Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim has launched a hunger strike as he serves a 25-day jail term over his plan to hold a rally to protest the official results of this month's parliamentary and local elections, his lawyer, Ghalym Nurpeiisov, said on March 26. Mukhammedkarim was cleared as a candidate in the March 19 elections to the national parliament only after protesting his initial disqualification. He announced his refusal to recognize the results, which awarded a majority to the ruling Amanat party after a process that international observers said showed some progress over previous votes but the opposition said was undemocratic. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

The U.S. Department of Defense said on March 25 that there were no indications that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons after Moscow's announcement to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "We have seen reports of Russia's announcement and will continue to monitor this situation," it said. It added that "We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance." To read the original report by Reuters, click here.

The British Defense Ministry said on March 26 that Russia had "likely launched" at least 71 Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine after a two-week letup in late February. The resumption suggests that "Russia has started receiving regular resupplies of small numbers of Shahed" uncrewed aerial drones, the U.K. military added in its daily intelligence assessment. It said Russian forces were probably launching the Iranian drones from the Krasnodar region in the east and Bryansk region in the northeast, cutting down flight times in the north to further "stretch Ukrainian air defenses."

Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and are hiding nothing in terms of their military cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state television broadcast on March 26, news agencies reported. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping professed friendship and pledged closer ties at a summit in Moscow early this week, as Russia struggles to make gains in what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. "We are not creating any military alliance with China," Interfax quoted Putin as saying, adding, "Yes, we have cooperation in the sphere of military-technical interaction."

Tehran has condemned U.S. air strikes on Iran-linked forces in Syria that reportedly killed 19 people, which Washington said it carried out following a deadly drone attack on U.S. forces. The Iranian Foreign Ministry late on March 25 condemned "the belligerent and terrorist attack of the American army on civilian targets" in the eastern Syrian region of Deir el-Zor. Washington said it launched the retaliatory raids after a U.S. contractor was killed -- and another contractor and five military personnel wounded -- by a drone "of Iranian origin" that struck a U.S.-led coalition base in Syria.

The General Staff of North Macedonia has backed the transfer to Ukraine of 12 Mi-24 military helicopters that it purchased from Kyiv two decades ago, Macedonian Defense Minister Slavjanka Petrovska said on March 25. The transfer still must receive government approval. Petrovska said Skopje will procure eight new, Western-platform rotorcraft to replace the Mi-24s. She said the military equipment being supplied to Ukraine was "under our plans...reaching the end of its service life." Petrovska said that "the transfer of helicopters to Ukraine will not weaken Macedonia's defense capabilities, as some of the helicopters have not been used for some time." To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Polling stations have opened in Turkmenistan in a vote for all 125 members of a newly unicameral national legislature with diminished powers in the authoritarian Central Asian country.

The parliament is expected to mostly rubber-stamp moves initiated by "national leader" Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in an unelected Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) and his presidential successor and son, Serdar Berdymukhammedov.

The elections on March 26 also include local and provincial assemblies.

The elder Berdymukhammedov has spent years further quashing dissent and independent media in the gas-rich country of around 6 million people after taking over controversially following the death of the country's first post-independence dictator, "President-for-life" Saparmurat Niyazov.

For years, critics have warned that 65-year-old Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's moves were made to secure his lifetime leadership and the succession of presidency to his son and grandchildren.

None of Turkmenistan's elections has been regarded as free or fair since its exit from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has sent a small election-assessment mission for the March 26 balloting but said it "will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting [or] counting and tabulation on election day."

Its members planned to "visit a small number of polling stations on the day," it said.

Turkmenistan's bicameral National Council voted in January to convert the upper house into a People's Council of appointees with the elder Berdymukhammedov in charge and broad prerogatives.

The reform was proposed by the elder Berdymukhammedov around 10 months after handing the presidency to his son and less than two years after he created the upper house.

Under the hastily imposed reforms, the People's Council is the "supreme power" with authority to change the constitution and is separate from the legislature.

Its powers extend to domestic and foreign policy.

In the parliamentary voting on March 26, polling stations were scheduled to be open from 7 a.m. local time (0200 GMT/UTC) to 7 p.m.

Voting was also planned near Turkmenistan's diplomatic missions abroad.

Nearly 15,000 candidates were nominated and registered for the elections across the country.

Two hundred and fifty-eight were competing for the national parliament, or Mejlis.

Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has continued to meet with foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, since passing the presidency to Serdar Berdymukhammedov.

The Turkmen economy is heavily dependent on China, Russia, and Iran.

Reporters Without Borders ranks only Iran, Eritrea, and North Korea worse than Turkmenistan on press freedoms.

With reporting by AFP

The Ukrainian military says that Russian attacks are focusing on Bakhmut and a handful of other eastern areas, after Moscow announced plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus and Ukraine's president praised recent pledges of international support for Kyiv.

Ukraine's General Staff said its forces continued to hold positions in Bakhmut, where a monthslong Russian encirclement effort continues, but Ukraine's top commander said this week the situation was being "stabilized."

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It cited Russian attacks in the Donetsk areas of Lyman, Maryinka, and Avdiyivka.

Kyiv also said Russian forces were conducting "defensive actions" in the areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhya, where shelling has raised fears over a captured nuclear power plant, in southeastern Ukraine.

The Kherson city council on March 24 advised residents living close to the Dnieper River to leave for "safer areas."

The Ukrainian Army said the occupiers in the city of Berdyansk, in the Zaporizhzhya area, issued a decree forcing local residents to seek passes to move freely in the area pending background checks.

Russian forces and their separatist allies have conducted widescale "filtration" operations to vet civilians in occupied territory since early in the full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

Ukraine's General Staff also claimed that the Russian side had suffered 170,000 casualties so far in the all-out invasion that began in February 22.

RFE/RL cannot independently confirm casualty claims by either side or battlefield developments in areas of intense fighting.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said its director-general, Rafael Grossi, will make his second visit of the war next week to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, where he and other nuclear experts have repeatedly warned of the risk of nuclear catastrophe.

SEE ALSO:

UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief To Visit Ukraine's Russian-Held Zaporizhzhya Plant

Meanwhile, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said after the Kremlin announced it was ordering tactical nuclear weapons to be positioned in Belarus that that fellow post-Soviet republic was falling "hostage" to Moscow.

Danilov tweeted that Russian President Vladimir Putin's move is "a step towards internal destabilization" of Belarus that "maximizes the level of negative perception and public rejection of [R]ussia and [P]utin in Belarusian society."

"The [K]remlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage," he said.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency on March 25 quoted Putin as claiming there was "nothing unusual" about the tactical nukes deployment and that it did not violate existing nuclear nonproliferation treaties.

SEE ALSO:

Putin Says Russia Will Station Tactical Nuclear Weapons In Belarus

In his regular video address late on March 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised a decision on "new packages of defense support" from Finland, Germany, Lithuania, and the United States, as well as a similar Swedish vote.

He also cited "a security package and strong agreements with Japan" following Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit earlier this week.

Zelenskiy said Croatia's government backed a program to treat and rehabilitate Ukrainian war casualties and that Greece joined a group "working on the creation of a special tribunal" for war crimes.

Zelenskiy said the commitments allowed Ukraine to become stronger while "the enemy has become even more isolated, even more hopeless."

Ukrainian National Bank Governor Andriy Pyshniy says the bank has settled its "open conflict" with the government and will avoid the "very dangerous" practice of printing new money to fund the war effort.

Pyshniy told the Financial Times in an interview published on March 26 that the loose monetary policy had "created huge risks for macroeconomic stability" and the national currency, the hryvnya.

"It was a quick remedy, but very dangerous," he told the newspaper.

Experts have expressed fear of hyperinflation to compound woes in Ukraine amid the year-old war, particularly as the National Bank printed money as EU aid was delayed and the Finance Ministry opposed domestic paths to raise revenues.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Ukrainian government agreed on a nearly $16 billion loan that still requires IMF board approval.

Pyshniy took over Ukraine's National Bank in October after Kyrylo Shevchenko resigned abruptly amid suspicions of millions of dollars of embezzlement.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said after meetings with IMF Director-General Kristalina Georgieva in February that the sides had reached a preliminary agreement on a program that would include immediate financial help and support for longer-term structural reforms to aid rebuilding after the war.

Armenia and Turkey plan to permanently open border crossings between the two countries for the first time in three decades, Armenian officials announced on March 24. The land border will initially open only for diplomats and citizens of third countries until the beginning of the tourist season, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said. There is already direct air traffic between Armenia and Turkey. Turkey unilaterally closed the land border in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan. The border closure has caused serious economic problems for Armenia, which continues to fight a bloody conflict with Azerbaijan over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Russian Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijan of violating a Moscow-brokered cease-fire agreement by allowing its troops to cross over a set demarcation line. Presidents of the three countries in November 2020 signed a cease-fire agreement to end a war between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have for decades been locked in conflict over the region. On March 25, Azerbaijan stated it had taken control of some roads in the region to prevent Armenian forces from digging a trench. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Armenian Service, click here. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, click here.

KYIV – The United Nations nuclear watchdog has said Director-General Rafael Grossi will travel next week to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which was seized by Russian forces shortly after they invaded Ukraine.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement on March 25 that Grossi will "assess firsthand the serious nuclear safety and security situation at the facility and underline the urgent need to protect it during the ongoing military conflict in the country."

Grossi in the past has expressed concerns that the world was becoming complacent about the dangers posed at the Zaporizhzhya site, which has been the scene of heavy fighting and shelling since the Russian takeover last year.

Next week's visit will be the second for Grossi, who will cross the front lines of the war into Russian-held territory to reach the plant. He first traveled there in September 2022.

IAEA inspectors have been stationed at the plant in cooperation with Russian and Ukrainian forces.

"I've decided to travel again to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to see for myself how the situation has evolved since September and to talk to those operating the facility in these unprecedented and very difficult circumstances," Grossi said.

"I remain determined to continue doing everything in my power to help reduce the risk of a nuclear accident during the tragic war in Ukraine,” Grossi added, noting that the situation at the site "is still precarious" despite the IAEA presence.

He said his visit to Ukraine was also aimed at ensuring that the regular rotation of IAEA experts to and from the site is maintained and improved, "following the very challenging circumstances faced by the experts during the previous rotation in February which had been delayed by almost a month."

The IAEA said Grossi will be accompanied by a group of IAEA experts, the seventh such rotating team to visit the site.

Grossi is also leading negotiations with Iran concerning details of Tehran's promise to allow additional monitoring and provide further information on its nuclear program, which it claims is for civilian purposes.

The West's steady criticism of Hungary on democratic and cultural issues makes the country's right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO's buildup against Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister said. In an AP interview, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also said his country had not voted on whether to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO because Hungarian lawmakers are sick of those countries' critiques of Hungarian domestic affairs. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow has reached agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of close ally Belarus, which borders both Russia and Ukraine.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency on March 25 quoted Putin as claiming there was "nothing unusual" about the move and that it did not violate existing nuclear nonproliferation treaties.

"We agreed with [Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr] Lukashenka that we would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the nonproliferation regime," TASS quoted the Russian leader as saying.

"There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said. "We agreed that we will do the same.”

Putin added that Russia was building a storage facility in Belarus and that Moscow would not be transferring control of the weapons to Minsk authorities.

The White House later said it was aware of Putin’s announcement and was monitoring the situation. It said it did not see any immediate reason to adjust its nuclear stance nor any indications Russia is preparing to use such weapons.

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is a landmark pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, signed by more than 190 countries and entered into force in 1970.

Putin on March 25 also threatened to deploy depleted uranium ammunition to its military fighting in Ukraine if the West sent such munitions to Kyiv. A British official recently suggested London might do so.

"Russia, of course, has what it needs to answer. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such shells. We have not used them yet," Putin told Russian television.

Militaries use depleted uranium munitions for their armor-piercing capability in battles against tanks and armored vehicles.

With reporting by TASS, Reuters, and AFP

The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan say rain and floods over the past two days have killed at least three people and injured at least seven. Spokesman Shafiullah Rahimi said in a video message on March 25 that the floods destroyed 756 houses in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Balkh, Farah, Zabul, Faryab, Uruzgan, and Nuristan provinces. The Taliban rulers have been struggling to deal with natural disasters, including earthquakes, along with a deadly Islamic State insurgency since seizing power in August 2021. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

Iran-backed fighters were on alert in eastern Syria on March 25, a day after U.S. forces launched retaliatory air strikes on sites in the war-torn country, opposition activists said. The air strikes came after a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans on March 23. The situation was calm following a day in which rockets were fired at bases housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria. The rockets came after U.S. air strikes on three different areas in Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour, opposition activists said. To read the original story by AP, click here.

The Belarusian opposition -- bolstered by vows of support from Western leaders -- marked the country's Freedom Day on March 25 by declaring continued resistance to authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka, with one exiled leader saying that citizens had not "given up on the dream" of a free country.

The day marks the 105th anniversary of the 1918 declaration of an independent Belarus and is traditionally celebrated by the Belarusian opposition, many of whom have fled into exile or been imprisoned by Lukashenka's regime, which the West has condemned for its ongoing crackdown on the pro-democracy movement and civil society.

Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who now lives in Lithuania, issued a video statement noting that Belarusians had not "given up on the dream" of "a free Belarus."

"The trials of the past years have shown how intertwined our past is with the present and the future," she said. “This is the holiday of our will to freedom and independence, dear Belarusians.”

The Crisis In Belarus

Read our ongoing coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election, widely seen as fraudulent.

A court in Minsk on March 6 sentenced Tsikhanouskaya in absentia to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government, creating and leading an extremist group, inciting hatred, and harming national security -- allegations widely considered in the West to be politically motivated.

Events marking Belarusian Freedom Day were planned in several countries, including Ukraine, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Germany, and the United States.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reasserted the bloc's "commitment to support the Belarusian people," adding that "under extreme circumstances," Belarusians were standing up for their "rights and freedoms."

The U.S. State Department said in a statement that "Despite the Lukashenka regime's complicity in Russia's war against Ukraine, brave Belarusians continue to stand up for an independent, stable, and democratic future for Belarus."

"In the face of the Lukashenka regime's brutal and systemic crackdown on all sectors of Belarusian society, the Belarusian democratic movement and civil society still courageously push forward for a free Belarus."

The comments came a day after the U.S. Treasury Department issued new Belarus-related sanctions against nine individuals and three entities in response to the crackdown on the country's pro-democracy movement.

The sanctions announcement by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified as being blocked a Boeing 737 that the Treasury Department said had been used by Lukashenka and his family for official business and personal trips, including to international locations.

Tension and protests intensified in Belarus following the 2020 presidential election.

Syarhey Tsikhanouski -- the husband of Tsikhanouskaya and a popular video blogger -- announced his candidacy in the election to challenge Lukashenka.

However, he was disqualified by the authorities, arrested, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Tsikhanouskaya then mounted her own campaign.

Lukashenka claimed a landslide victory in a vote that has not been recognized by the opposition and Western countries, who say he had the results rigged in his favor and that the real winner was Tsikhanouskaya.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-connected businessman who controls the Wagner mercenary group, has defended the firm’s practice of recruiting convicts to fight in Ukraine. In a statement published by Prigozhin's press service, he said more than 5,000 convicts had been pardoned and returned to civilian life after serving six months in combat. According to Prigozhin, less than 1 percent committed another crime within one month of returning to Russia, which he claimed was significantly lower than the typical recidivism rate. "We reduced crime in Russia by a factor of 10," Prigozhin claimed. None of Prigozhin's claims could be independently verified. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

The controversial head of Russia's Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been decorated as an "honored human rights defender of the Chechen Republic." He was cited for "outstanding services in the defense of the constitutional rights and liberties of the citizenry," according to Russian state media on March 24. Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007, has been widely accused of mass rights abuses, including torture, abductions, disappearances, extrajudicial executions, the assassination of political enemies, and the persecution of homosexuals. Kadyrov has more than 30 high state honors. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

The pro-Kremlin speaker of the lower house of Russia's parliament has called for his country to ban the activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it issued an arrest warrant on possible war crimes for President Vladimir Putin. Vyacheslav Volodin posted on Telegram on March 25 that Russia should adopt a law criminalizing any "support or assistance" to the ICC. Earlier this month, the ICC issued a warrant for Putin, accusing him of illegally deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Military officials in four Nordic countries have announced the creation of a unified air-defense force to counter the perceived threat from Russia. Air-force commanders from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden on March 24 said their forces would be integrated to operate jointly on the basis of NATO standards. Danish Air Force commander Major General Jan Dam told Reuters the move was a result of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The countries have about 400 modern jet fighters either in service or on order. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The United Nations has expressed deep concerned over what it says were summary executions of prisoners of war (POWs) by both Russian and Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

The head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, said at a press conference in Kyiv on March 24 that her organization had recently recorded killings by both sides.

"We are deeply concerned about...summary execution of up to 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons [out of action because of injury] by the Ukrainian armed forces, which we have documented," Bogner said.

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"This was often perpetrated immediately upon capture on the battlefield," she said.

"While we are aware of ongoing investigations by Ukraine authorities into five cases involving 22 victims, we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators," she added.

Almost half of the 229 Russian prisoners of war interviewed by members of the mission claimed torture or ill-treatment, according to Bogner.

Bogner also expressed deep concern over the alleged executions of 15 Ukrainian prisoners by Russian armed forces after their capture. She said the Wagner mercenary group was responsible for 11 of those killings.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reacted to the report by thanking the UN mission for documenting violations of international law by Russia in the course of its aggression against Ukraine.

"At the same time, we consider it unacceptable to place responsibility on the victim of aggression. According to the UN Charter, Ukraine has the right to self-defense," the ministry said.

Kyiv expects that the UN mission "will avoid any steps that could be interpreted as equating the victim and the aggressor," the ministry said.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament's commissioner for human rights, said Ukraine adhered to the Geneva Conventions, the international law regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.

With reporting by AFP

U.S. President Joe Biden has said the United States does not seek conflict with Iran but will respond to protect its personnel in Syria and elsewhere.

The United States is prepared "to act forcefully to protect our people. That's exactly what happened last night," Biden said after he ordered a retaliatory air strike on sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Biden, who spoke to reporters during a visit to Ottawa, Canada, ordered the air strike after a U.S. contractor was killed and six other Americans were injured in an attack on March 23 blamed on groups affiliated with Iran in northeast Syria.

The deadly attack by a kamikaze drone struck a maintenance facility on a base of the U.S.-led coalition near Hasakeh in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon said.

The United States has maintained about 900 troops in posts across northeastern Syria to keep pressure on groups affiliated with the Islamic State group and to support the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their fight against the Syrian government.

The Pentagon said two F-15 fighters launched the retaliatory attack early on March 24. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack killed 11 pro-Iranian fighters -- six at a weapons depot in Deir el-Zour city and five others at military posts near two towns.

Two Syrian opposition activist groups later on March 24 reported a new wave of air strikes in eastern Syria against positions of Iran-backed militias.

The new wave of air strikes came after rockets were fired at a Conoco gas plant that has a base housing U.S. troops. It was not immediately clear if U.S. warplanes carried out the attack.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in the Pentagon statement that the U.S. intelligence community had determined the drone that killed the U.S. contractor was of Iranian origin but offered no evidence to support the claim.

The statement said its retaliatory "precision" strikes were intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel and were "proportionate and deliberate" and intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties.

"As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing," Austin said. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."

With reporting by AP and AFP

Fierce fighting continues near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, with Russia launching dozens of attacks over the last 24 hours, Ukraine's military said in a March 25 briefing.

The Ukrainian General Staff said there had been 59 clashes along the Bakhmut front in the areas of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Maryinka, and Shaktarsk, the same areas that have seen intense fighting over the last several weeks.

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Ukraine's military says it has seen no letup in Russian operations in the Bakhmut area, despite claims by some analysts that Moscow's monthslong offensive is weakening.

On March 24, Ukrainian commander in chief updated a British military leader on the ongoing battle for Bakhmut, advising him that while the fighting was "difficult," Ukrainian forces had been able to stabilize the situation.

Valeriy Zaluzhniy spoke with Admiral Tony Radakin, Britain's chief of the Defense Staff, informing him about the operational situation along the entire front line.

"The Bakhmut direction is the most difficult. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the defense forces, it is possible to stabilize the situation," Zaluzhniy said.

The claims could not be independently verified.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War wrote that "the wider Russian spring offensive appears to be culminating" and that "Russian military command will need to commit a significant number of forces to the front line to...launch renewed offensive operations."

Ukrainian forces carried out air strikes against Russian positions in the area and reportedly downed a Russian Mi-24 military helicopter.

The statements could not be independently verified.

He added that he and Radakin also discussed strengthening Ukrainian air defense, and the parties "agreed to develop cooperation and maintain communication."

In an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country was waiting for "ammunition from our partners" before launching any major offensives.

"Ukraine cannot send its brave defenders into a counteroffensive without sufficient weapons," he said.

In southern Ukraine, the Territorial Defense Force in the Kherson region reported on March 25 that there had been numerous attacks and shelling incidents in the area over the previous 24 hours.

Some of the shelling struck residential areas, the statement said, and two civilians were killed.

The Kherson city council on March 24 advised residents living close to the Dnieper River to leave for "safer areas."

"Due to constant attacks, it is impossible to ensure stable heat and water supplies there," the council wrote on Telegram. "The best option to protect yourself and your loved ones is to evacuate to safer areas."

Officials said they had arranged free bus transportation form Kherson to the Black Sea port city of Odesa and that 59 civilians had been evacuated on March 24.

Supporters of four right-wing Serbian opposition parliamentary parties on March 24 demonstrated in Belgrade, blocking traffic and demanding the government reject a plan agreed last weekend by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on the process of normalizing relations between their two countries.

Protesters also called for Vucic's resignation and early elections.

Banners saying "No to capitulation," "Serbia remembers," and "Resignation to Vucic" were unfurled in front of the government's headquarters. Some of the protesters wore T-shirts sporting the letter Z, a symbol used by Russian forces in their invasion of Ukraine.

"The government of the Republic of Serbia and Vucic do not have a mandate to negotiate the handover of Kosovo," Nikola Dragicevic of the right-wing Zavetnici party said in addressing the media in front of the government building.

The protest started symbolically at 12:44 p.m. UN Resolution 1244, passed by the Security Council in June 1999, authorized the deployment of an international civilian and military presence whose mission was to provide a transitional administration in Kosovo and oversee the development of democratic institutions.

The date of the protest -- March 24 -- was also the 24th anniversary of the start of a 78-day NATO bombing campaign that drove Serbian forces out of Kosovo.

The right-wing parliamentary parties that took part in the protest maintain close ties with Russia, and their representatives traveled to Moscow in recent months.

The parties have 28 out of 250 deputies in parliament. Representatives of the group consider the EU and U.S.-backed agreement between Vucic and Kurti an ultimatum for recognition of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.

The plan envisages normalization of relations without formal recognition. It calls for Serbia to no longer block Kosovo's participation in international organizations, while Kosovo would allow the formation of the Community of Municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo.

At a meeting in Ohrid, North Macedonia, on March 18, Vucic and Kurti agreed on ways to implement the deal. Although Vucic and Kurti did not sign any documents in Ohrid, European mediators expect the parties to implement all articles of the agreement.

The United States and most EU countries recognize Kosovo’s independence, but Belgrade, Russia, and China do not. Serbia still claims Kosovo as its territory.

With reporting by Mila Djurdjevic