused." According to Zelenskiy, this proves the Slovak leader's "bet on Moscow, not on his own country, not on a united Europe, and not on common sense."
Ukraine Must Be In Position Of Strength Before Any Peace Talks, NATO Chief Says
Ukraine is currently not in a position to begin peace talks with Russia, NATO chief Mark Rutte told members of the European Parliament on January 13 as Russian forces concentrate their main offensive efforts around the city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region and in the Russian region of Kursk.
Ukraine cannot "at this moment negotiate from a position of strength," Rutte said. "We have to do more to make sure by changing the trajectory of the conflict that they can get to that position of strength."
Rutte spoke a week before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to seek a swift end the war in Ukraine. The promises have sparked fears that U.S. support for Kyiv could decline and Ukraine's leaders could be forced to make painful concessions.
"We all want this war to end, but above all, we want peace to last," Rutte said. "Peace will not last if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin gets his way in Ukraine because then he will press ahead."
Rutte reiterated his insistence that Europe needs to massively ramp up its defense spending, saying the alliance's threshold of 2 percent of gross domestic product is "not nearly enough" to face the threat from Moscow.
"If we don't do it, we are safe now but not in four or five years," he said. "So, if you don't do it, get out your Russian-language courses or go to New Zealand."
On the battlefield, the situation remains tense around Pokrovsk and in Kursk, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said late on January 13.
Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions in more than a dozen settlements around Pokrovsk 74 times on January 13. Five clashes were still ongoing as of 10 p.m. local time, the report said.
Ukrainian forces "successfully repelled" 11 enemy attacks in Kursk, according to the General Staff.
In the Sumy region, a 54-year-old woman died and her 65-year-old husband was injured after a drone strike on their car, the regional prosecutor's office reported on Telegram. The civilian car was moving through a community when it was hit, the prosecutors said, adding that an investigation into possible war crimes has been launched.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on January 13 that he and French President Emmanuel Macron again discussed the idea of Western "partner contingents" being deployed to Ukraine.
Speaking in his evening address, the Ukrainian leader did not say whether he was talking about the West sending combat troops or peacekeepers as part of a settlement to end the war.
He described the conversation as "rather long and detailed" and said it covered military support, including various forms of defense and arms packages for Ukraine.
Macron has floated the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine before, including last month when Zelenskiy said that he and Macron discussed it in detail.
"We continued working on President Macron’s initiative regarding the presence of forces in Ukraine that could contribute to stabilizing the path to peace," Zelenskiy said on December 18.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
- By RFE/RL
Biden Says U.S. Stronger Versus Russia, China As He Prepares To Depart
WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden told the nation that the United States is stronger economically and militarily and has more allies today compared with four years ago as he prepares to leave office later this month.
In a speech at the State Department on January 13 summing up his administration’s record, Biden said the United States has widened its lead over competitors like Russia and China.
"Our adversaries are weaker than they were when we came into this job four years ago. Let's consider Russia. [President Vladimir] Putin invaded Ukraine. He thought he'd conquer Kyiv in a matter of days. But the truth is, since that war began, I'm the only one that stood in the center of Kyiv, not him," Biden said, referring to his visit to the embattled nation last year.
When Biden took office in 2021, he sought to repair relations with European allies damaged under his predecessor, Donald Trump, "park Russia," and focus on competing with China, which the United States considers its main global rival.
However, his foreign policy priorities were uprooted as Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the largest land war in Europe in more than seven decades, and as Hamas attacked Israel in 2023, igniting a war that threatens to engulf the region. Both wars continue today.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine helped Biden achieve his goal of strengthening NATO, as member nations rallied around the United States to support Kyiv with hundreds of billions of dollars in military and financial aid. Sweden and Finland, long neutral nations, joined NATO following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
During his term in office, U.S. adversaries, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, expanded cooperation, increasing the threat to the West. Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang all sent technological and military aid to Russia, while Moscow boosted energy and military supplies to those countries. Biden said their cooperation was driven by “weakness” not strength.
Biden said his administration rebooted the U.S. defense industrial base, investing almost $1.3 trillion in procurement and research and development during his four year term.
He also said he oversaw a U.S. economy that went from strength to strength while adversaries struggled, adding that the United States will continue to remain the largest economy in the world for decades to come.
"My administration is leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play," Biden said. "America is once again leading."
He called on Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20, to ensure the United States remains the leader in artificial intelligence, saying the new technology has the power to reshape economies, governments, and national security.
Biden also urged Trump to take the clean energy transition seriously, calling climate change the "greatest existential threat to humanity."
He warned that China was seeking to dominate the clean energy industry, from materials to manufacturing, saying it could leave the United States dependent on Beijing.
"The United States must win that contest," he said.
Tehran Releases German-Iranian Activist Nahid Taghavi
Nahid Taghavi, a dual German-Iranian national, has returned to Germany after four years of imprisonment in Iran as a new round of nuclear negotiations between three major European countries and Tehran is set to resume.
Taghavi's daughter, Mariam Claren, posted on social media on January 14 a picture of herself embracing her mother at what appeared to be a German airport with a caption saying "It's over. Nahid is free!"
"After more than 4 years as a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran my mother Nahid Taghavi was freed and is back in Germany," she added.
Taghavi, now 69, was arrested by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) while visiting Iran in the fall of 2020.
She was later sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison by a revolutionary court on charges of taking part in an "illegal group" -- something she and her family have denied.
Taghavi was briefly granted medical furloughs but was required to remain under electronic surveillance in Tehran.
She was forced to return to prison amid increased tensions between Iran and Germany, notably after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voiced support for Iran's Women, Life, Freedom protests, a movement advocating for women's rights and freedom in Iran.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock celebrated Taghavi's release in a social media post, calling it "a moment of great joy."
Taghavi's release follows a flurry of diplomatic moves leading up to talks to be held in Geneva on January 14 between Iran, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.
Last week Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was released after being detained in Iran for three weeks while in Tehran for a reporting trip.
Separately, Iranian national Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested in Italy on a U.S. warrant for allegedly smuggling drone parts to the IRGC, was released and returned to Tehran last week.
The talks in Geneva are the second round in two months concerning Tehran's nuclear program.
France has said the so-called consultations are aimed at working "toward a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program, the progress of which is extremely problematic."
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were key players in a 2015 deal, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that gave Iran some limited relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program designed to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Under then-President Donald Trump, the United States pulled out of the deal and reimposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic.
With Trump scheduled to be inaugurated once again as president on January 20, Rafael Grossi, head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has urged Iran and its global partners to achieve "concrete, tangible, and visible results" in talks over Tehran's nuclear program as Trump's return to the White House may mean the window for diplomacy is closing.
Taghavi's case is just one of many involving dual nationals detained in Iran. The West accuses Tehran of using the detainees as diplomatic bargaining chips.
France has demanded the immediate release of its nationals arrested in Iran, saying their conditions are tantamount to torture.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has called for an investigation into the death of one of its citizens in an Iranian jail last week that Iranian authorities ruled was a "suicide."
The fate of Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German political activist executed in Iran under controversial circumstances, also has fueled tension between Berlin and Tehran. Despite an international outcry, Iran has not released Sharmahd's body to his family in the United States.
Ukraine Gaining 'Useful' Intel From Captured North Korean Soldiers, Kyiv Says
Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) says two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia continue to be interrogated with Kyiv ready to swap them for Ukrainian troops held by Moscow if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un can arrange such an exchange.
Speaking to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on January 13, Yevhen Yerin, a representative of HUR, said the capture of live North Korean soldiers, the first Ukraine has announced since their entry in support of Russia into the nearly 3-year-old war last autumn, provides Kyiv "many useful opportunities."
"The information we can gather from these individuals is important not only for operational intelligence but also as a political tool to reveal the participation of the North Korean Army in Russia's military actions," he said.
The capture of the two wounded soldiers, announced on January 11 by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has yet to be confirmed by either Moscow or Pyongyang.
Last fall, North Korea sent some 11,000 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.
Yerin said it appears North Korean soldiers are being integrated into many parts of the battle in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine has taken control of some territory.
"They are primarily used as cannon fodder. However, among them there are various specialists who deal with different issues, but in general, they are, generally speaking, infantry," he said on North Korean soldiers fighting in support of Russia.
Earlier on January 13, South Korea's National Intelligence Service reported that more than 300 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the Russian region of Kursk, with around 2,700 more injured.
The Ukrainian Security Service (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.
One of the soldiers purportedly said he would prefer to stay in Ukraine rather than return to North Korea for fear of "severe punishment" from his government, saying he possibly faces execution or a lengthy imprisonment.
"North Korea's participation is not only a matter on the battlefield -- it has big diplomatic implications," Yerin said.
"The very fact that they are there impacts the dynamics of the war, even though they're mostly 'cannon fodder.'"
Zelenskiy has publicly accused Russia and North Korea of trying to cover up evidence of the deployments by issuing fake papers to North Korean soldiers identifying them as Russian citizens.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on January 13 declined again to comment on the situation, which Russia has neither confirmed nor denied.
"We cannot comment in any way, we do not know what is true there," he said of the Ukrainian claims on capturing the two soldiers.
"We continue to discuss the possibility of exchanges, which is not easy work...but for us the life of every Russian soldier is important," Peskov added.
- By RFE/RL
Biden Speaks To Families Of Taliban's U.S. Prisoners, Vows To Press For Release
The White House said President Joe Biden spoke to the families of three Americans held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2022 and promised to do everything possible to bring them home as he heads into the final days of his presidency.
Biden "spoke with the families of Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann, and Mahmood Habibi -- Americans unjustly held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2022 -- this afternoon," the White House said on January 12.
"The president and the families discussed the U.S. government's continuing efforts to reunite these three Americans with their families. The president emphasized his administration's commitment to the cause of bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas," the statement added.
Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter, last week reported that the administration has been negotiating with the Taliban since at least July concerning a U.S. offer to release the three Americans in exchange for Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, a high-profile prisoner held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Afghani has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2008 and is believed to have been an associate of Osama bin Laden, the late founder of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group.
Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022, a year after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan from the Western-backed government. Glezmann, now 66, was detained later in 2022 while visiting as a tourist.
Family members who spoke with Biden said they were told no deal had yet been reached.
Habibi's brother, Ahmad Habibi, was on the call, and welcomed the president's efforts.
"President Biden was very clear in telling us that he would not trade Rahim if the Taliban do not let my brother go," he told Reuters.
"He said he would not leave him behind. My family is very grateful that he is standing up for my brother."
Reuters quoted sources as saying the Taliban, which has not acknowledged holding Habibi, had countered with a proposal to exchange Glezmann and Corbett for Rahim and two other people.
A U.S. Senate report called Rahim an "Al-Qaeda facilitator" and said he was arrested in Pakistan in June 2007 and turned over to the CIA the next month and eventually transferred to Guantanamo Bay.
Biden, who will depart the White House on January 20, last week ordered the release of 11 Guantanamo detainees to Oman, reducing the prison population there to 15.
Biden's administration has been working to reduce the number of detainees, with a goal of closing down the prison, which is on a U.S. naval base on the island of Cuba. At its peak in 2003, it held an estimated 680 prisoners.
President George W. Bush opened the prison in January 2002 to hold international terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
With reporting by Reuters
Italy Frees Iranian Wanted By U.S. For Alleged Involvement In Drone Attack
Tehran has confirmed that an Iranian national has returned home following his release from Italy, despite a request by Washington for his extradition to the United States for alleged involvement in a deadly drone attack in Jordan.
Italy's release of 38-year-old Mohammad Abedini on January 12 came four days after the freeing by Tehran of 29-year-old Italian journalist and podcaster Cecilia Sala, although no mention of a prisoner swap was made by either side.
After saying Abedini had been released earlier in the day by Italy, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and judiciary announced he had arrived in Iran.
Abedini, an Iranian-Swiss businessman, was arrested in Italy in December at the request of the United States.
Washington has accused him of supplying sophisticated drone technology to Iran's military in violation of U.S. sanctions and of alleged involvement in a January 2024 drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three soldiers.
The U.S. Justice Department said Abedini was the founder and director of an Iranian company "that manufactures navigation modules used in the military drone program" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed Abedini's arrest was a "misunderstanding" that was resolved in talks between the Iranian and Italian intelligence services.
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Abedini had been released from a Milan prison by the Court of Appeals based on a ruling by Justice Minister Carlo Nordio.
Italy's Justice Ministry said that, according to the country's treaty with Washington, extradition can only occur if an alleged crime is punishable under both countries' laws.
"The first conduct attributed to the Iranian citizen of 'criminal association to violate the IEEPA' [is not] punished by the Italian criminal system," it said, referring to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a U.S. law that gives the president sweeping emergency powers.
The Iranian man is also accused by Washington of "criminal association to provide material support to a terrorist organization resulting in death" and of providing "material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death."
However, Italy's Justice Ministry said no evidence was offered as "a basis for the accusations made."
Washington has not commented on Abedini's release.
Sala, who was arrested on December 19 by Tehran police for her "journalistic activities," was released on January 8 and has returned home.
The journalist, 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.
The arrest sparked a diplomatic clash between Tehran and Rome, with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto calling her arrest “unacceptable.”
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."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced in a post on X that Sala was released "thanks to intense work on diplomatic and intelligence channels."
Iran is routinely accused of arresting dual nationals and Western citizens on false charges to use them to pressure Western countries.
With reporting by AFP
Fresh Protests Erupt In Romania Over Canceled Presidential Election
BUCHAREST -- Thousands of people rallied in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on January 12 to protest the December annulment of the presidential election in which right-wing, pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round.
The protest began around 2 p.m. at Bucharest’s University Square and spread out to other sites. At 10:30 p.m., some 200 people were still in front of government buildings near Victory Square.
Protests have been continuing in Romania since December 6 when the Constitutional Court canceled the election two days before the second round amid allegations of Russian interference.
Demonstrators on January 12 waved the Romanian flag and carried Christian icons as wells as banners that read "Democracy," "Freedom," and "Give us back the second round," as they demanded the court to reverse its ruling.
They also called for the resignation of the outgoing President Klaus Iohannis, whose term expired on December 21 but is staying on as head of state until his successor is elected.
While the rally, which blocked traffic, was peaceful, police said they have arrested three people for "possession of knives and other prohibited items."
Georgescu, who is critical of NATO and opposes Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, was a little-known figure in Romania until he unexpectedly won the first round of the presidential election on November 24 with about 22 percent of the vote.
Georgescu, 62, was to face pro-European centrist candidate Elena Lasconi in a runoff, which had been seen as a referendum on the future course of Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union.
The Constitutional Court's decision to scrap the election and ordering a new vote came after state documents showed Georgescu, who ran as an independent candidate, had benefitted from an unfair social media campaign likely orchestrated by Russia. Moscow denies interfering in the election.
Georgescu's lawyers filed a request on January 10 for the Constitutional Court to revise its decision and reinstate the election result.
A similar request was filed on the same day by George Simion, the leader of far-right pro-Russian AUR party, together with parliamentarians from AUR. The party announced plans to stage more protests.
Ahead of the January 12 rally, Simion told reporters the protesters demand "free elections with the resumption of the second round and respect for democracy."
Pro-European parties in Romania struck a deal late last year to form a coalition government without the far right after parliamentary elections on December 1. The new government was sworn in on December 23.
Georgescu's first-place finish sparked fears and also triggered protests in favor of the country's pro-Western path, especially among younger Romanians concerned over the future of democracy in the country.
On December 5, about 3,000 people marched in Bucharest, decrying Russian interference and chanting "Freedom" and "Europe."
The new presidential vote is planned for May 4, with a possible run-off vote scheduled for May 18, but it remains unclear whether Georgescu will be allowed to run for president again.
Malala Condemns Taliban On Women’s Rights, Assails ‘Gender Apartheid’
ISLAMABAD -- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders not to "legitimize" the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan and instead to "raise their voices" and "use [their] power" against the militant group's curbs on women and girls' education.
"Do not legitimize them," Yousafzai said on January 12, as she addressed the second and final day of a Muslim-led summit on girls’ education in her home country, Pakistan.
"Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. They cloak their crimes in cultural and religious justification," Yousafzai, 27, told the gathering in Islamabad.
She also urged Muslim leaders and global politicians to support efforts to make what has been called “gender apartheid” a crime under international law.
The event marked a full circle for Yousafzai, who was shot in 2012 by the Pakistani Taliban in the northwestern valley of Swat because she had campaigned for girls' education.
Following the conference, organizers released a 17-point "Islamabad Declaration," including an agreement "emphasizing that girls' education is not only a religious obligation but also an urgent societal necessity."
"It is a fundamental right safeguarded by divine laws, mandated by Islamic teaching, reinforced by international chargers and well-established by national constitutions," it said.
The rights of girls and women – especially access to education – is often a controversial subject in conservative Islamic nations. Domestic activists and international organizations have pressed leaders to promote and protect such rights, and observers in recent years have noted improvements in many, but not all, countries.
Some 47 Muslim-majority nations and organizations sent representatives to the event, but it was shunned by the Afghan Taliban, whom activists say are among the world's leading violators of the rights of women and girls.
Ahead of the gathering, Yousafzai said she would focus her speech on Afghanistan -- which 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 assailed by the international community and many people inside Afghanistan.
"I will speak about protecting rights for all girls to go to school, and why leaders must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women & girls," she wrote on X.
The attack on Yousafzai, who had become a target for her campaign for girls' education, sent shock waves across Pakistan and provoked international outrage.
Yousafzai, who was 15 at the time, survived after months of treatment at home and abroad and became an international figure, winning 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), urged leaders of Islamic nations to protect the rights of Afghan girls.
"I really call on all these ministers...who came from all over the world, to offer scholarships, to have online education, to have all sorts of education for them. This is the task of the day," she said during a panel discussion.
'Crime Against Humanity'
Yousafzai's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, criticized Muslim countries for what he described as being "either silent, complicit, or apologetic" toward the Taliban's curtailing of Afghan women's rights.
Echoing condemnations by the United Nations, which has labeled the Taliban’s treatment of women "gender apartheid," Ziauddin Yousafzai told RFE/RL that "the international community, especially Muslim countries, should call the [government in Kabul] an apartheid regime."
He said the Taliban-led administration's curb on girls and women's rights is a "crime against humanity."
No Taliban representatives were present among participants of the two-day conference that brought together ministers and education officials from dozens of Muslim-majority countries, backed by the Muslim World League.
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 that Taliban leaders 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 bans on women’s work, education, and mobility despite domestic opposition and a global outcry.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in his opening statement that preventing girls from receiving an education is "tantamount to denying their voice" and restricting their choices.
"The Muslim world, including Pakistan, faces significant challenges in ensuring equitable access to education for girls," Sharif said.
Muhammad al-Issa, a Saudi cleric and secretary-general of the Muslim World League, who organized the event with the Pakistani government, said, "The entire Muslim world has agreed that girls' education is important."
"Those who say that girls’ education is un-Islamic are wrong," he added.
With reporting by AFP
Key Trump Adviser Blasts Iran At Paris Opposition Gathering
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, while attending an Iranian opposition event in Paris, called for the return of "maximum pressure" against Tehran to push it to allow more democracy and to cease support for extremist elements in the Middle East.
"These pressures are not just kinetic, just not military force, but they must be economic and diplomatic as well," Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant-general, on January 11 told attendees at a gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) – which Tehran considers a terrorist group.
Trump has vowed to return to the "maximum pressure" policy he pursued during his previous term, with the goal of hampering the Iranian economy enough to force it to negotiate its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and curb regional activities.
Trump in 2018 withdrew Washington from a landmark nuclear deal signed with world powers, reimposing crippling sanctions on Iran. Trump said the terms were not strict enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
In Paris, Kellogg said there were now opportunities "to change Iran for the better" but that "we must exploit the weakness we now see. The hope is there, so must too be the action."
It was not immediately clear if Kellogg's trip and statements on Iran policy were directly synchronized with Trump.
Trump on November 27 tapped Kellogg, who has long served as a top adviser on defense issues, as his nominee to be special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Earlier this month, Kellogg postponed a trip he was expected to make to Kyiv and other European capitals until after Trump takes office on January 20.
Meanwhile, Hussein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), on January 11 warned the incoming administration that strategic miscalculations could lead to armed conflict.
He added that Tehran's military was not as weak as some believed.
"We know that such judgments are the dreams of the enemy, not realities on the ground," he said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
"Be careful, don't make any strategic mistakes or miscalculations," he said, without directly mentioning Trump.
The Trump administration in 2019 officially designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
- By RFE/RL
Zelenskiy Says Ready To Swap Captured N. Korean Soldiers For Ukrainian Troops
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he is prepared to hand over captured North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang if reclusive leader Kim Jong Un can arrange a prisoner swap for Ukrainians held in Russia.
"Ukraine is ready to hand over his people to Kim Jong Un if he can organize their exchange for our soldiers who are in captivity in Russia," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on January 12.
He also offered "some other paths" for any North Korean soldiers who did not want to return to their authoritarian home country.
"In particular, those Koreans who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war [back] in Korea will have such an opportunity," he added.
The Ukrainian president's comments came as South Korea said Kyiv had captured two North Korean soldiers, confirming remarks made a day earlier by Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials.
"Through real-time cooperation with Ukraine's intelligence agency...[South Korea's National Intelligence Service] has confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 in the Kursk battlefield in Russia," Seoul said in a statement.
Neither North Korea nor Moscow has commented on the reports.
Ukraine's SBU intelligence on January 11 released a video showing two men in hospital bunks, one with bandaged hands and the other with a bandaged jaw.
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.
In separate televised comments, Zelenskiy said one to the two captured soldiers had "expressed a desire to stay in Ukraine, the other to return to [North] Korea."
The NIS also said one of the captured soldiers had claimed he received training from the Russian military after he arrived in the country in November.
“He initially believed he was being sent for training, realizing upon arrival in Russia that he had been deployed," South Korea's intelligence agency said.
It added that one of the prisoners "went without food or water for four to five days before being captured" by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine has launched new 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, North Korea sent some 11,000 troops to the Kursk region to support Russian forces. 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.
Zelenskiy on December 23 said more than 3,000 troops, or about a quarter of the North Korean special forces sent to Russia, had been killed or injured, though he did not provide evidence.
White House spokesman John Kirby on December 27 told reporters that North Korean forces were suffering heavy casualties on the front lines, adding that some 1,000 of their troops had been killed or wounded in the Kursk region over a one-week period.
"It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses," Kirby said.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
- 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, North Korea sent some 11,000 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.
Referring to the captured soldiers on X, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that the "first North Korean prisoners of war are now in Kyiv" and that they were "regular [North Korean] troops, not mercenaries."
“The security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is directly linked. We need maximum pressure against regimes in Moscow and Pyongyang.,” he wrote.
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.
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.
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.
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