A Bishkek court on May 6 rejected the appeal of Adakhan Madumarov, the leader of the United Kyrgyzstan opposition party, against his fraud conviction, saying it had been filed too late. In late March, a Bishkek court found him guilty of financial fraud and of ignoring Kyrgyzstan's interests while signing a Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal in 2009 when he led the country's Security Council. The court did not sentence Madumarov due to the statute of limitations but ordered him to remain in custody until the decision took force on April 26. Madumarov has called the accusations “ungrounded.” To read the original story on RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, click here.

The Russian parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, on May 6 approved in the second and third readings a bill that would ban individuals added to the controversial "foreign agents'" list from taking part in federal, regional, and local elections. The bill was proposed by a group of lawmakers after several opposition politicians who were labeled "foreign agents" announced their plans to register for municipal elections in Moscow scheduled for September. Russia has used its so-called "foreign agent" laws for the past decade to label and punish critics of government policies. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Iran on May 6, where he is expected to speak at a conference and meet officials for talks on Tehran's nuclear program. The visit comes at a time of heightened regional tensions and with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) criticizing Iran for lack of cooperation on inspections and other outstanding issues. Grossi is scheduled to meet Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, as well as the Islamic republic's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami.

Tajikistan's Emergencies Committee said on May 6 that mudslides and floods caused by heavy rains killed three women over the weekend. The mudslides were registered in the Central Asian nation’s regions of Sughd, Khatlon, and the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, as well as in several districts surrounding Dushanbe, the capital. In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, mudslides caused by heavy rains hit southern regions of Batken and Jalal-Abad on May 5, damaging local infrastructure and buildings in several districts. No casualties were reported there. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.

A court in the central Iranian city of Isfahan has sentenced Mahmud Mehrabi to death for posting messages on social media critical of the Islamic republic.

There is scant reporting about the details of his critical posts, which led to him being convicted of “corruption on Earth” -- the most serious offense under Iran’s Islamic penal code.

Mehrabi’s lawyer, Babak Farsani, wrote on social media on May 5 that there were “serious problems” with the verdict that he hoped would help get it overturned by the Supreme Court.

Mehrabi was arrested in February 2023 and has spent the last six months in a prison ward where dangerous criminals are held, according to his sister Hajar Mehrabi, who lives in Austria.

SEE ALSO:

Special Report: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

She told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on May 5 that her brother was among the tens of thousands of people who protested during the Women, Life, Freedom unrest in 2022. The protests were sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly not properly observing Iran’s strict dress code for women.

Mehrabi put out calls for protests on his social media account and was accused of “spreading false news,” his sister said.

“The judge told him, ‘I don’t see regret in your eyes, so I have sentenced you to death’,” she added.

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The “corruption on Earth” charge is usually brought against serious crimes, such as murder, drug dealing, and high-profile financial corruption cases. It remains unclear exactly what Mehrabi posted online to be hit with a charge that carries the death penalty.

Maryam Mehrabi, another sister who resides in Iran, has urged the public to gather outside the home of Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Nasseri on May 6 to protest the verdict. Nasseri is a prominent cleric in Isfahan who teaches in the city’s seminary.

She vowed to set herself on fire outside Nasseri’s residence.

This comes just over a week after another court in Isfahan sentenced popular rapper Toomaj Salehi to death for his antiestablishment songs.

Rights groups have sharply criticized Iranian authorities for their extensive use of the death penalty.

"The Iranian authorities are ruthlessly carrying out an execution spree. Prisons across the country have become sites of mass state-sanctioned killings under the guise of judicial executions," Amnesty International said recently.

Written by Kian Sharifi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda

Kazakhstan-based billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze has bought England's Wycombe Wanderers soccer club. Lomtadze's Blue Ocean Partners Ltd. paid an undisclosed amount for a 90 percent stake in the club, which plays in England's League One, the third level of the English football league system, the BBC reported on May 5. The 48-year old Georgia-born Lomtadze is the chief executive of Kaspi.kz, the biggest fintech and payments group in Kazakhstan. In its 2024 list of billionaires, Forbes listed Lomtadze 581st, with an estimated net worth of $5.7 billion. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

Russia, angered over what it says are "provocative statements" from the West, says it plans to conduct military exercises to ensure its readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons.

Since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, with Kyiv's Western allies throwing their support behind Ukraine's struggle to repel overwhelmingly superior Russian forces.

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.

The May 6 announcement by the Defense Ministry is the first time Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons and comes after both Britain and France made statements that appeared to show growing involvement in the more than 2-year-old conflict.

"In order to increase the readiness of nonstrategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions, the General Staff has begun preparations for holding exercises in the near future with missile formations of the Southern Military District with the involvement of aviation, as well as the forces of the Navy," Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

"During the exercise, a set of activities will be carried out to practice the preparation and use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons," the statement said, adding that the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

The role of strategic nuclear weapons is to strike enemy targets far from the front line, while tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on battlefields.

The exercise is meant to increase the ability of Russia's military to "ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials against the Russian Federation," the statement said, without elaborating.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated a statement that his country cannot rule out sending troops into Ukraine to help it in the war.

Meanwhile, officials in the United Kingdom last week appeared to give Kyiv the green light to use long-range weapons sent to Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia.

So far in the conflict, the U.K. has given guidance to Ukraine implying that long-range weapons should only be used within sovereign Ukrainian territory.

Russia's Southern Military District has jurisdiction over the North Caucasus region.

Separately, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region bordering Ukraine said on Telegram that six people were killed by Ukrainian drones near Berezovka, in the Borisov district close to the Ukrainian frontier, when two buses carrying workers to a pig farm were struck by Ukrainian drones. Ukraine has not commented on the claim, which could not be independently confirmed.

Ukraine has been subjected to almost daily Russian missile and drone strikes that have caused huge damage to its civilian and energy infrastructure and killed and wounded numerous civilians, including children.

In response, Kyiv has targeted energy infrastructure inside Russia, especially oil refining installations.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) says a Russian correctional colony employee in Moscow-occupied Berdyansk who had been implicated in the alleged torture of Ukrainians has been "eliminated." Without taking direct responsibility, the HUR said a car belonging to Yevgeny Ananyevsky exploded on the morning of May 5. “As a result of the explosion, Yevgeny Ananyevsky, who was involved in the torture of Ukrainian prisoners, was eliminated,” the HUR said in a statement. Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed the death of a correctional colony employee in a car explosion in Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhya region, without naming him. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Russia attacked Ukraine's Sumy region with drones and artillery overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force and the northeastern region's military administration said early on May 6. The region was shelled eight times, the administration said on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties. The Air Force said it had downed 12 out of 13 drones launched by Russia at energy infrastructure targets in Sumy. The regional administration said the electricity supply was temporarily cut in Sumy, Romniy, and Okhtyrka. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Iran's judiciary has filed charges against several journalists and media activists who disseminated a BBC World Service report concerning the alleged "sexual abuse and murder" of protester Nika Shakarami during the 2022 protests.

The BBC report, released on April 29, cited a "highly confidential" government document that allegedly names those responsible for Shakarami's death and senior commanders involved in a subsequent cover-up.

The report, which claimed that Shakarami was abused and killed after being detained by security forces, was dismissed by the judiciary's media center as "fake, incorrect, and error-ridden." The center accused the individuals involved of publishing "false, insulting, and anti-regime propaganda" on the Internet.

SEE ALSO:

Special Report: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

"The media individuals have been summoned to the Tehran Prosecutor's Office as part of our legal duty to counter disruptors of societal psychological security," a spokesperson for the judiciary's media center said.

Activists say the report is further evidence of the repressive nature of the regime against protesters, particularly those involved in the Women, Life, Freedom movement.

In a response to the government's narrative, Fateme Heidari, the sister of Javad Heidari, another 2022 protest victim, said she spoke with Nika's mother, who told her: "'It's raining here now, Fateme, and it feels like all the sorrows of the world are raining down on me; Nika loved the rain...'"

Hamed Esmaeilion, an activist and member of a family seeking justice for the downing of a Ukrainian plane in 2020, said the BBC report “brutally revealed the murder case of Nika Shakarami,” which “has shaken all Iranians.”

"In the painful narrative of this unforgivable crime, what remains in our hearts is the unforgettable resilience of Iran's brave daughter, Nika Shakarami, facing her killers and oppressors," Esmaeilion said.

“This report has not only shone a light on the alleged abuses but also highlighted the dangers faced by journalists and activists in Iran, who risk severe repercussions for reporting on sensitive issues.

“The global response underscores the ongoing international concern regarding Iran's human rights record, particularly during times of civil unrest.”

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran, said the perpetrators of the “crime against Nika Shakarami, and the main person responsible, [Supreme Leader Ayatollah] Ali Khamenei, will be brought to justice."

Shakarami went missing during protests in September 2022 in Tehran over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly.

In her last communication with her friends, Shakarami said she was being chased by security forces.

Eight days later, Nika's body was returned to her family. The government said she had committed suicide.

Both deaths brought up accusations of a government cover-up.

Authorities have said she fell into a coma soon after her arrest because of health problems. But her family says she was in good health, while eyewitnesses said the 22-year-old was beaten while she was being detained.

Public anger at Amini's death has been widely seen as one of the biggest threats to Iran's clerical establishment since the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979.

At least 500 people have been killed around the country since authorities began a crackdown on her supporters, with thousands more detained or harassed.

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

Teachers across Iran have rallied in support of reforms in the education sector and for an end to what they describe as discriminatory and oppressive treatment by authorities.

The Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council reported that security forces detained four participants during the protests in Tehran, with one teacher, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, still being held in custody. The council condemned the arrests, stating that "those detained were subjected to violence by security forces during the peaceful demonstrations."

The nationwide protests highlighted several grievances, including demands for "the immediate release of all imprisoned educators, provision of free education for all, and the abolition of gender discrimination in educational policies," according to a council resolution.

The teachers called out the Islamic republic’s government, claiming it "opts to suppress and threaten proactive teachers rather than combat embezzlers and the corrupt, subjecting them to measures such as exile, dismissal, and imprisonment."

Teachers have in recent years taken to the streets on several occasions to protest against their working conditions and to demand higher wages. They have also called on the government to speed up the implementation of reforms that would see their salaries better reflect their experience and performance.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that just ahead of the protests, 17 teachers were summoned and interrogated by the intelligence services in Sanandaj, indicating a continued pattern of pressure and scrutiny on educational professionals in Iran.

Unrest -- including months of protests by workers -- has rattled Iran in recent years in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support.

Labor Ministry data shows Iran's poverty rate doubled in 2021, with one-third of the population living in "extreme poverty." Since then, conditions have failed to improve.

In September 2023, Iran's Misery Index, calculated by the Iranian Statistics Center, rose to 60.4 -- its highest point ever and more than double what it was six years ago. The higher the rating, the worse off people feel.

Labor laws in Iran do not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

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

Peter Magyar, a rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing government, told supporters in Debrecen that changes are coming to the country that current leaders will be unable to prevent. "Change can be stopped for a few days, a few weeks, but no one in history has ever stopped it and neither can they," Magyar said on May 4. Magyar, 43, who broke publicly with Orban's Fidesz party in February, has announced the creation of an umbrella organization aimed at uniting both conservative and liberal Hungarians disillusioned by Orban's administration. Ervin Nagy, an actor and producer, also spoke, saying, "There's a revolutionary mood, like in 1956," referring to the historic uprising against Hungary's Soviet-backed rulers. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Hungarian Service click here.

KIRANTS, Armenia -- An outspoken archbishop and his supporters have begun marching to Yerevan from a border village in the northern Tavush Province that has been the epicenter of protests over the past two weeks against the Armenian government’s territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, who has emerged as a leader of the protests, and other participants said they were taking their campaign to the streets of the capital to try to scuttle the handover of border areas adjacent to the village of Kirants and nearby Tavush communities.

Many local residents have been angered by the government’s plans, citing grave security concerns.

“The Tavush for the Homeland movement has decided that the people must just go to Yerevan… to demand that this process here and elsewhere be stopped,” Galstanian said in Kirants before starting the 160-kilometer journey to Yerevan.

SEE ALSO:

Armenian Protests Continue Against Plans To Cede Territory To Rival Azerbaijan

The decision was announced two days after police cracked down on Kirants protesters who tried to stop authorities from clearing an adjacent area of land mines and make other preparations for its handover to Azerbaijan. The police presence in and around the village remained strong after the crackdown.

Galstanian, who heads the Tavush diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, said protesters plan to reach Yerevan on May 9. He gave no details of their planned actions once there.

His announcement drew statements of support from Yerevan-based opposition politicians and public figures who pledged to join the campaign.

The marching protesters, among them at least two opposition parliamentarians, spent their first night in Tavush’s medieval Haghartsin monastery. They resumed their march to the capital after attending a Mass there early on May 5.

“This march is going to give us one thing: honor and homeland,” Galstanian told the crowd of more than 100 people following the liturgy. He urged Armenia’s leaders to “behave well,” “repent,” and “stay away from all kinds of sins.”

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political allies and other supporters have verbally attacked Galstanian during the protests. Galstanian was highly critical of Pashinian and especially his handling of the conflict with Azerbaijan even before the protests.

During an April 30 session of the Armenian parliament, pro-government lawmakers branded Galstanian a Russian spy, accused him of provoking another war with Azerbaijan, and even called on Armenian border guards to forcibly draft the 52-year-old archbishop.

Pashinian has said the unilateral concessions are necessary to prevent Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia.

The Armenian opposition maintains he is actually encouraging Baku to demand more territory from Armenia and use force for that purpose.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission is expected to visit Pakistan this month to discuss a new program, the lender said on May 5 ahead of Islamabad beginning its annual budget-making process for the next financial year. Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion program, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term program. "A mission is expected to visit Pakistan in May to discuss the FY25 budget, policies, and reforms under a potential new program for the welfare of all Pakistanis," the IMF said in an e-mailed response to Reuters.

Anti-government protests were held in a mostly calm atmosphere in the early morning of May 5, as Georgians marked Orthodox Easter in a rainy capital city following three nights of mass rallies that were often met with violence by security forces.

Several thousand Georgians marked Easter with a candlelight vigil outside the parliament building late on March 4 and into the morning with no disturbances or arrests reported.

Tens of thousands of Georgians have been protesting in recent days against the ruling Georgian Dream party's plan to introduce what's been called a "Russian-style foreign agents law," which critics say mirrors one used by the Kremlin to silence dissent.

The bill states that media, nongovernmental organizations, and other nonprofits must register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding is derived from abroad.

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Explainer: Why Are Mass Protests Shaking Tbilisi?

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The government insists the law would be in line with EU standards and is only intended to increase "transparency" and prevent "harmful foreign influence" in the country's political scene.

European Union leaders say implementation of the law would adversely affect Georgia's hopes of eventual EU membership, and condemnation has also come from the United States -- the former Soviet republic's biggest backer in recent years.

SEE ALSO:

Riding Wave Of Euro Success, Georgian Footballers Join Wider Battle For Europe

Following three nights of mass protests in which more than 100 people were arrested and dozens injured, demonstrators late on May 4 gathered along Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue, blocking traffic on the capital's main road, as an Easter vigil was conducted at the Kashveti Church.

Many were holding Georgian and EU flags and singing Easter songs, while activists were seen distributing food and traditional Easter eggs and cakes.

"It is the most extraordinary Easter I have ever witnessed," activist Lika Chachua was quoted by AP as saying.

"The feeling of solidarity is overwhelming, but we should not forget about the main issue," she added, referring to the government's proposed legislation, which is likely to have its final reading in parliament on May 17.

Lawyer Lasha Tkesheladze told RFE/RL that three of his clients arrested during a May 2 rally had been released.

Tkesheladze, a member of the United National Movement, alleged that many detainees had been "inhumanely" treated and kept in isolation while in custody.

Many detainees were "abused by the police. This violence equals torture," he said.

The allegations could not be independently verified.

In at least eight cases during May 1 protests, victims claimed that, in addition to water cannons and tear gas, police also used rubber bullets. RFE/RL gathered eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence of injuries, interviewed three of the injured, and filmed the rubber bullets at the scene where they were reportedly fired.

SEE ALSO:

'Rubber Bullets And Beatings': Victims, Eyewitnesses Talk Of Violence Against Georgian Protesters

The authorities denied the use of rubber bullets.

Georgia Dream attempted to introduce the law in 2023 but was forced to back down following mass protests. It is pushing it through parliament again following minor wording changes.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has split with the government and has voiced support for peaceful protests against the legislation.

She has described the bill as "a Russian law by essence," and said the government was "prone to making concessions to Russia" and was attempting to replicate "the way Russia has managed to really repress the civil society."

SEE ALSO:

Georgian President Urges EU Support As Protesters Gather At Easter Vigil

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called the plan to reintroduce the law "a very concerning development" and warned that "final adoption of this legislation would negatively impact Georgia's progress on its EU path."

The EU in December officially granted Georgia candidate status to join the bloc. Polls have suggested that support for EU membership among Georgians last year stood at nearly 90 percent.

Russia remains a sensitive topic in Georgia. Its forces invaded Georgia in 2008 in support of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two breakaway Georgian regions that Moscow subsequently recognized as independent states.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Georgian Service and AP

Russian forces say they have claimed control over an eastern Ukrainian town whose defenses they had broken through about two weeks ago, as Russian rockets killed at least three people in eastern villages.

Kyiv had no immediate comment about Russia's claim on May 5 to have captured Ocheretyne, a town with a prewar population of about 3,700 but which has been left largely in ruins by the fighting.

If confirmed, however, it would be the latest in a series of battlefield setbacks for Ukrainian forces, who have struggled to hold back a Russian offensive while also grappling with shortages of men and ammunition.

The violence came as Ukrainian Orthodox believers marked the third Easter since the Russian invasion by gathering in Kyiv's main cathedral and other churches around the country.

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In a video posted to Telegram and his website, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to unite in prayer.

Ukrainian officials urged residents to mark Easter services online out of safety concerns.

"Ukraine is going through dark and difficult times. For the third Easter in a row, we meet during a full-scale war. But light always overcomes darkness, life overcomes death, good will overcome evil, and hope will surely overcome fear," Serhiy Popko, the head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, wrote on Telegram.

SEE ALSO:

Millions of Orthodox Christians Mark Easter Holiday

In its daily update, Russia's Defense Ministry said troops from its Center command group had taken control of the town, but it gave no further details.

Ukraine's military was buoyed by last month’s decision by the U.S. Congress to send $61 billion in weaponry and equipment. But it will take time for the guns, shells, and vehicles to start appearing on the battlefield.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Weapons Are Coming To Ukraine. But Russian Forces Have The Momentum.

A newly passed law aimed at bolstering Ukraine's troop levels is also critical, but training new soldiers will also take weeks, if not months.

To the north, Ukrainian forces are trying to blunt a Russian effort to seize the height-of-land town of Chasiv Yar.

Russian troops have entered the town's eastern outskirts and are also trying to flank the settlement. But they've been thwarted in trying to cross a major canal that separates the eastern district from the main center.

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.

In Ocheretyne, meanwhile, Russian troops were able to push through Ukrainian defenses after what some observers have called a botched troop rotation involving exhausted units.

Since April 22, open-source intelligence maps show, Russian forces have steadily pushed west and north out of the village.

Elsewhere, two people were killed overnight when Russian rockets hit their house in the village of Pokrovsk, about 40 kilometers west of Ocheretyne, according to Vadym Filashkin, the military governor of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.

Ukrainian authorities said another Russian strike, on Monachynivka in the Kharkiv region, killed an 88-year-old woman.

Ukraine's military said Russia launched two dozen kamikaze drones over multiple targets overnight. All but one were downed, the military claimed.

Russia's weeks-long bombardment of Ukrainian energy infrastructure has caused more than $1 billion in damage, the country's energy minister said, leading to blackouts in many regions.

"Today, we are talking about the amounts of losses for more than a billion dollars. But the attacks continue, and it is obvious that the losses will grow," Herman Halushchenko said in a statement on May 5.

In Washington, the White House's national-security adviser said Russia was still expected to advance further "in the coming period," because “you can't instantly flip the switch."

But, speaking to the Financial Times on May 4, Jake Sullivan also said that Kyiv would have the capacity to "hold the line" and "to ensure Ukraine withstands the Russian assault" over the course of 2024.

Ukraine intends to "to move forward to recapture the territory that the Russians have taken from them," he was quoted as saying.

With reporting by Reuters

Millions of Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter, holding vigils and attending midnight Masses to mark the Orthodox calendar's holiest day.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin joined other worshippers early on May 5 at the Russian capital's main church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, to attend services led by the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

At the service, Kirill, a staunch supporter of Putin and the war on Ukraine, prayed for the protection of the "sacred borders" of Russia, expressing hope that God would stop the "internecine strife" between Russia and Ukraine, the TASS state news agency reported.

Ukrainian Orthodox believers, meanwhile, gathered in Kyiv's main cathedral and other churches around the country to mark the holiday. In a video posted to Telegram and his website, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to unite in prayer.

"And our former neighbor, who was always trying to be our brother, is now forever distant from us," he said, referring to Russia. "He broke all the commandments, demanded our home, came to kill us. The world sees it."

"And so we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder. So with an ally such as this, life will definitely be victorious over death," he said.

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The Orthodox Church of Ukraine formally broke away from oversight of the Russian church in 2019, after decades of tensions. A smaller collection of Ukrainian Orthodox churches maintained ties to the Moscow church, but then broke those in 2022, following Russia's mass invasion of Ukraine.

The two branches have squabbled over control of major Orthodox properties and sites in the country, including one of global Orthodox's holiest sites, the Monastery of the Caves, in Kyiv.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on the eve of Easter, Metropolitan Epifaniy, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said there'd been a marked increase in the demand for chaplains to work alongside Ukrainian military units battling Russian forces.

"Of course, conditions are difficult for Ukrainians now, but we are doing everything to support Ukrainians," he said.

Millions of believers from Ukraine's Greek Catholic Church -- another smaller denomination in the country -- were also marking the Easter holiday on May 5.

Orthodox Christians follow the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar and celebrate Easter this weekend, while most Western churches, including Ukrainian Roman Catholics, observed the holiday on March 31.

Under Kirill, Russia has been clamping down on internal dissent, with one priest facing expulsion for refusing to pray to God to guide Russia to victory over Ukraine and another suspended for presiding over memorial services at the grave of Aleksei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in an Arctic prison in February.

In Georgia, which has been convulsed by days of street protests over controversial legislation, observant Georgians held their own candlelight vigils, and attended Mass in the capital, Tbilisi, and elsewhere. Thousands gathered outside of parliament on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue, which has been the focus of protests and clashes with riot police, to pray and sing liturgy late on May 4.

Unlike at mass rallies earlier in the week, which met with a heavy police response, the atmosphere was peaceful. Unarmed police officers stationed sparsely at the vigil's sidelines were given holiday foods along with the protesters.

Many Georgians were closely watching the official ceremony held by the Georgian Orthodox Church, which government officials usually attend, to hear what the church's national leader would say, and if he would make reference to the anti-government protests.

With reporting by Reuters

The Polish Foreign Ministry has joined Germany, the Czech Republic, and other countries in condemning alleged cyberattacks by the Russian APT28 group, saying it was also targeted. "Poland stands in solidarity with Germany and with [the Czech Republic] following the malicious cyber-campaign against their political parties and democratic institutions," a ministry statement said on May 4. "Given the continuous rise of the cyber-threats, Poland is committed to protecting national critical infrastructure, building resilience, and bolstering cyber-defenses." Berlin and Prague on May 3 accused Russia of conducting cyberattacks on their defense and aerospace industries and on political parties. Russia has denied involvement

Protesters who have been staging a sit-in at a key border-crossing point in southwestern Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan say that security forces have opened fire on them, killing one and injuring several more.

Sadiq Achakzai, a spokesman for the protests staged in Balochistan Province's Chaman district for months by traders and shopkeepers over new travel restrictions, told RFE/RL on May 4 that local security forces raided the demonstrators' camp and set fire to their tents while they were away.

Achakzai said that members of Pakistan's Frontier Corps "opened fire on peaceful protesters when they reentered their agitation camp."

Achakzai said one person was killed and more than a dozen were injured, and that victims were rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

Video purporting to show victims at a local hospital was posted on social media, but RFE/RL was unable to independently verify the claims.

When asked by RFE/RL about the alleged incident, Colonel Abdul Wahab, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps in Balochistan, said only that an investigation was under way.

WATCH: Unions and political parties launched the protest in the city of Chaman, near the border with Afghanistan, in October after Pakistan introduced visas between the two countries.

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Pakistani Protesters Demand Relaxed Afghan Travel Rules

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Traders have been protesting at Chaman, which borders the Afghan town of Spin Boldak, since October. They have demanded that the government rescind a new policy that requires them to present valid documents to cross the border.

In October, Pakistan unilaterally ended the century-old "Easement Rights," an arrangement that allowed members of some communities straddling the 19th-century Durand Line border to cross freely.

The policy has been heavily criticized by members of Pashtun communities on either side of the border who have complained that its has harmed their livelihoods and resulted in huge financial losses.

The Taliban's de facto government in Kabul has also criticized the policy, which has resulted in the Chaman border crossing -- the second-busiest between Pakistan and Afghanistan -- and others to be shut.

In January, talks between the Taliban and Pakistani officials to reopen the crossings broke down.

An Afghan diplomat in India, who was appointed before the Taliban seized power in 2021 and said she was the only woman in the country's diplomatic service, has resigned after being detained for allegedly smuggling gold. Zakia Wardak, the Afghan consul-general in Mumbai, announced her resignation on May 4 after Indian media reported she was briefly detained at the airport on allegations of smuggling 25 bricks of gold from Dubai. Reports said she wasn't arrested because of diplomatic immunity. Wardak said that "I am deeply sorry that as the only woman present in Afghanistan's diplomatic apparatus, instead of receiving constructive support to maintain this position, I faced waves of organized attacks aimed at destroying me."

Russia's Interior Ministry has opened a criminal investigation against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, ex-President Petro Poroshenko, and other government officials and placed them on its wanted list, Russian state media reported on May 4. The specific charges were not identified. Zelenskiy, who has led his country through Russia's full-scale invasion that began in February 2022, and Poroshenko join a long list of foreign officials placed under various criminal warrants, including many others from Ukraine and leaders from Central and Eastern Europe. Poroshenko was president from 2014-19 and said he plans to run again. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges related to the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia -- a war crime under international treaty. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

An Iranian warship equipped with drones and missiles has crossed the equator into the Southern Hemisphere, Iran's IRIB state radio reported on May 4. The report did not reveal the exact location of the Shahid Mahdavi, a converted container ship operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that was unveiled more than a year ago. This is reportedly the first time that the IRGC has sent a warship on a long-range mission. Iranian forces in February test-launched medium-range missiles capable of reaching targets at a distance of around 1,700 kilometers for the first time.

Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province plans to spend more than $25 million to boost security efforts in the restive region. Provincial government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif told RFE/RL on May 3 that "the police need more weapons and equipment" to counter the rise of militant attacks in recent months. Residents have said that the security situation has worsened significantly, particularly in the province's south. Recently elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed concern over the security situation in the province during his speech to a joint session of parliament on April 18. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

Pakistan experienced its "wettest April since 1961," receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country's weather agency has said. April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, "excessively above" the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan's meteorology department said on May 3. Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July. In 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to the World Bank.

At least six people were injured in an overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to local officials, while a Russian official said that at least five people were injured in an explosion in the city of Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on May 4 that 13 drones launched by Russia had been shot down, but regional officials said that debris caused injuries and hit critical infrastructure and commercial and residential buildings.

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Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov, writing on Telegram, said a 13-year-old child and a woman had been hospitalized due to injuries sustained in the strikes.

Emergency services were bringing a fire at an office building hit by debris under control, Synyehubov added.

Two people were reported injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Governor Serhiy Lysak. He said infrastructure and three houses were damaged.

Russia has recently intensified its attacks on the Kharkiv region, whose capital lies just 30 kilometers from the Russian border. Ukrainian troops recaptured substantial amounts of territory in the region in the fall of 2022.

Kharkiv has been targeted by Russian drones and missiles nearly every day for months, raising fears that Moscow could be planning a renewed campaign to capture it.

Major General Vadym Skibitskiy said on May 3 that Russia, which launched the full-scale invasion against Ukraine in February 2022, is trying to exploit its current advantage in weapons and manpower.

"Our problem is very simple: We have no weapons," Skibitskiy was quoted as saying in an interview with The Economist.

In Russia, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that at least five people were injured and some 30 residences damaged following an explosion in Belgorod, a city about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Some local Telegram channels suggested the explosion could have been caused by an errant Russian missile.

Kyiv did not comment on the report.

Belgorod has been hit repeatedly over the months by Ukrainian strikes. While casualties have been relatively low, the attacks have rattled local residents and caused many people to leave the city, which had a prewar population of about 333,000.

Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down four U.S.-made long-range missiles fired by Ukraine over the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula.

The claim could not be verified, but Washington has reportedly begun shipping Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Kyiv in recent weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has continued to press for the speedy delivery of promised Western military aid, singling out the need for armored vehicles, ammunition, and missiles.

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U.S. Weapons Are Coming To Ukraine. But Russian Forces Have The Momentum.

Zelenskiy has said he expects Russia to launch a major spring and summer offensive.

In April he claimed that Moscow aims to occupy the city of Chasiv Yar, a city in the eastern Donetsk region that has come under direct Russian assault, before May 9.

That is the day Russia celebrates Victory Day, in honor of the defeat of Germany in World War II.