Ukraine's anti-corruption court has ordered that Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskiy be taken into custody over accusations that he illegally acquired land worth about 291 million hryvnyas ($7 million).

The judge ordered on April 26 that Solskiy be placed in custody until June 24 and set bail at 75 million hryvnyas ($1.9 million), a lower amount than the 200 million hryvnyas ($5 million) recommended by the prosecution.

Solskiy, 44, is the first member of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government to be officially accused of corruption.

After he was named as a suspect in the multimillion-dollar graft investigation, Solskiy offered to resign on April 25 in a handwritten letter, which Ukrainian parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk published on Facebook.

Solskiy’s offer will be considered at an upcoming session of parliament, Stefanchuk said, but he will technically remain a minister until then.

Solskiy, who was appointed minister in March 2022, has denied the accusations, saying the case concerns a dispute in 2017-2018 between state-owned enterprises and private individuals, particularly soldiers, over land that was given to these people "in accordance with the law."

He promised to fully cooperate with the investigation.

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said earlier this week that Solskiy, an ex-head of the Ukrainian parliament's agrarian committee, was involved in a plot that resulted in him taking possession of state land worth 291 million hryvnyas and that he was also attempting to acquire more land worth 190 million hryvnyas ($4.8 million).

NABU said that Solskiy was the coordinator of the scheme, which involved three other people, including two employees of the state cadastral office.

Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry has overseen Kyiv's efforts to continue to export grain and other produce despite Russian attempts to block Black Sea export routes.

Zelenskiy last year dismissed Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov after a series of corruption scandals involving his ministry and the procurement of supplies for Ukrainian troops fighting Russia in the east of the country.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein Format, is to hold a virtual meeting on April 26 to discuss ways to speed up the delivery of much-needed military aid for Ukrainian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. The U.S.-led Ramstein Format, consisting of some 50 allies of Ukraine, has been credited with facilitating tens of billions of dollars of critical military and other aid to Kyiv. "We will discuss how to quickly overcome difficulties and problems that have accumulated over the past half year while we waited for decisions on American support," Zelenskiy said on X, formerly Twitter. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

A military court in Siberia has handed prison terms to two teenagers over graffiti they painted protesting Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Aleksandr Snezhkov, 19, and Lyubov Lizunova, 16, were sentenced to 6 years and 3 1/2 years in prison, respectively, on April 25. A third defendant in the case, Vladislav Vishnevsky, 20, was handed 18 months of work in an industrial facility to be designated by the authorities with the deduction of some portion of his salary by the state treasury. Snezhkov told RFE/RL earlier that he and Lizunova wanted their graffiti to express their opposition to “repressions and the war in Ukraine.” To read the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, click here.

Ruben Vardanian, a former Russian citizen of Armenian descent who served as prime minister in the de facto government of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh from November 2022 to February 2023, has ended a hunger strike in a Baku prison, his family said on April 25. A family statement said he ended the hunger strike because his health was deteriorating. Vardanian, a billionaire banker who renounced his Russian citizenship, was arrested and brought to Baku after Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023. He began the hunger strike to demand his release and that of other detained former Karabakh separatist leaders. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit China in May. Putin announced his plans on April 25 at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow. He didn't say when his visit would take place and didn't offer any other details. Russia’s growing economic and diplomatic isolation because of its war against Ukraine has made it increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the communist bloc during the Cold War.

The U.S. Treasury Department has issued further sanctions targeting companies that manufacture, sell, and ship Iranian drones as part of an effort to curb their use by Russia in its full-scale war in Ukraine.

The sanctions announced on April 25 have been imposed on more than a dozen entities, individuals, and vessels “that have played a central role in facilitating and financing the clandestine sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).”

The MODAFL is in turn supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the department said in a news release.

The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) singled out the company Sahara Thunder, saying it is the main front company that oversees MODAFL’s commercial activities in support of the IRGC and Russia's war in Ukraine.

The company plays a key role in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of drones, many of which are ultimately transferred to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury Department said.

Among the individuals designated for sanctions are three officials of Sahara Thunder -- Kazem Mirzai Kondori, Hossein Bakshayesh, and Hojat Abdulahi Fard.

OFAC is also designating two companies and a vessel that it says are involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities for Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars, a company that plays a leading role in the commercial activities of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS), the Treasury said.

The Treasury Department said its actions were concurrent with sanctions announced on April 25 by Britain and Canada targeting several entities and individuals involved in Iran’s UAV procurement and other military-related activities.

“Iran’s Ministry of Defense continues to destabilize the region and world with its support to Russia’s war in Ukraine, unprecedented attack on Israel, and proliferation of UAVs and other dangerous military hardware to terrorist proxies,” Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in the news release.

He said the United States will continue its close coordination with Britain and Canada and continue to use "all means available to combat those who would finance Iran’s destabilizing activities."

The new sanctions also hit an Iran-based company involved in the procurement and development of drones, quadcopters, engines, and electronic and digital parts along with its leadership and an Iranian cargo airline.

The United States and Britain last week announced sanctions on Iran targeting its drone production capabilities in response to its April 13 attack on Israel.

The U.S. designated 16 individuals and two entities on April 18 for allegedly enabling Iran’s drone production, including engine types that power Iran’s Shahed drones.

The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals and entities have in U.S. jurisdiction and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

Ukraine's agriculture minister offered to resign on April 25 after he was named as a suspect in a multimillion-dollar corruption investigation. Mykola Solskiy offered his resignation in a handwritten letter, which Ukrainian parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk published on Facebook. Solskiy’s offer will be considered at an upcoming session of parliament, Stefanchuk said. Solskiy has been accused of illegally seizing land worth about 291 million hryvnias ($7 million). Solskiy says the matter involves events in 2017-2018 and land that was given to soldiers "in accordance with the law." He promised to cooperate with the investigation. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken about the possibility of nationalizing Russia’s industrial facilities. Speaking at the congress of the Union of Russian Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on April 25, Putin said industrial facilities could be nationalized "when actions or inactions of the companies' owners impose direct damage on the country’s security and national interests." According to Transparency International and the newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, courts have received 40 requests to nationalize more than 180 private companies with assets of 1.04 trillion rubles ($11.1 billion). To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told RFE/RL that his country is open to building a deeper partnership with Kazakhstan.

In an interview in Astana on April 25, Cameron said that while preserving its ongoing ties and cooperation with Russia and China, Kazakhstan also has "the choice to have a deeper partnership with Britain."

"I think we already have a great partnership on education, on business, on the economy, on trade, political cooperation. I've seen that growth since I first came here 13 years ago. The point is, we are a voluntary partner, a choice you can make if you want to make that choice," Cameron said.

Cameron also said that he and Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met the previous day and discussed the Kazakh government's current efforts to return illegally obtained assets kept abroad back to Kazakhstan, emphasizing that "it's vital that we work with you to try and find that money and return it. "

Britain is one of the first countries in the world that introduced what's called unexplained wealth orders, he said. This allows an examination of the origins of someone's wealth, and if it was stolen, "we can take it back and return it," he added.

He admitted that it was "not working as well as I'd like" but said Britain is "committed to working with you to make this happen."

Britain introduced unexplained wealth orders (UWO) in 2017 to give U.K. law enforcement a means of compelling targeted individuals to reveal the sources of any riches that could not be accounted for. Under a UWO, Britain's National Crime Agency can apply to seize property when a suspected corrupt foreign official, or member of their family, cannot identify a legitimate source of the funds used for buying it.

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Cameron also said that Britain could play an important role in the implementation of Kazakhstan's plans to build nuclear power plants.

"We've been making small nuclear reactors for many years because they've been in our submarines. And I think there is potential for companies like Rolls-Royce to produce these small nuclear reactors for other countries," Cameron added.

Cameron held separate talks on April 24 with Toqaev and Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtileu. The sides discussed regional security, cooperation, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said.

An agreement on strategic partnership and cooperation between the two nations was signed during the Cameron-Nurtileu talks.

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U.K.'s Cameron Seeks To Define Common Interests On Visit To Kyrgyzstan

Earlier this week, Cameron also held talks with top officials in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He is also scheduled to visit Mongolia during his ongoing diplomatic tour of Central Asia.

Iranian civil political activists, including several who are currently imprisoned, have condemned the government's "military" aggression toward women through its renewed enforcement of the mandatory hijab, according to a document made available to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.

The statement criticizes the "government's mobilization" against women and highlights what it calls "a persistent campaign of arrests and repression" and emphasizes that, despite "the oppressive measures, the people of Iran remain committed to seeking freedom."

Following the death of in September 2022 of Mahsa Amini, who died while detained by the morality police, and the subsequent nationwide protests it sparked, the presence of morality police vehicles in cities had noticeably decreased.

But since April 14, law enforcement and plainclothes officers have escalated violent tactics against women and girls in Tehran and other cities in enforcing the Hijab and Chastity Law, resulting in numerous detentions following public assaults.

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Iran's 'Ambassadors Of Kindness' Enforce Hijab In New Head Scarf Crackdown

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The activists' statement accuses the government of using the law as a tool to control lifestyles and maintain the state's power through fear.

Signatories to the statement include prominent figures such as Narges Mohammadi, Mostafa Tajzadeh, and Faezeh Hashemi, who called the government's actions inhumane and illegal.

They argued that the state's treatment of women resisting the hijab mandate not only violates human rights, but also demonstrates the regime's "misogynistic stance."

The new crackdown on women for not adhering to the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, intensified after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a directive during the recent Eid al-Fitr prayer sermon to step up enforcement measures against what he called "religious norm-breaking" within Iranian society.

Khamenei also emphasized that the mandatory hijab law was a "definite religious decree," underscoring the obligation of all to adhere to this the same as other legal decrees.

The resurgence of the morality police has sparked increased tensions and confrontations across various cities.

Despite the backlash and public outcry, including from some regime supporters, the national police command says the crackdown will continue.

The hijab became compulsory for women and girls over the age of 9 in 1981, two years after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The move triggered protests that were swiftly crushed by the new authorities. Many women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

European lawmakers have approved a resolution that calls for the "immediate and unconditional release" of all political prisoners held in Russia, including journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich.

The resolution was part of a joint motion in the European Parliament on April 25, condemning Russia's "undemocratic" presidential election last month and their "illegitimate extension" to territories inside Ukraine that Moscow has illegally annexed.

The resolution -- which was approved by 493 MEPs in favor while 11 were against and 18 abstained -- calls "for the immediate and unconditional release and compensation of all political prisoners...unjustly imprisoned journalists, including Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich, and their families, for the restoration of freedom of expression and association in Russia and for increased international scrutiny and monitoring of human rights abuses in Russia."

Among others, the resolution names Vladimir Kara-Murza, Oleg Orlov, Ksenia Fadeeva, Ivan Safronov, and Ilya Yashin as political prisoners who should be released.

Kurmasheva, a Prague-based journalist with RFE/RL who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, has been held in Russian custody since October 18 on a charge of violating the so-called "foreign agent" law.

RFE/RL and the U.S. government say the charges are a reprisal for her work as a journalist. She had traveled to Russia to visit and care for her elderly mother and was initially detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at Kazan airport, where her passports were confiscated.

SEE ALSO:

After 6 Months In Russian Detention, RFE/RL Journalist Still Making Sense Of It All

Kurmasheva, 47, was arrested in Kazan and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent under a punitive Russian law that targets journalists, civil society activists, and others. She’s also been charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Many critics and rights groups say the so-called foreign agent law is used by the Kremlin to crack down on any dissent. Moscow has also been accused of detaining Americans to use as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians jailed in the United States.

Kurmasheva, who lives in the Czech capital with her husband, Pavel Butorin, who also works for RFE/RL, and their two daughters, aged 12 and 15, has described her prison conditions as poor and said her health has deteriorated as she has been unable to access proper treatment.

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Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, has been held in detention since March 2023 on spying charges both he and the newspaper vehemently deny, saying the 32-year-old was merely doing his job as an accredited reporter when he was arrested.

Gershkovich has been designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government. Kurmasheva, however, has not, despite pleas from RFE/RL and Kurmasheva’s family.

The designation would mean her case would be assigned to the office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs in the State Department, raising the political profile of her situation and allowing the Biden administration to allocate more resources to securing her release.

President Vladimir Putin easily won the March presidential election, which independent observers said was neither free nor fair. The vote was the first major election to take place in Russia since Putin launched his full-scale invasion.

Four people were arrested in Georgia as part of a Europe-wide operation to bust a gang of thieves specialized in the stealing of rare books, the Georgian Prosecutor-General's Office said on April 25. Separately, the EU police agency Europol said in a statement that the gang was believed to be responsible for the theft of at least 170 rare books by Russian authors, such as Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol. Some books had been sold at auction houses in St Petersburg and Moscow, "effectively making them irrecoverable," Europol said. The damage is estimated at 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million), it said. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Georgian Service, click here.

A Bishkek court fined activist Kanykei Aranova 120,000 soms ($1,350) on April 25 for inciting hatred and released her on condition that she will not leave the Kyrgyz capital. Aranova was arrested in February as part of a case concerning protests against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal that led to the arrests of 27 people. Aranova was charged with inciting hatred and making online calls to seize power after the 37-year-old posted comments on Facebook in 2022 challenging the border demarcation deal, which saw Kyrgyzstan hand over the territory of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir to Uzbekistan. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

A Moscow court on April 25 fined Anastasia Ivleyeva, the organizer of a party in December that sparked a scandal, 50,000 rubles ($535) on a charge of discrediting Russia's armed forces. The charge stemmed from her March 2022 online post questioning the Kremlin's decision to launch the invasion of Ukraine. The "Almost Naked" party at a Moscow nightclub in December 2023 caused outrage among lawmakers and pro-Kremlin groups. Ivleyeva and celebrities who attended the party issued apologies amid a wave of official criticism because the party violated "family values." A rapper who attended the event wearing only a sock covering his genitalia was sentenced to 15 days in jail on a hooliganism charge. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that "several dozen Russian nuclear weapons" were deployed in Belarus, a move that has raised concerns in the West that Moscow's war against Ukraine could spread.

Speaking at the All-Belarusian People's Assembly in Minsk that was broadcast live on YouTube on April 25, Lukashenka, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the gathering had unanimously adopted a new military doctrine that considers the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil as a strategic deterrent.

Belarus has provided logistical support to Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, Moscow has moved tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus -- the first relocation of such warheads outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

NATO has called the move "dangerous and irresponsible."

Lukashenka said it was "a mistake" that all strategic nuclear weapons were removed from Belarus after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and that Russia's tactical nuclear weapons "must" stay in Belarus.

He added, however, that Belarusian independence must be preserved "no matter what."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Lukashenka often talks up the dangers of an attack by NATO or Ukraine as the reason his country needs to keep its military in a constant state of high alert.

In the speech, he claimed opposition groups planned to seize an area in western Belarus and request support from NATO troops.

Belarus's security service said on April 25 it had thwarted an attack on Minsk by drones launched from Lithuania, a claim quickly refuted by officials in Vilnius.

Lukashenka called on the West to "end the standoff with Russia by calling it a draw," which would spur the peace process and end the conflict in Ukraine.

"Otherwise Ukraine stops existing," he said.

The All-Belarusian People's Assembly is a general meeting of the government with industry leaders. It has previously been held six times from 1996 to 2021.

Opposition politicians and activists have criticized the event, calling it a tool of Lukashenka's propaganda intended to demonstrate unanimous support for the authoritarian leader, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994.

President Emmanuel Macron appealed on April 25 for stronger, more integrated European defenses and said the continent must not become a vassal of the United States, as he outlined his vision for a more assertive European Union on the global stage. Macron said Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine, and he called for a boost in Europe's cybersecurity capacity, closer defense ties with post-Brexit Britain, and the creation of a European academy to train high-ranking military personnel. "There is a risk our Europe could die. We are not equipped to face the risks," Macron said.

Prosecutors in Kazakhstan asked a court to sentence to eight years in prison a man accused of attacking a bus driver in Almaty in December 2023, causing the deaths of three pedestrians. On December 22, a bus went out of control and hit three people after a male passenger attacked a female bus driver. The bus careened into bus stop filled with people and collided with four other vehicles. Four people, along with the bus driver, were injured. The attacker was arrested and charged with obstruction of a public transportation employee's work and hooliganism. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

A court in Russia's Komi region on April 24 issued an arrest warrant for Garry Kasparov, opposition politician and a co-founder of the Free Russia Forum, on a charge of creating and leading a "terrorist" group. The Syktyvkar City Court also issued arrest warrants for several other Russian opposition politicians and activists in exile on the same charge. Last month, Russia added Kasparov to its list of terrorists and extremists, an action generally used by the Kremlin to crack down on political opponents. Kasparov, a former world chess champion and an outspoken Kremlin critic, lives in the United States. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Siberia.Realities, click here.

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office said on April 24 it had charged seven men from Central Asia -- five from Tajikistan, one from Turkmenistan , and one from Kyrgyzstan -- with the creation of a domestic terrorist group and taking part in its activities. Six of the men are also suspected of financially supporting the "foreign terrorist organization Islamic State." According to a statement, the suspects have known each for a long period of time and arrived from Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The suspects have been under arrest since early July 2023. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

The Basmanny district court in Moscow on April 25 sent Aleksandr Fomin, one of the co-founders of the construction company Olympcitystroy, to pretrial detention until at least June 23 on a charge of giving a bribe to Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov. A day earlier, the court ordered Ivanov's pretrial arrest on suspicion of taking a bribe. All of Ivanov's assets, and those of his relatives including his wife, former wives, and children, were impounded and frozen. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed Ivanov after his arrest. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, click here.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for expanding international sanctions against Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine as Kyiv battles against Moscow's more numerous and better armed forces.

Zelenskiy made the call on April 25 as he met in Kyiv with British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, with whom he discussed the situation in Ukraine and the need for increased restrictive measures against Russia that are more difficult to avoid.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

"We paid special attention to the sanctions policy," Zelenskiy said on X, formerly Twitter.

"It is important to extend restrictive measures against Russia and make the circumvention of sanctions impossible," he added.

Zelenskiy also thanked Britain for a fresh military-aid package announced earlier in the week by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The $622 million package -- Britain's largest-ever -- was announced by Sunak during a visit to Poland on April 23 and brought the total amount of military aid that London has pledged to Ukraine this financial year to $3.71 billion.

Britain, one of Ukraine's staunchest allies, also said it would send its largest-ever single package of military equipment to Ukraine.

"I thank the people, the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom for their support of Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. We highly value our countries’ partnership," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

Hunt also met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, with whom he discussed in particular the contents of the upcoming military package, which is to include air defense systems for Ukraine's battered cities, and the delivery of energy equipment.

"I thanked the U.K for its leadership and constant support for Ukraine, especially for financial and military assistance and sanctions against the Russian Federation. We also discussed Ukraine's energy equipment needs," Shmyhal wrote on X.

Hunt's visit came shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a long-delayed $61 billion military-aid package that was passed by the Senate on April 24.

Biden said that the desperately needed aid, including more air defense systems, would begin flowing again to Ukraine in the following hours.

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Ukraine Welcomes Long-Delayed U.S. Military Aid, Vows To Make Up For Lost Time

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In Ukraine, several civilians were wounded and infrastructure was damaged by Russian shelling on April 25 of several Ukrainian regions.

Six people were injured in the Cherkasy region, said regional administration head Ihor Taburets, who added that critical infrastructure was damaged, without elaborating.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, three rounds of shelling damaged critical energy infrastructure and a gas pipeline but caused no casualties, regional head Serhiy Lysak said.

Four people were wounded in the Donetsk and three in th Kherson regions, regional heads Vadym Filashkin and Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Damage was also reported in the Zaporizhzhya region.

Russia's children's rights commissioner on April 24 announced a deal with Ukraine to exchange almost 50 children displaced by Moscow's invasion, but a Ukrainian official declined to confirm the agreement. Maria Lvova-Belova announced that 29 children are due to go to Ukraine and 19 to Russia. Lvova-Belova said the agreement was reached in "talks with the Ukrainian side" in Doha. But as Russian and Ukrainian officials met with Qatari mediators, the Ukrainian human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, told AFP he "can't confirm the information." The Ukrainian official added that the two countries "don't have any direct communication on this case."

The U.S. State Department confirmed on April 24 that the United States sent long-range missile systems known as ATACMS to Ukraine for use inside its territory, and the weapons arrived in the country this month.

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the ATACMS, short for Army Tactical Missile System, were sent at President Joe Biden's direction.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Patel’s confirmation came after U.S. media reports said they were used last week to bomb a Russian military airfield on the Crimean Peninsula illegally occupied by Russia in 2014 and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight.

The ATACMS have a longer striking distance -- up to 300 kilometers – than the version of the weapon with a range of 165 kilometers provided by the U.S. in October. They were part of an aid package for Ukraine in March, not the one just approved by Congress and signed by Biden earlier on April 24.

“We did not announce this at the onset in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request," Patel said.

White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that a "significant number" of the missiles had been sent to Ukraine, adding, "We will send more."

He said Ukraine had committed to only use the weapons inside Ukraine, not in Russia.

The weapons are being sent at a critical time as Russia continues advancing on the battlefield in the eastern region of Donetsk. Russia could make more gains against Ukrainian forces in the coming weeks, Sullivan said.

Patel said Biden directed his national-security team to send the ATACMS specifying that they be used inside Ukrainian sovereign territory.

The Biden administration declined to send them previously over concerns that it would risk further escalating the conflict. According to news reports citing unidentified officials, Russia's use of North Korean-supplied long-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine in December and January led to a change in heart. Russia's continued targeting of Ukraine's critical infrastructure was also a factor, the official said.

The military aid bill signed by Biden clears the way for the Pentagon to announce an assistance package featuring desperately needed artillery and air defense munitions.

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U.S. Air Force General Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, told a Washington conference on April 24 that the Pentagon had been preparing to send weapons to Ukraine as the bill moved forward in Congress.

“We’ve already leaned pretty far forward on a lot of areas. So we are moving out. We’ll get capability to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” he told the conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

SEE ALSO:

With New U.S. Aid, Ukraine Looks To Stabilize The Line, Seize The Initiative

Ukraine's demand for some armaments, like 155-millimeter artillery shells used in howitzers, has outstripped U.S. production, leading to a decline in U.S. stockpiles.

Following the passage of the aid package, the United States will be able to ramp up production of the shells from 30,000 a month now to 100,000 by next summer, General James Mingus, vice chief of staff of the army, told the CSIS conference.

Ukraine has used more than 2 million shells during the 26-month war, he said, a rate of more than 75,000 a month.

"We've ramped up to a level that is going to be commensurate with the need," Mingus said.

Russia has vetoed a UN resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. The vote in the 15-member Security Council on April 24 was 13 in favor, with Russia opposed and China abstaining. The resolution calls on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the United States and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, detained during the nationwide protests of 2022, has been sentenced to death in what activists called "a new low" in Tehran's crackdown on dissent.

The charges against Salehi also include aiding in rebellion, assembly and conspiracy, propaganda against the regime, and inciting chaos -- all offenses classified under corruption on Earth, as per Article 286 of the Criminal Code.

Surprisingly, the court also imposed additional penalties, including a two-year travel ban and a prohibition on engaging in artistic activities.

Amir Raisian, Salehi’s attorney, said on April 24 that the Isfahan Revolutionary Court issued the sentence for a new charge of "corruption on Earth" while refusing to acknowledge a prior Supreme Court ruling that might have mitigated the case.

Raisian criticized the judgment, saying that, given its legal inconsistencies, his client would launch an appeal.

"The primary court's verdict has clear legal contradictions, particularly ignoring the Supreme Court's guidance which had advised reducing the charge count and considering a pardon," Raisian said in an interview with the Tehran-based Sharq newspaper.

Since unrest rattled the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 in police custody for a supposed head-scarf violation, Iranian authorities have launched a crackdown on even the slightest hint of dissent.

Thousands have been detained, hundreds have died, and there have been credible reports of torture, including by Salehi.

Still, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said Salehi's death sentence "underscores the glaring unlawfulness and injustice of the Islamic republic's judicial system, which has been weaponized and used as a tool by the state security forces to crush dissent and perpetuate political repression."

"This grotesque manipulation of the judicial process aims to silence dissent. Toomaj's imprisonment stems from his vocal advocacy against state oppression. It is imperative that supporters of free speech and dissent unite to demand his immediate release," CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi said.

Raisian noted that the same court previously acquitted Salehi of other serious allegations, such as disturbing public order and insulting leadership, due to insufficient evidence.

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Salehi, 33, was initially arrested in October 2022 after making public statements in support of the protests, which had erupted the previous month following Amini's death.

He spent much of his pretrial detention in solitary confinement and was subsequently sentenced to more than six years in prison but released after the Supreme Court, on appeal, found "flaws in the original sentence." His case was sent back to a lower court for reexamination and possible retrial.

He was released on bail in November after spending over a year in prison, including 252 days in solitary confinement, but rearrested two weeks later after publicly talking about his alleged torture in prison in a video.

Raisian said reports in local media about a possible pardon or sentence reduction citing Salehi's youth were false. The court, he said, only requested leniency from the pardon commission, which does not impact the execution sentence.

Salehi gained prominence for lyrics that rail against corruption, widespread poverty, executions, and the killing of protesters in Iran.

His songs also point to a widening gap between ordinary Iranians and the country's leadership, accusing the authorities of "suffocating" the people without regard for their well-being.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda