https://www.rferl.org Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is an international news organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries https://www.rferl.org/Content/responsive/RFE/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.rferl.org en Copyright 2026 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Fri, 18 Sep 2026 03:32:03 +0200 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL Russians cast ballots to choose lawmakers for the State Duma, with the more-than-4 ½-year-old war on Ukraine and a slowing economy looming over the country’s first parliamentary elections since the 2022 invasion. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-duma-election-vote-putin-ukraine-war/33858191.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-duma-election-vote-putin-ukraine-war/33858191.html Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:01:52 +0200 News With a sweeping Russia sanctions bill headed to President Donald Trump’s desk, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen tells RFE/RL the legislation is intended to squeeze Moscow’s energy revenues and pressure countries buying Russian oil and gas. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-senator-jeanne-shaheen-putin-ukraine-russia/33858412.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-senator-jeanne-shaheen-putin-ukraine-russia/33858412.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:34:53 +0200 Features Jeanne Shaheen, the senior senator from New Hampshire, spoke to RFE/RL shortly after the passage of sanctions legislation intended to target Russia’s energy revenues. Shaheen said the sanctions will force other countries, notably China, to wean themselves off of Russian oil and gas. https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-senator-shaheen-russia-sanctions-china/33858411.html https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-senator-shaheen-russia-sanctions-china/33858411.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:27:09 +0200 Russia John Coale, the US special envoy to Belarus, spoke to Current Time shortly after Washington helped secure the release of 25 Belarusian political prisoners in exchange for the easing of sanctions. Coale said his negotiation efforts are also meant to eventually help Belarus normalize its relations with other countries. https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-envoy-coale-belarus-prisoner-release/33858393.html https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-envoy-coale-belarus-prisoner-release/33858393.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 22:20:21 +0200 Belarus After brokering the release of 25 prisoners from Belarus, US envoy John Coale tells RFE/RL discuss the deal, sanctions relief, Washington’s tentative thaw with Minsk -- and where Russia fits in. https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-envoy-coale-interview-prisoners-us-sanctions/33858363.html https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-envoy-coale-interview-prisoners-us-sanctions/33858363.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 21:14:24 +0200 Belarus Billions of dollars in oil revenue are missing from Iran’s coffers. At the center of the scandal are shadowy middlemen known as "trustees" who help Tehran sell oil, steel, petrochemicals, and other goods abroad while bypassing international sanctions. But the middlemen Iran used have not all been handing over the sales revenues -- instead, many have absconded with it, to the tune of over $11 billion. Roya Maleki from RFE/RL's Negah-e-Farda (Iran Tomorrow) program explains. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-oil-money-trustees-middlemen-abscond-sanctions-sales-revenues-billions/33858381.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-oil-money-trustees-middlemen-abscond-sanctions-sales-revenues-billions/33858381.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 20:59:10 +0200 Iran A web of contractors, suppliers, and others with links to Russian state giant Rosneft’s big Arctic oil project includes a billionaire associate of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and the father of President Vladimir Putin’s purported partner, Alina Kabayeva, among others. Systema investigates. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-oil-arctic-rosneft-vostok-investigation/33858300.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-oil-arctic-rosneft-vostok-investigation/33858300.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:27:20 +0200 Russia A military airfield in Russia's Rostov-on-Don and the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl were reportedly hit during a major overnight drone attack. Ukraine’s Security Service says three military transport planes and three helicopters were hit. https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-military-airfield-major-oil-refinery-targeted-in-massive-ukrainian-drone-attack/33858180.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-military-airfield-major-oil-refinery-targeted-in-massive-ukrainian-drone-attack/33858180.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:31:04 +0200 Videos Russia resumed its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities on September 17, hours after the US Congress passed a sanctions package that supporters say will increase pressure on Moscow and countries that help finance its war against Ukraine. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-attack-ukraine-graham-bill-sanctions/33858069.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-attack-ukraine-graham-bill-sanctions/33858069.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:31:36 +0200 News Iranian cinema has a long history of confronting censorship. But the Women, Life, Freedom protests changed the terms of that confrontation. Where filmmakers once worked within, or carefully around, an elaborate approval system to tell their stories, many now bypass it entirely at great risk. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-cinema-woman-life-freedom-protests/33857408.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-cinema-woman-life-freedom-protests/33857408.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 07:42:32 +0200 Iran As the conflict in the Persian Gulf continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL's Central Newsroom and Iranian service, Radio Farda, deliver ongoing updates and analysis. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-live-blog-trump-middle-east/33803414.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-live-blog-trump-middle-east/33803414.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 07:39:35 +0200 Iran The US Congress on September 16 passed sweeping legislation targeting Russia and Iran, sending to President Donald Trump a sanctions package supporters say will increase pressure on Moscow and countries that help finance its war against Ukraine. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-congress-sweeping-russia-iran-sanctions-bill/33857946.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-congress-sweeping-russia-iran-sanctions-bill/33857946.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 07:18:57 +0200 News Twenty-five freed political prisoners arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, on September 16 after they were released by Belarusian authorities. The US special envoy to Belarus, John Coale, said their release was secured in exchange for Washington's agreement to lift sanctions on two Belarusian companies. https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-political-prisoners-released-sanctions-deal/33857731.html https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-political-prisoners-released-sanctions-deal/33857731.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:53:02 +0200 Belarus The US military says traffic in the Strait of Hormuz continues to gain momentum amid concerns that escalating fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen threatens another vital artery for global oil supplies in the region. https://www.rferl.org/a/centcom-hormuz-houthi-saudi-fighting-iran-us/33857667.html https://www.rferl.org/a/centcom-hormuz-houthi-saudi-fighting-iran-us/33857667.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:42:17 +0200 Iran A military training exercise in Serbia featured Chinese-designed quadruped robots firing weapons, as concerns mount over Beijing-linked technology facilities being set up in the Balkan country. https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-china-military-dogs-quadraped-weapon/33857596.html https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-china-military-dogs-quadraped-weapon/33857596.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:46:17 +0200 Serbia Russian drones hit a passenger train in southern Ukraine on September 16, setting a train ablaze. No causalities were reported. Another Russian drone strike killed five people on a bus near the frontline city of Nikopol, according to officials. The strikes follow an uptick in attacks on civilian transport in recent days. https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-drones-hit-ukrainian-passenger-train-and-bus-killing-5/33857562.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-drones-hit-ukrainian-passenger-train-and-bus-killing-5/33857562.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:04:41 +0200 Ukraine The 58-year-old Thaci, and three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war, was convicted on four counts of war crimes: illegal and arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture, and murder. Judge Charles Smith said the men, widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo, had been engaged in a "common criminal purpose" that involved arbitrary detention of at least 385 people at locations in Kosovo and northern Albania... https://www.rferl.org/a/thaci-war-crimes-kosovo/33857531.html https://www.rferl.org/a/thaci-war-crimes-kosovo/33857531.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:45:21 +0200 Videos In an interview with RFE/RL, Asrin Mohammadi recalls how her brother was killed during the brutal state crackdown on the Women, Life, Freedom protests that began four years ago. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-women-life-freedom-protests-crackdown/33857477.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-women-life-freedom-protests-crackdown/33857477.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:01:50 +0200 Iran US special envoy John Coale announced that 25 people were released from Belarusian prisons in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on two Belarusian companies following his talks with the country’s longtime authoritarian leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko. https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-us-prisoners-release-sanctions/33857455.html https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-us-prisoners-release-sanctions/33857455.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:55:01 +0200 Belarus An international tribunal in the Hague on September 16 said it has found former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander and later Kosovo President Hashim Thaci guilty of war crimes and sentenced the 58-year-old to 25 years in prison. https://www.rferl.org/a/hague-court-former-kosovo-president-thaci-guilty-war-crimes/33857358.html https://www.rferl.org/a/hague-court-former-kosovo-president-thaci-guilty-war-crimes/33857358.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:28:12 +0200 News