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Abkhazia Opposition Activists Released Amid Protests
Authorities in Georgia's Moscow-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia on November 12 released five opposition activists after protesters blocked all three access bridges into the capital, Sukhumi and a major highway.
The five -- Omar Smiri, Gari Kokaia, Almaskhan Ardzinba, Ramaz Jopua, and Aslan Gvaramia -- who were protesting the authorities' awarding major construction contracts to Russian companies, had been detained on November 11 following a skirmish with lawmaker Almas Akaba outside the regional assembly in Sukhumi.
The incident was recorded and posted on Telegram channels. General Prosecutor Adgur Agrba said the five were detained after they "committed illegal acts against a lawmaker in the backyard of the assembly building following an extraordinary session."
The five were accused of petty hooliganism, but the Sukhumi court stopped the proceedings against them due to the absence of an administrative offense, according to a report by journalist Eleonora Giloyan.
Aslan Bartsits, the leader of opposition party People's Unity Forum, said the activists were protesting the recently signed Investment Activity Agreement between Russia and Abkhazia, which gives Russian firms the right to invest in construction projects in the separatist region.
Telegram channel Baza, which has ties to Russia's security services, said the agreement regards the building of multifunctional complexes in Abkhazia.
News of the detention of the five, who were taken to the building of the local security service, spread rapidly on social media late on November 11, with protesters gathering outside the building and trying to ram the gates with a car before moving to the capital's Freedom Square.
All the three access bridges into Sukhumi -- Gumisti, Lower Gumisti, and Kodori -- and a highway were also blocked early in the morning by protesters demanding the activists' release.
It was not immediately clear if the protesters opened access to the bridges and the highway after the five were released. Kodori Bridge was temporarily reopened earlier in the day before being closed again by protesters, while protesters were allowing the access of public transport on Gumisti Bridge.
Telegram channels posted videos purporting to show scuffles between security forces and protesters on Kodori Bridge.
The region's health minister, Eduard Butba, claimed in a statement that ambulances "cannot freely travel to their destinations" and medical institutions had been switched to emergency mode.
Abkhazia's official news agency, Apsnipress, reported that the region's leader, Aslan Bzhania, whose residence was protected by the military, called a security council meeting due to the "situation caused by the illegal blocking of the republic's highway."
Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia's rule after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Moscow recognized the independence of the two regions after Russian forces repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war in the summer of 2008 that ended with Georgia's defeat.
Most countries still recognize Abkhazia as part of Georgia.
The Abkhazian opposition is against the construction agreement with Russia and is planning a protest on November 15, the day of the ratification of the agreement.
Kryviy Rih, Mykolayiv Declare Day Of Mourning After Deadly Russian Attacks
The Ukrainian cities of Kryviy Rih and Mykolayiv have announced a day of mourning in the aftermath of Russian strikes in recent days that killed at least nine civilians, including three children, as Moscow kept up its daily attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure at the onset of winter.
The day of mourning is to be observed on November 13 in the central city of Kryviy Rih, where a 32-year-old woman and her three children -- a 10-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 2-month-old baby -- were killed in a missile strike that destroyed their five-story apartment building.
The four victims were pulled out of the rubble by rescue workers after an hourslong search, the city's governor, Oleksandr Vilkul, reported early on November 12. Another 14 people, including children, were wounded in the strike.
In the southern city of Mikolayiv, where at least five people were killed by a Russian strike on an apartment building on November 11, Mayor Oleksandr Syenkevych announced a day of mourning on November 12.
"Today in Mykolaiv, the day of mourning for our citizens, who died as a result of the attack of the Russian invaders on November 11, was declared," Syenkevych said on Telegram.
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.
In a separate Russian strike on November 12, four people were wounded in the village of Bilenke in Donetsk, Ukraine's Emergency Services reported.
Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, reported that Russia attacked 10 Ukrainian regions -- Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhya, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolayiv -- with missiles, glide bombs, and 110 drones.
Air defenses shot down 46 Russian drones, while 60 drones were lost after their navigation systems were jammed by Ukrainian electronic-warfare systems, the air force reported.
Russian officials said that Ukrainian drone strike early on November 12 set a fuel depot on fire in Stary Oskol, a city in Russia's Belgorod region some 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 13 Ukrainian drones, nine of them in Belgorod, two in Bryansk, and two in the Kursk region.
Belarusian Prankster Dupes Russian Teachers Into Wearing Tinfoil Hats To Ward Off 'Foreign Enemies'
A famous Belarusian prankster who has garnered a reputation for duping schools to highlight the “fascistization of Russian society” has tricked teachers in Russia's Voronezh region into wearing pro-Russia “protective” tinfoil hats.
Vladislav Bokhan, an exiled Belarusian artist and activist who lives in Poland, wrote on Telegram on November 9 that in July he sent out what appeared to be an official government directive to schools in the Voronezh region to organize events in which tinfoil hats bearing the Russian flag were made.
The hats, the order said, would “protect against foreign enemies.” The schools were also instructed to provide videos and images of the teachers wearing the hats to -- what they thought was -- the government.
In one video shared by Bokhan on Telegram, a teacher talks about the supposed benefits of the tinfoil hat, which the fake government order described as the “helmet of the fatherland.”
“Let the helmet that you make with your own hands become a means of protection against foreign enemies of our wonderful country,” the teacher says in the video.
Bokhan has staged several similar pranks aimed at opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and highlighting contradictions and hypocrisy in government rhetoric.
On Telegram, he said his latest prank was the continuation of “measuring the level of fascistization of Russian society” based on Italian historian and philosopher Umberto Eco’s renowned essay, Ur-Fascism.
Last year, Bokhan posed as a Russian lawmaker and tricked several schools into sending birthday messages to President Vladimir Putin bearing a photograph and quotes by Stepan Bandera, a World War II-era Ukrainian partisan leader who has been vilified by the Kremlin.
In 2022, Bokhan duped several Russian schools into holding marches to pay tribute to him, pretending to be a military hero serving in Ukraine.
Demonstrators were pictured holding signs saying, “Vladislav is our hero.”
Another action that Bokhan pulled off was tricking schoolteachers in a Moscow region town to participate in a municipal cleanup day carrying slogans used by Nazis at concentration camps.
COP29 Climate Conference Kicks Off, And So Does The Bickering
The 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) kicked off in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, on November 11 with hopes of making headway in the global battle to combat climate change. But it didn't take long for the proceedings to grind to a halt as bickering erupted over the meeting's agenda.
The talks hit a snag, according to several media outlets, when some countries wanted more focus on moving forward in the transition away from fossil fuels, while others, mainly oil and gas producing nations, wanted to limit talk on the COP28 agreement reached last year to mainly look at finance.
"Let's dispense with the idea that climate finance is charity," U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said in a speech.
"An ambitious new climate finance goal is entirely in the self-interest of every nation, including the largest and wealthiest."
With the UN's World Meteorological Organization forecasting that 2015-2024 will be the hottest decade ever recorded, and extreme climate events popping up across the globe, the talks in Baku, which run until November 22, are seen as crucial for making progress before it's too late.
Clouding the talks further is last week's election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.
Trump campaigned on raising fossil fuel output in the United States, which is already at a record high.
Even the U.S. climate envoy John Podesta couldn't hide his concerns over how the incoming administration will address climate change given Trump's often-stated goal of removing the country from international climate cooperation agreements.
"For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing," Podesta said at the summit.
"But what I want to tell you today is that while the United States federal government, under Donald Trump, may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States."
Even before the start of COP29, questions around the commitment to real progress were being asked given the choice of oil-rich Azerbaijan as host of the event.
Authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev has been chided for failing to devise and implement sufficient climate change plans at home, where he is also accused of human rights violations, including the detention of independent media figures, such as journalist and economist Farid Mehralizada, who is affiliated with RFE/RL and recently marked his fifth month in custody on charges that he and his supporters say are fabricated.
"Azerbaijan, using COP29 as a facade, is ramping up control under a false 'green' agenda, tightening its grip on power, and escalating regional tensions," Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg said in a post on X.
Thunberg led a protest in neighboring Georgia on November 11 after saying she wouldn't be attending COP29 over Azerbaijan’s climate and human rights record.
Azerbaijan has long regarded holding large-scale events as a path toward international prestige.
It hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012. It has bid repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully, to host the Summer Olympic Games and has hosted two Olympics-like events, the European Games in 2015 and the Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017. Since 2017, it has hosted the Formula One circuit’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix through downtown Baku.
But. on the streets of Baku, residents seemed unimpressed by their government's efforts to host another high-profile international event.
"COP 29 is being held because [the authorities] want to promote Azerbaijan, that is one thing. Secondly people will come and gather here and Azerbaijan's money will go [toward feeding them]," one female resident of the capital complained.
"The poor, the poor families, the families of veterans, the disabled will be left aside, they will not be supported, but COP 29 will be held here. They will spend millions [on the organization of COP 29]. Why do we need this?"
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
EU On Way To Reach Million-Shell Pledge For Ukraine This Year, Borrell Says
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said the bloc is on its way to belatedly fulfill a pledge to supply Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells. Borrell, who is in Kyiv, told the European Pravda news outlet on November 11 that so far the EU had delivered 980,000 shells to Kyiv. "I know that we made a commitment to reach this level by spring -- and we failed. But we will be able to [fulfill it] by the end of the year," Borrell said. "We almost did it. We have already delivered more than 980,000 shells." A separate Czech-led EU initiative launched in February aimed to buy up to 500,000 artillery shells for Ukraine from countries outside Europe until the end of the year. By October, just over one-third of the shells had been delivered to Ukraine. Russian forces outfire Ukrainian ones at a rate of 5-to-1 on the battlefield.
- By RFE/RL
Russian-American Loses Appeal Over $51 Ukraine Donation, Faces 12 Years
A Russian court in Yekaterinburg has upheld the 12-year prison sentence handed down in August to dual U.S.-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina for treason after she was found guilty of transferring $51 to a Ukrainian aid charity in early 2022.
The Second Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction confirmed the verdict in a statement on Telegram on November 11.
The 33-year-old Karelina, who is also known by her married surname Khavana, moved to the United States in 2015, married a U.S. citizen, and received U.S. citizenship in 2021.
She was arrested in Yekaterinburg in January on suspicion of petty hooliganism.
On February 7, however, treason charges were filed against her after investigators learned that on the second day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she had transferred $51 to Razom, a Ukrainian aid group that helps civilians affected by the war.
Karelina's lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, has said his client admitted to making the donation, and that prosecutors found evidence of the donation on her mobile phone.
The U.S. State Department said after the verdict was handed down that it was aware of Karelina's case, with spokesman Vedant Patel adding that Russia "has a track record of...not recognizing their (dual nationals') American citizen status and frankly being uncooperative when it comes to...meeting their obligations under consular conventions."
Patel also noted that donating to a nonprofit, NGO, or supporting the Ukrainian cause and its people, especially on American soil, was not a crime. He also strongly condemned the Kremlin's "escalating domestic repression."
Pro-EU Rally Held In Tbilisi As President Says Ruling Party 'Captured' Georgia
Thousands of people rallied in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on November 11 to demand fresh elections amid allegations that Russia helped the ruling party, Georgian Dream, to rig the October 26 vote.
A delegation of EU lawmakers, who had earlier met Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, attended the rally in which protesters held up signs that read "We are Europe" and "Georgia votes for the EU."
Zurabishvili said after meeting the visiting EU delegation that the Russian-friendly Georgian Dream party had "virtually captured" all institutions and called for new elections to put the Caucasus country back on track toward Euro-Atlantic integration.
Zurabishvili spoke at a news conference in Tbilisi on November 11 after a meeting with the delegation of EU lawmakers following the disputed elections last month that Georgian Dream claimed to have won with some 54 percent of the vote amid allegations of widespread fraud and Russian influence.
Georgians have held several protests since the October 26 elections against the results and have called for a repeat of the vote as protracted deliberations at Georgia's Appeals Court failed to validate documented complaints by the opposition about violations of electoral confidentiality and violent incidents.
"We are entering a crisis," Zurabishvili, who has refused to recognize the election results, told journalists.
"There can be no surprises here, the crisis is obvious," Zurabishvili said, adding that the country needed "new elections so that Georgia can get a legitimate parliament, a legitimate government, and a legitimate new president when the time comes."
The EU delegation was formed from heads of the foreign relations committees from the parliaments of Germany, Finland, Sweden, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland.
Addressing the crowd of protesters outside the Georgian parliament on November 11, Michael Roth, chairman of the German parliament's foreign relations committee, urged the protesters to "not give up" and declared, "You have a place in Europe... we are with you."
Georgia last year obtained the coveted status of EU candidate country but backsliding on democracy and rule of law by Georgian Dream, which included pushing through a Russian-style "foreign agents" law and anti-LGBT measures, have prompted Brussels to warn that the country's path toward integration was in danger.
European Commission President Charles Michel on November 8 said that "there are serious suspicions of fraud, which require a serious investigation" after the October 26 vote.
Shalva Papuashvili, the speaker of the Georgian Dream-controlled parliament, refused to meet with the EU delegation on November 11, claiming on social media that the reason for his refusal was "the unfriendly attitude towards the Georgian government and the Georgian society that has been shown many times" by the visiting delegation's governments.
Several members of the EU delegation criticized Papuashvili's refusal to meet with them.
Lithuania's Zigimantas Pavillionis said Georgian Dream had "failed" the test on democracy, while French lawmaker Frederic Petit called Papuashvili's refusal "unexpected" and Germany's Michael Roth said it was "regrettable."
- By RFE/RL
Kremlin Denies Report Of Putin-Trump Call As 'Completely Untrue'
The Kremlin has denied media reports of a phone call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that the reports were "completely false."
The Washington Post, citing sources close to Trump, reported on November 10 that Trump had spoken with Putin by phone on November 7 and discussed the war in Ukraine. It said Trump took the call in Florida a day after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Unnamed sources quoted by the newspaper said Trump told Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and expressed an interest in further talks on "the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon."
Reuters also reported on the call.
"This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on November 11. "There was no conversation."
Putin initially responded coolly to Trump's big election win before informally congratulating the president-elect on November 7. He praised Trump's "courage" in surviving an assassination attempt in July and said he was “ready” to speak to him.
"This is the clearest example of the quality of the information that is being published nowadays, sometimes even by quite reputable outlets," Peskov said.
Peskov added that there were "no concrete plans yet" for such a call.
Peskov also said that the Kremlin has noticed "a certain nervousness" in Europe following Trump's reelection.
On the campaign trail ahead of the November 5 election, Trump claimed he would end the war in Ukraine without offering details about how he planned to do so.
Trump has previously indicated Ukraine may have to agree to give up territory to strike a peace deal with Russia.
People familiar with the call told the Post that Kyiv had been informed of the Putin call and did not object.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tikhiy on November 10 told Reuters that Kyiv had had no knowledge of a call between the two.
"Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance about the alleged call are false. Accordingly, Ukraine could not approve or oppose the call," Tykhiy said.
Syrskiy Says Russians Pressing Kursk Advance As Borrell Makes Final Visit To Ukraine
Russia is massing tens of thousands of troops in Kursk, where it is attempting to regain control of the territory lost to Ukrainian forces following Kyiv's incursion into the Russian region this summer, Ukraine's top military commander said on November 11.
"Following the orders of their military leadership, they are trying to displace our troops and advance deep into the territory we control," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy wrote on social media, adding, "Were it not for the resilience of our soldiers, these tens of thousands of enemies from the best Russian units would have stormed our positions."
Ukrainian forces in August launched an unexpected incursion into Kursk, which borders Ukraine, capturing several settlements and strengthening their positions in the first such deployment into Russian territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to Ukraine's military, its forces have seized control of some 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory since August, with Moscow acknowledging that 28 settlements were under Ukrainian control.
Syrskiy on November 9 confirmed reports that thousands of North Korean soldiers were massing alongside Russian forces in Kursk likely in preparation for a counteroffensive.
Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram on November 11 that Ukrainian forces in Kursk "continue to hold back the almost 50,000-strong enemy group outside of Ukraine."
"We have numerous data on the preparation of North Korean soldiers to participate in combat on the side of Russian troops," Syrskiy wrote on Facebook following a telephone conversation with General Christopher Cavoli, who heads the U.S. European Command. He said he told Cavoli that the situation "remains challenging and shows signs of escalation."
On the same day, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell traveled to Kyiv in what is the first visit by a senior Western official to Ukraine since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election last week.
Trump and his allies have suggested that Ukraine may have to cede territory to Russia to secure a peace deal and end the war.
"Certainly it would not be a victory for the American leadership if Ukraine crumbles down and Putin wins the war," Borrell told the AFP news agency on his last visit to Ukraine before leaving office. His trip appeared to be aimed at allaying concerns in Kyiv about whether it still has the EU's backing irrespective of the outcome of the U.S. election.
Ukraine's outmanned and outgunned forces in the east have been facing a grinding Russian offensive that has been making incremental progress despite huge losses on Moscow's side.
According to an estimate by Britain's Chief of the Defense Staff Tony Radakin, an average of some 1,500 Russian soldiers were killed or injured per day in October -- Russia's worst month for casualties since the beginning of the invasion.
WATCH: At least five people were killed in a Russian strike on a residential building in the southern city of Mikolayiv, while seven people, including two children, were hurt in a strike in Kriviy Rih.
Meanwhile, Russia was continuing to pound Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure at the onset of the cold season -- a third winter of war for Ukraine's civilian population that in previous years faced energy shortages.
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.
In the southern city of Mikolayiv, at least five people were killed In a Russian strike on a residential building early on November 11, regional Governor Vitaliy Kim said. The mayor of the city, Oleksandr Syenkevych, said Russian strikes damaged residential buildings in several areas of the city.
In another southern city, Zaporizhzhya, one person was killed and 21 others, including a 4-year-old boy and four teenagers, were wounded in three Russian strikes, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov reported, adding that a residential building and a school dormitory were damaged in the attack.
Blasts were also heard in Kyiv, and areas of the Ukrainian capital were left without power early on November 11. Ukraine's air force declared an air-raid alert for the whole territory of Ukraine early on November 11.
The air force said its air defenses shot down 39 out of 74 drones launched by Russia at nine regions -- Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Sumy, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhya, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolayiv.
It said that 30 Russian drones were lost after being jammed by Ukrainian electronic-warfare systems.
Moldova Blasts 'Aggressive' Russian Drone Incursion On Its Territory
Moldova's Foreign Ministry has condemnd Russia's "aggressive" actions after two Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace and crashed on its territory on November 10. One of the drones was found by police in Borosenii Noi, a village in northern Moldova some 45 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, while the other one was located in the southern village of Firladeni, 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Both were "decoy" drones used to mislead Ukrainian air defenses during attacks. "We firmly condemn these aggressive incursions and reiterate our condemnation of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement. Russia's Foreign Ministry "categorically" rejected the accusation, saying there was no evidence to back up the Moldovan claims. At least 15 incidents involving Russian drones have been documented by Moldova since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Report: Trump Tells Putin In Call Not To Escalate War With Ukraine
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and discussed the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on November 10, citing sources close to Trump.
The Post said Trump took the call in Florida on November 7, a day after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Unnamed sources quoted by the Post said Trump told Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and expressed an interest in further talks on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon.”
Putin initially responded coolly to Trump’s big election win before informally congratulating the president-elect on November 7. He praised Trump’s “courage” in surviving an assassination attempt in July and said he was “ready” to speak to him.
People familiar with the call told the Post that Kyiv had been informed of the Putin call and did not object.
U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian officials have not commented on the report.
On the campaign trail ahead of the November 5 election, Trump claimed he would end the war in Ukraine without offering details about how he planned to do so.
Putin said in September he would like to see U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump in the election, but observers argue that was likely part of the Kremlin’s efforts to avoid giving the impression that Putin was hoping Trump would win.
Trump has previously indicated Ukraine may have to agree to give up territory to strike a peace deal with Russia. In the same vein, Trump ally Bryan Lanza told the BBC on November 9 that the focus of Trump's government will be achieving peace in Ukraine and not enabling Kyiv to regain territory occupied by Russia.
The Washington Post report on the call came hours after Zelenskiy said Russia had fired 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, the most in any single nighttime attack since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine also launched dozens of drones targeting the Russian capital, Moscow, forcing the temporary closure of three airports on November 10.
Russian forces have been making advances in recent weeks, with Moscow saying on November 10 that it had captured the town of Voltchenka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
Targeted Activist Calls Failure Of Iranian Assassination Plot 'Pleasing'
Iranian-American human rights activist Masih Alinejad says she derives joy from the failure of alleged plots by the Islamic republic to kidnap and assassinate her.
The U.S. Justice Department on November 8 unsealed criminal charges that include details of a plot allegedly backed by Iran to kill Alinejad and President-elect Donald Trump before the November 5 election. Iran has rejected the allegation.
"When the Islamic republic is defeated, disgraced, and embarrassed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], it has no choice but to deny," Alinejad, 48, said in comments to RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
Alinejad, who has criticized Iran's laws requiring women to wear a hijab, or head scarf, was the target of a kidnapping plot in 2021. In 2022 a man was also arrested with a rifle outside her home.
“The Islamic republic has been disgraced three times…. The humiliation of [Iranian authorities] is truly pleasing,” she said.
The FBI informed Alinejad of the suspected Iranian plot to kill her shortly before the court documents were unsealed, she said, recalling that she was "shocked" to learn about the details.
Two men arrested by the FBI were planning to target Alinejad at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where she was scheduled to appear.
The Justice Department alleges the two men spent months surveilling Alinejad and earlier this year traveled to the university campus and took photos of the premises.
"It is shocking how brazenly the Islamic republic can savagely plan to assassinate someone in another country," Alinejad said.
Iran has long been accused of targeting dissidents abroad, either to kidnap them or kill them.
Rights groups say exiled opposition activist Ruhollah Zam was abducted in 2019 before being executed in Iran a year later.
In 2020, Tehran said it had arrested Iranian-German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd and later sentenced him to death. Sharmahd's family insists he was kidnapped while through the United Arab Emirates. Iranian authorities claim Sharmahd died in prison last month before being executed.
Alinejad, who is visiting Germany and recently met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said her message to Germany, the United States, and all Western countries is to "protect your borders and democracy instead of protecting me so that the Islamic republic's terrorists can't enter and plot assassinations on Western soil."
She said symbolic gestures by the West in support of Iranian protesters and dissidents "is not enough" to dissuade Iranian authorities from targeting critics abroad. Instead, she argued, severing diplomatic ties and "extensive support" for protesters inside Iran would be more effective.
Written based on an interview by Nasrin Afshar of RFE/RL's Radio Farda
- By RFE/RL
Saudi Armed Forces General Travels to Iran In Rare High-Level Visit
The general chief of staff of Saudi Arabia's armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, met his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Baqeri, in Tehran during a rare visit on November 10.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said they discussed the development of defense diplomacy and bilateral cooperation without offering any details.
Iranian media said Baqeri had discussed regional developments and defense cooperation with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman al-Saud last year.
Ruwaili is only the second high-profile Saudi official to travel to Tehran since Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic relations after seven years following Chinese-brokered talks in March 2023. Previously, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visited Iran in June 2023.
Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia severed ties with Shi'a-dominated Iran in 2016 after its diplomatic compounds in Tehran and Mashhad were attacked by protesters over Riyadh's execution of Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
The trip comes days after the election of Donald Trump, whose second term as U.S. president begins in January. He has pledged to bring peace to the Middle East, where U.S. ally Israel is engaged in wars against Iranian-backed groups in Gaza and Lebanon.
Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said the timing of the trip was significant because it comes as various countries are preparing for a second Trump presidency.
He said the Saudis' decision to send their top military official to Tehran "is a signal that they are committed" to the detente process that started last year and that "they don't want Trump's election to jeopardize the recently improving relations with Iran."
Separately, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman on the phone and discussed expanding bilateral relations, according to Pezeshkian's office.
Trump had good relations with Persian Gulf Arab states in his first tenure in office and worked on normalizing relations between Arab states and Iran's archfoe, Israel.
Saudi Arabia has not normalized relations with Israel but Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is said to have discussed the possibility of normalization with Saudi Arabia since 2021.
In another sign of warming relations, Saudi Arabia announced last month that it held military drills with Iran in the Sea of Oman.
Turkey Deports 325 Afghan Nationals In 48 Hours
Turkish authorities deported 325 Afghan migrants over the past two days, the Taliban's Refugees and Repatriations Ministry said on November 10. According to the ministry, the International Organization for Migration will provide the equivalent of 150 euros to each of the deported migrants. In recent months, Turkey has intensified raids to detain and expel Afghan migrants, most of them undocumented. About 600 Afghan nationals were detained in police raids in Istanbul in September and were transferred to detention centers. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, click here.
- By AP
Taliban To Attend UN Climate Conference For First Time
The Taliban will attend a UN climate conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the country's national environment agency said on November 10. The conference, known as COP29, begins on November 11 in Azerbaijan and is one of the most important multilateral talks to include the Taliban, who do not have official international recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. The National Environmental Protection Agency wrote on X that a technical delegation had gone to Baku to participate. Matiul Haq Khalis, the agency’s head, said the delegation would use the conference to strengthen cooperation with the international community on environmental protection and climate change, share Afghanistan’s needs regarding access to existing financial mechanisms related to climate change, and discuss adaptation and mitigation efforts.
- By Reuters
UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief To Visit Iran On November 13
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will visit Iran on November 13 and start consultations with Iranian officials the following day, state media reported on November 10. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that he might head to Iran in the coming days to discuss its disputed nuclear program and that he expected to work cooperatively with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Long-standing issues between Iran, the IAEA, and Western powers include Tehran barring several uranium-enrichment experts from IAEA inspection teams in the country and its failure for years to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. Iran has also stepped up nuclear activity since 2019, after then-President Trump abandoned a 2015 deal Iran reached with world powers under which it curbed enrichment -- seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear weapons capability -- and restored tough U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic.
Russia Reportedly Suffered Record 1,500 Casualties Daily In October
An average of around 1,500 Russian soldiers were killed or injured per day in October -- Russia's worst month for casualties since the beginning of the invasion, according to Britain's Chief of the Defense Staff Tony Radakin.
"Russia is about to suffer 700,000 people killed or wounded -- the enormous pain and suffering that the Russian nation is having to bear because of [President Vladimir] Putin's ambition," Radakin told the BBC on November 10.
Moscow does not reveal the number of its war casualties.
Radakin claimed Moscow was spending more than 40 percent of public expenditure on defense and security, putting "an enormous strain" on the country.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on November 10 that its forces had captured the town of Voltchenka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have been making advances in recent weeks.
Ukraine launched dozens of drones targeting Moscow, forcing the temporary closure of three of the capital's airports, Russian officials said on November 10.
Rosaviatsia, Russia's federal air transport agency, said the Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovo airports halted operations for several hours amid the drone strikes, one of Kyiv's largest attacks on Moscow since the war began in February 2022.
The strikes come as Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, the most in any single nighttime attack of the conflict so far, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 10.
"Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on social media, reiterating calls on Kyiv's Western partners to increase supplies to help protect the country's skies.
Ukraine's air force said its air defense downed 62 of the Russian drones launched overnight, while a further 67 had disappeared from radar screens. Other drones had flown into the airspace of Belarus or Moldova, Ukraine's neighbors to the north and west, respectively.
At least two people were injured and buildings were damaged in the attack in southern region of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russia had downed 32 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow overnight and in the morning of November 10.
There was no damage or casualties at the site of the fall of the debris, Sobyanin said, adding emergency services were at the site.
One person was injured in the attack, according to Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov. Media reports said the strikes caused a fire in the Ramenskoye district, with several houses in flames.
Russia reports the destruction of Ukrainian drones almost daily, but the attacks rarely target the capital.
Ukrainian authorities have maintained their drone attacks on Russia are aimed at infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts and are in response to Russia's continued attacks on Ukraine.
Since the war began, Ukraine has been subject to nightly Russian air raids targeting critical energy infrastructure, among other things.
Ukrainian drones also targeted Russia’s Bryansk and Kaluga regions overnight, setting several nonresidential buildings on fire, regional governors reported on November 10.
A nonresidential building in Kaluga was on fire as result of Ukraine's drone attack, according to the regional governor Vladislav Shapsha. Kaluga borders the Moscow region to its northeast.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa
- By Reuters
Ukraine Commander Says North Korea Troops Prepare To Fight Alongside Russian Troops
Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskiy, said on November 9 that there were reports North Korean troops were preparing for combat alongside Russian forces. "We have numerous reports of North Korean soldiers preparing to participate in combat operations alongside Russian Forces," Syrskyi wrote on Facebook of his conversation with Christopher Cavoli, a senior U.S. general who heads the U.S. European Command. Syrskyi said the situation in front line sectors of the nearly 1,000-day war with Russia remained "difficult and show signs of escalation."
- By Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Denies Plot To Kill Trump
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied U.S. charges that Tehran was linked to an alleged plot to kill Donald Trump and called on November 9 for confidence-building between the two hostile countries. "A new scenario is fabricated....As a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy," Araqchi said in a post on X. He was referring to an alleged plot Washington said was ordered by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to assassinate Trump, who won the U.S. presidential election on November 5 and takes office in January.
- By AFP
Iran Urges Trump To Change 'Maximum Pressure' Policy
Iran signaled an openness toward Donald Trump on November 9, calling on the U.S. president-elect to adopt new policies toward it after Washington accused Tehran of involvement in a plot to kill him. Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif urged Trump to reassess the policy of "maximum pressure" he employed against the Islamic republic during his first term. "Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past," Zarif told reporters. His remarks came after the United States accused Iran of conspiring to assassinate Trump. The Foreign Ministry on November 9 described the American accusations as "totally unfounded."
- By AFP
Burkina Faso Says Russia Partnership 'Suits' Better Than France
Burkina Faso's foreign minister praised cooperation with Russia on November 9 as "suiting" his country better than its historic ties with France. Following a 2022 military coup, Burkina Faso's new leadership broke with Paris and has embraced Russia, which has sent army instructors to help Ouagadougou's fight against an Islamist insurgency. Attending a Russia-Africa summit in the southern Russian city of Sochi, Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said Russia was a "partner with whom we can make progress" and that there was "no fear" of becoming militarily dependent on Moscow.
- By AFP
Afghan Women Not Barred From Speaking To Each Other, Says Taliban
Women in Afghanistan are not forbidden from speaking to one another, the Taliban government's morality ministry told AFP on November 9, denying recent media reports of a ban. Afghan media based outside the country and international outlets have in recent weeks reported a ban on women hearing other women's voices, based on an audio recording of the head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, about rules of prayer. Ministry spokesman Saiful Islam Khyber said the reports were "brainless" and "illogical," in a voice recording confirmed by AFP.
EU Pledges 'Unwavering' Support For Ukraine As Kyiv Plans Trump Meeting
EU foreign policy chief Josef Borrell assured Ukraine that the war-torn country had Europe’s "unwavering" support, while Kyiv announced during the EU official’s surprise visit that it was organizing a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
It was the first visit by a top EU official to Ukraine since Trump's November 5 victory, which has led to uncertainty in Kyiv about the West's continued commitment to supporting Ukraine as it tries to fend off invading Russian forces.
Borrell's surprise visit also came as Russia continues to heavily target Ukraine with drone and missile strikes and as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was open to hearing Trump's proposals on ending the war Russia launched nearly 1,000 days ago. Trump has claimed he could end the war even before he takes office on January 20.
"The clear purpose of this visit is to express European Union support to Ukraine. This support remains unwavering," Borrell told journalists in Kyiv. "This support is absolutely needed for you to continue defending yourself against Russia aggression."
Earlier Borrell, who is set to leave office next month, wrote on X that "the EU's support for Ukraine has been my personal priority throughout my mandate and will remain at the top of the EU's agenda."
Those comments came hours after another deadly attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, this time an apartment building in the Black Sea port city of Odesa. Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed it had struck with drones a Russian munitions plant in Tula.
Trump's election victory has raised concerns in Kyiv, which depends heavily on U.S. and EU support in the face of Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Trump has suggested Kyiv should agree to cede some territory to Moscow in return for peace, a condition Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has rejected.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told reporters on November 9 that Ukraine is ready to work with the Trump administration.
"Remember that President Zelenskiy was one of the first world leaders...to greet President Trump," he said, referring to Zelenskiy's phone call with Trump on November 6 . "It was a sincere conversation, an exchange of thoughts regarding further cooperation."
Sybiha confirmed alongside Borrell that the Ukrainian government was organizing a meeting between Zelenskiy and Trump. The two last met in September when the Ukrainian president traveled to the United States to present his "victory plan" against Russia.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said in an interview with the Russian state news agency Interfax prior to Borrell's arrival in Kyiv that Moscow and Washington were "exchanging signals" on Ukraine through "closed channels."
He did not say whether the exchanges were with outgoing President Joe Biden's administration or with Trump or members of his incoming administration.
Ryabkov said Moscow was prepared to listen to Trump's proposals regarding ending the war against Ukraine as long as they were "ideas on how to move forward in the area of settlement, and not in the area of further pumping the Kyiv regime with all kinds of aid."
A report by the British daily the Telegraph this week suggested that Trump could propose freezing the current front line, which runs through significant swaths of territory in eastern Ukraine, setting up a buffer zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
In exchange, the newspaper reported based on sources close to Trump, Ukraine would agree not to join NATO for 20 years and Washington would provide Kyiv with a large amount of weapons to deter Russia from resuming the war.
On November 9, a long-time Republican strategist who worked on Trump’s campaign told the BBC that the incoming administration would be asking Zelenskiy for a “realistic vision for peace.”
According to the strategist, Bryan Lanza, that vision would not include restoring territory occupied by Russia in eastern Ukraine, nor Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.
“If President Zelenskiy comes to the table and says, well we can only have peace if we have Crimea, he shows to us that he's not serious. Crimea is gone," Lanza said.
A spokesperson from the incoming Trump administration later said that Lanza did not speak for Trump and that the president-elect’s transition team is still drafting policies that Trump might adopt in his second term in office.
"Nobody knows exactly what the new administration is going to do," Borrell told an AFP journalist accompanying him on his trip to Kyiv, noting that Biden still has two months left in office. "But we Europeans have to use this opportunity in order to build a stronger and united Europe, and one of the manifestations of being united and being stronger and able to act is our role in supporting Ukraine."
Borrell said it was up to EU countries to decide "when and how to increase" their support if needed. However, he added that at a meeting of EU leaders in Budapest on November 8 "most of the member states were insisting on the same line, [to] continue supporting Ukraine."
Ukrainian troops are fatigued and stretched as Russian invading forces make gradual gains in the east. Meanwhile, Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure continue.
Russian drones struck an apartment building in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa late on November 8, triggering a large fire.
The public broadcaster Suspilne and other media outlets posted video on social media showing cars and buildings ablaze and thick smoke billowing skyward.
One person was killed and 13 injured, including children, in the attack, the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office said on November 9.
A further 32 Russian drones were shot down over 10 Ukrainian regions, while 18 were "lost," according to Ukraine's air force, likely having been electronically jammed.
Experts say systematic or widespread bombardment of housing, civilian objects, and infrastructure are strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law, criminal law, and human rights law. Russia regularly denies targeting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, a source in Ukraine's SBU Security Service told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service on November 9 that drones had struck the Aleksinsky chemical plant in the Tula region about 200 kilometers south of Moscow.
The plant produces gunpowder, ammunition, and weapons. The targeting of the plant was part of a strategy to target factories that support Moscow's war against Ukraine, the source said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier that 50 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over Russian regions overnight. The governor of the Tula region said a house there had been damaged by drone debris. He made no mention of the reported strike on the plant.
Deadly Blast Rips Through Pakistani Train Station
The prime minister of Pakistan has denounced a suspected suicide bombing at a train station in a restive part of the country that killed dozens and wounded many more earlier on November 9.
Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement that those who orchestrated the attack in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan "will pay a very heavy price for it," adding that security forces were determined to eliminate "the menace of terrorism."
Police and hospital officials told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that 24 people had been killed and 53 injured in the bombing.
The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province, the city's police chief Mohammad Baloch told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal.
The separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.
Police said about a dozen security forces were among those killed in the attack.
Video from the site after the attack showed the steel structure of the platform's roof blown apart and luggage strewn far and wide.
Ayesha Faiz, a Quetta police official quoted by AP, said some of the critically wounded passengers had died at a hospital, raising the death toll.
The attack came a little over a week after a powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in Balochistan, killing nine people including five nearby children.
The oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but also least populated province. It is also a hub for the country's ethnic Baluch minority who have long accused the central authorities of discrimination and exploitation.
The Baloch Liberation Army has waged an over 20-year insurgency against the Pakistani state, carrying out mostly small-scale attacks against government forces as well as foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijing's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is building major infrastructure projects.
Last month, BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy with Chinese nationals outside the Karachi airport, killing two. Since then, Beijing has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety of its citizens working on multiple projects in Balochistan and other parts of the country.
With reporting by AP
Pentagon To Allow U.S. Defense Contractors To Maintain Weapons In Ukraine, Reports Say
The Pentagon is easing restrictions to allow a small number of private U.S. defense contractors to work inside Ukraine, according to reports in U.S. media on November 8. The contractors will help repair and maintain equipment far away from the front lines and will not be taking part in combat, U.S. officials quoted in the reports said. Ukraine has received a number of sophisticated weapons systems as part of the U.S. military assistance provided to the country over the past two years. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon was allowing the contractors to go because some equipment -- including F-16 fighter jets and air-defense systems -- requires high-tech expertise to repair. Using the contractors, they said, will ensure the weapons are fixed quickly so Ukrainian forces can continue to use them in combat. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
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