Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on September 4, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The announcement comes after weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet next. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted his Turkish counterpart for talks in Moscow. Turkey, together with the United Nations, brokered a deal in July 2022 that allowed Ukraine to ship grain and other foodstuffs from three Black Sea ports. Russia quit the deal last month. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Bulgaria will allow a Russian national to stay in the country, after earlier rejecting three asylum requests. Aleksandr Stotsky fled Russia immediately after the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Stotsky, a supporter of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, argued that he risked being sent to fight in Ukraine if sent back to Russia. Stotsky's asylum request was rejected by Bulgaria's authority for refugees and a Sofia court, which ruled he was in no danger if he returned to his homeland. Following protests, authorities overturned that decision on September 1. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.

British military equipment maker BAE Systems has set up a legal entity in Ukraine as it looks to offer "more direct support" to the country at war with Russia. "BAE Systems...has established a local legal entity and signed agreements with the Ukrainian government to ramp up the company's support to Ukraine's armed forces and to explore the supply of light guns to Ukraine," the company said a statement. It comes after the company recently announced a 57 percent jump in net profits for the first half of 2023 amid higher defense spending by Western governments in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine is ready to store and re-export European gas for the 2023/2024 winter, the country's gas transmission operator said, citing a risk-assessment conducted with international partners. The GTSOU, which runs Ukraine's gas system, said that stress tests had been conducted to assess the risk of Russian military aggression hampering traders' ability to safely store gas in Ukraine and transport it to the European Union (EU). The operator said that Ukraine’s gas infrastructure proved its "high reliability and resilience" in the crisis situations modeled. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Kazakhstan's president, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, has said the country will hold a referendum over building a controversial nuclear power plant, its first, in a lakeside village amid fears it will destroy the environment. "The question of whether or not to build a nuclear power plant is a very important issue for the future of our country. That's why I think it should be resolved through a national referendum. We will determine the exact date later," Toqaev told Parliament on September 1. The plan is expected to address Kazakhstan's soaring energy needs. Russia's Rosatom has offered to be the main partner for the project. (RFE/RL's Radio Azattyk)

To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azattyk, click here. https://www.azattyq.org/a/32573945.html

Armenia and Azerbaijan both reported casualties after intense shelling on their common border on September 1. The Armenian Defense Ministry said two of its soldiers were killed and one wounded in "intense fire" near the town of Sotk. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, accused Armenian forces of opening fire at the same section, saying that one Azerbaijan soldier was wounded. To read the original story from RFE/RL's Armenian Service, click here.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent Russia a new proposal aimed at getting grain and fertilizer to international markets in hopes of reviving a deal that allowed Ukraine to ship almost 33,000 tons of grain at a time of growing global hunger. But Moscow wasn’t satisfied with the proposal sent to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week. Speaking at a press conference on August 31 after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Lavrov said he had given Ankara a list of actions that the West would have to take in order to resume Ukrainian shipments. To read the original story from AP, click here.

Three people were wounded in a Russian missile attack in central Ukraine as Russia reported more drone attacks early on September 1, including near Moscow and a nuclear power plant as Ukraine’s military said its counteroffensive was continuing in the country’s east and south amid the 18-month war with invading Russian forces.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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A private enterprise was struck by a long-range cruise missile in the early hours of September 1 in the city of Vinnytsya, wounding three people, Governor Serhiy Borzov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian Air Force Command said it shot down a second missile fired as part of the overnight attack. The missile was downed over the central Kirovohrad region, the local governor said on Telegram.

Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defense systems had shot down a drone that he claimed was approaching the city. The drone was downed near Lyubertsy, southeast of Moscow, Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

According to the state-run TASS news agency, flights were suspended briefly at Moscow’s three major airports Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo.

There have been repeated disruptions to takeoffs and landings at Moscow airports in recent days because of the risks posed by drones.

Elsewhere, a drone strike was reported in Kurchatov, home to a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region, regional governor Roman Starovoit said.

Emergency services were assessing the damage suffered by an administrative building and a residential one in the attack, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Starovoit did not mention any potential damage to the Kursk nuclear power plant or give details of the targeted buildings.

Earlier, the local governor of the western region of Pskov said Russian air defense had "neutralized an unidentified object" there.

Governor Mikhail Vedernikov posted a video on Telegram showing fire being directed through the air. He said there had been no damage on the ground.

The Pskov region, some 700 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border, was the site of a large drone attack earlier this week. On August 30, drones hit an airport there, damaging four Il-76 military transport planes, according to local reports. It was part of a barrage that day which targeted six Russian regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on August 31 that Ukraine had developed a weapon that hit a target 700 kilometers away, in an apparent reference to the strike on the airport in Pskov.

Zelenskiy said on his Telegram channel that the weapon was produced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries but gave no other details.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that more than 25 combat clashes had taken place across the front line over the past 24 hours.

In its daily update on September 1, Ukraine’s military said its forces “continue to conduct offensive operations in the Melitopol direction.”

Addressing EU foreign ministers in the Spanish city of Toledo on August 31, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba slammed critics of his country's counteroffensive and the speed of its advance into Russian-held territory.

Kuleba said the critics are "spitting into the face" of the Ukrainian soldier "who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward, and liberating 1 kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another."

He said all critics should "shut up," inviting them to try to clear even 1 square centimeter of territory by themselves.

SEE ALSO:

Exhaustion And Hope: A Battle-Hardened Battalion Holds The Line On Ukraine's Southern Front

Since launching its counteroffensive, Ukraine has recaptured more than a dozen villages but has yet to penetrate Russia's main defenses.

Kuleba and his counterparts discussed further support for Ukraine, and he urged them to approve more arms to help Kyiv fight against the Russian invasion.

"The war is raging," Kuleba said in his address to the EU foreign ministers, asking for more armored vehicles and tanks, as well as armored ambulances, which are in high demand.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

At least nine Pakistani soldiers have been killed and 20 more injured in a suicide attack that targeted a security convoy in northwestern Pakistan.

The attack on August 31 was carried out by a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle, Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations Agency (ISPR) said in a statement.

The statement added that "the army is committed to eliminating terrorism."

The attack occurred in the Jani Khel area of the Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK) near the North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan.

There has been no claim of responsibility.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar condemned the bombing.

“Heartbroken by the loss of 9 valiant soldiers in Bannu Division, KPK, to a cowardly terrorist act that injured many. Such acts are utterly reprehensible,” Kakar said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The number of deadly suicide attacks on security forces in and near North Waziristan in 2023 has been increasing. North Waziristan served as a base for insurgents until the army announced years ago that it had cleared the region of local and foreign militants.

One of the most deadly was a suicide bombing on July 30 at a political rally for the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party that killed more than 50 people in the Bajur district, a stronghold of the Tehrik-e Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, a close ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government. The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist group claimed responsibility.

SEE ALSO:

Islamic State-Khorasan Claims Responsibility For Deadly Suicide Bombing In Pakistan

There have been frequent protests and repeated calls for the government to maintain security in the region.

The government and the military have stressed that they have carried out operations against the militants and claimed the actions have achieved success in the past few years.

The attack compounds security concerns in the runup to a national election expected to take place later this year. Elections are to be held before early November following the end of the government's tenure in the first half of August.

With reporting by AP and AFP

A court in western Kazakhstan has awarded a man compensation for being wrongly detained and prosecuted after a deadly state crackdown on protesters in January 2022.

The court in Aqtobe ruled that 3.5 million tenge ($6,500) should be paid to Aslanbek Omarov for moral and material damage he endured after being detained by security forces on January 9, 2022.

Omarov, who said he was tortured while being held in pretrial detention, was jailed for four months and held under house arrest for five months.

The ruling came in an appeal filed by Omarov, who had been seeking 40 million tenge ($86,000) in compensation.

"The pain I experienced can't be compensated with 3.5 million tenge; I lost my income and business. After my arrest, my pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter were left without support," Omarov told RFE/RL, adding that, despite the awarded compensation falling far short of his demand, he would not appeal the court decision further.

"The fact that the government admitted its guilt is a victory for me," Omarov said.

Omarov was accused of "organizing mass disorder." According to officials, no evidence was found during an investigation.

In February last year, the Aqtobe court sentenced 16 people, including Omarov, to prison for their involvement in the January crackdowns during which two people were killed in the western Kazakh city.

One of them, Ruslanbek Zhubanazarov, was first accused of being a "terrorist," and was then adjudicated to have been an "accidental victim." His family has been compensated 7 million tenges ($15,272) from the People of Kazakhstan fund, which was set up in January 2022 immediately after the unrest.

The other Aqtobe resident who was fatally shot during January events, Faizulla Nurgeldin, was initially included in the accidental victims list. But when he died two months later, he was listed as a fatality.

More than 10,000 were detained in Kazakhstan after the January unrests. Few have received compensation.

The United States has lauded Kyrgyzstan for its repatriation of 95 women and children from northeast Syria, calling it "important towards resolving the humanitarian and security challenges in the region." State Department spokesman Matthew Miller noted that it was Kyrgyzstan's second round of repatriating displaced people from the region this year. In February, it brought 18 women and 41 children back. The nation has been addressing its citizens' involvement with radical groups in the Middle Eastern country since 2013-2015, when many moved to Syrian war zones. Repatriation covers only women and children, not men. To read the statement from the U.S. State Department, click here.

Turkey's foreign minister has emphasized how important reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative is to global food security during a meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Hakan Fidan, who is in Moscow to make preparations for a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke at a joint news conference on August 31 with Lavrov, who said Russia would return to the deal if problems that Moscow raised about it are solved.

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.

Fidan said he and his team "underlined its critical role for global food security and stability in the Black Sea." When the deal was brokered in July 2022, the UN and Turkey hailed it as a way to help tackle a global food crisis that worsened after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russia quit the deal last month, complaining that Western sanctions were impeding its own exports of food and fertilizers and that too little of the grain was getting to the poorest countries.

Turkey has since sought to convince Moscow to return to the agreement, which allowed the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments on the Black Sea and included an inspection regime managed by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the UN in Istanbul.

Lavrov said before the meeting that he and Fidan would discuss a proposal by Moscow for an alternative to the deal.

Under the plan, Russia would send a million tons of grain to Turkey at a discounted price, with financial support from Qatar, to be processed in Turkey and sent to countries most in need, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. It was not clear what incentive Qatar would have to take part in the arrangement.

"We consider this project as the optimal working alternative to the Black Sea deal," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on August 30.

The original deal had enabled the shipment of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to countries in Africa and Asia through Ukrainian Black Sea.

After withdrawing from the deal Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports and storehouses, destroying millions of tons of grain, which prompted accusations that Moscow was again using food as a weapon of war.

The Russian Foreign Ministry statement on August 30 said Lavrov would restate Moscow's position that following its withdrawal from the grain deal, it would consider all ships heading to Ukraine as potentially carrying military cargo.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Iranian social media users are posting and sharing videos of their own dance performances and renditions of songs by Mehdi Yarrahi as a protest against the singer's arrest for his latest song supporting women's rights.

Yarrahi was arrested on August 28 following the release of the song Your Head Scarf, which was accompanied by a video showing women in various social settings without their head scarves, some dancing to the music. No further details on Yarrahi's arrest have been released.

Yarrahi dedicated the song to the "brave women of Iran who shine courageously at the forefront of the ‘Women Life Freedom’ movement," a reference to protests sparked by the death last September of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged head scarf violation.

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Renowned Iranian artists including Dariush Eghbali, Ebi, Kaveh Yaghmaei, and Taraneh Alidoosti, as well as various political activists and journalists, have also rallied behind Yarrahi since his arrest.

Acts of civil disobedience have increased in Iran since the death of the 22-year-old Amini. Authorities have responded with a brutal crackdown on all forms of dissent, detaining thousands across the country.

Violators of the hijab requirement can face up to two years in prison, although proposed legislation would increase the maximum sentence to up to three years for repeat offenders.

While the protests appear to be waning, resistance to the hijab, or mandatory head scarf for women, remains high as it is seen now as a symbol of the state's repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.

Several cinematographers and prominent public figures have also been summoned by the police or arrested, including prominent rapper Toomaj Salehi.

Other celebrities, including prominent actresses Afsaneh Bayegan, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Katayon Riahi, and Pantea Bahram, have been interrogated and have faced legal action after they made public appearances without wearing the mandatory hijab to show support for the protesters.

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

Kazakh aviation authorities warned on August 31 about the increasing threat to flight safety in Russia due to drone attacks. Kazakh authorities said regular passenger flights between Kazakhstan and Russia operated by Kazakh companies SCAT and Qazaq Air and Russian companies Aeroflot, Azimut, and Red Wings could be in danger. Passenger flights between Russia and Kazakhstan operate in several cities in each country, including Astana, Almaty, and Moscow. Drone attacks in Russia continue amid the Russian military’s massive shelling of Ukrainian cities. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly confirmed drone attacks that have affected flights at Russian airports. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service click here.

The Homel regional court in southeastern Belarus has sentenced journalist Larysa Shchyrakova to 3 1/2 years in prison after finding her guilty of "facilitating extremist activities" and "discrediting" Belarus as a crackdown on dissent by the country's authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues. Investigators say she placed materials online that "discredited" the country and collected information for the Minsk-based Vyasna human rights group, as well as the Poland-based Belsat television channel. Arrested in early December, local rights groups have recognized Shchyrakova as a political prisoner. She has said she will not appeal the verdict. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says his country has developed a weapon that hit a target 700 kilometers away, in an apparent reference to the previous day’s strike on an airport in western Russia. Zelenskiy said on his Telegram channel on August 31 that the weapon was produced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries but gave no other details. On August 30, a four-hour wave of drones that Moscow blamed on Ukraine hit an airport near Russia’s border with Estonia and Latvia, damaging four Il-76 military transport planes, according to local reports. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Russia's Culture Ministry said blockbuster films Barbie and Oppenheimer, which have collected more than $2 billion at the world box office, do not meet the traditional and moral values of Russia and therefore has rejected an appeal by lawmaker Vladislav Davankov to issue the movies with “compulsory" licenses for products from "unfriendly countries.”

The ministry said the move could negatively affect all creative industries. Last year, major Hollywood studios withdrew from distributing films in Russia due to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Pirated versions of Barbie and Oppenheimer have been screened illegally in some Russian theatres.

To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service click here.

Officials in Islamabad say a 22-year-old Afghan refugee woman identified as Mariam, died after allegedly jumping from the fifth floor of a building on August 31. The woman had been living with her family in Islamabad for the past two years after fleeing the Taliban takeover. Pakistan has become home for many Afghans who have left their country because of the militants, with around 100,000 Afghans estimated to be living in Islamabad. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Mashaal Radio click here.

The co-founder and military commander of the Russian mercenary group Wagner was buried near Moscow on August 31, after dying in an unexplained plane crash that also killed his boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Dmitry Utkin, 53, whose call sign "Wagner" gave the private army its name, was buried in a town on the outskirts of Moscow in a ceremony cordoned off by Russian military police, according to the popular online news channel Shot. Prigozhin was buried on August 29 in an equally discreet ceremony in his hometown of St. Petersburg. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Russian comedian and TV presenter Maksim Galkin, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Kremlin's war in Ukraine, says Kazakh authorities have been blocking his plans to try and hold concerts in the Central Asian nation for "some fictitious reasons." He said most recently, officials in Astana said on August 31 that a venue he was to use was no longer available as it was reserved for a Teacher’s Day celebration. "At the moment, there is actually an unspoken ban on my concerts,” said Galkin, who fled Russia. Kazakh officials have not commented on Galkin's claims. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, click here.

The Federal Council of Switzerland adopted further sanctions against Belarus on August 30 to align it with the measures taken by the European Union. More than 40 individuals and entitles were added to the sanctions list. A ban on exporting goods and technology for use in the aviation and space industry was also imposed. In August, the EU introduced a new round of sanctions against Belarus, with an additional ban "on the export of firearms and ammunition, as well as goods and technologies suitable for use in the aviation and space industry," due to Minsk's support for Russia's aggression against Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, click here.

Arayik Harutiunian, the ethnic Armenian leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, has announced that he will be resigning from his post amid rising political tensions over a continuing blockade by Azerbaijan and apparent differences over how to deal with the situation.

“I made this final decision two days ago, taking into account my interactions with all internal and external actors and the public in recent weeks. This is a well-considered decision made solely by myself based on the analysis of the data I have,” Harutiunian said on August 31.

Harutiunian said his resignation would go into effect as of September 1.

Harutiunian also said that State Minister Gurgen Nersisian has been relieved of his post and that Security Council Secretary Samvel Shahramanian had been appointed to replace him and given “wide powers.”

• RFE/RL

As Azerbaijan continues a blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, protesters placed tons of food in front of the United Nations’ office in Yerevan, calling for the organization to deliver the desperately needed supplies.

It is not clear who will succeed Harutiunian.

Under an amendment adopted by the region’s parliament in June, the de facto president of Nagorno-Karabakh can be elected by the lawmaking body in the event of martial law. In that case, the elected leader is to hold the post through the remainder of the popularly elected predecessor's term.

Harutiunian was elected in May 2020 for a five-year term. A few months later, in September, a war broke out with Azerbaijan, resulting in the defeat of the Armenian side later that year.

Harutiunian's resignation takes place against the background of a continuing blockade by Azerbaijan that has resulted in severe shortages of food, fuel, and other basic products in the region of about 120,000. Stepanakert has demanded that Azerbaijan unblock the Lachin Corridor that it has effectively closed off from cargo traffic since the middle of June.

Baku denies it is blockading the region and has proposed opening an alternative road passing through the Azerbaijani-controlled town of Agdam, but ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have rejected that offer.

Former Energy Minister Grant Shapps replaced Ben Wallace on August 31 as Britain's defense minister, a surprise move that reaffirmed London's support for Ukraine while raising questions over his lack of experience of the military. "I am looking forward to working with the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who defend our nation's security. And continuing the UK's support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin's barbaric invasion," Shapps said on X, formerly known as Twitter, after his appointment was announced by the government following the resignation of Ben Wallace. To read the original Reuters story, click here.

Russia said on August 31 that it intended to develop ties with North Korea, while not confirming a statement by the White House that Russian President Vladimir Putin had exchanged letters with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The United States said on August 30 that it was concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were advancing actively and said Putin and Kim had written to each other pledging to increase their cooperation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not answer directly when asked by reporters if the letter exchange had taken place. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Iran has accused Israel of being behind a failed plot to sabotage its defense industry and the production of missiles, state media reported on August 31. The two foes have been locked in a shadow war for decades, with mutual allegations of sabotage and assassination plots. "The intelligence unit of the Defense Ministry thwarted one of the largest sabotage plots targeting Iran's missile, aviation, and airspace military industry," Iranian state TV said. "This sabotage was carried out under the guidance of the Zionist intelligence services and their agents." There was no immediate response from Israel. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.