A senior Ukrainian government official expressed "disbelief" on June 4, warning that nearly half of Kyiv's bomb shelters inspected during an initial audit were closed or unfit for use. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered an inspection of all Ukrainian shelters on June 2, a day after three people were killed in Kyiv when they were unable to access one during a Russian air strike. Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, said that out of 1,078 shelters examined on the first day, 359 were unprepared and another 122 locked, while 597 were found to be usable.

Russian authorities on June 4 called on residents of an area on the Ukrainian border to leave their homes "temporarily." The town of Shebekino in the western Belgorod region has been hit by shelling, with casualties reported. In a Telegram post on June 4, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov urged residents to cooperate with the authorities and leave the area. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

A drone was shot down in Dzhankoy in Crimea, a Russian-installed official in the region that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014 said on June 4. "There is damage to windows in several houses in a residential district" from the overnight incident, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser in the Moscow-installed administration of Crimea, posted on the Telegram messaging app. "All services are working. Official information -- in the morning," he said. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Aleksei Navalny, the Kremlin's biggest foe and Russia's most prominent political prisoner, marks his 47th birthday on June 4 in solitary confinement in prison, amid calls by supporters to use the occasion to highlight his plight.

Navalny is serving sentences that add up to 11 1/2 years for violating the terms of a parole, contempt of court, and embezzlement through fraud that he and his supporters have repeatedly rejected as politically motivated and designed to silence him.

He is currently in a punitive solitary confinement at a prison in the Vladimir region east of Moscow.

"As always, on my birthday, I want to thank all the people I've met in my life. The good ones for having helped and still helping me. The bad ones for the fact that my experience with them has taught me something. Thanks to my family for always being there for me!" Navalny wrote on Twitter.

"But the biggest thank you and biggest salute I want to give today goes to all political prisoners in Russia, Belarus, and other countries. Most of them ...have it much harder than me. I think about them all the time. Their resilience inspires me every day," he added.

Navalny has been in prison since February 2021 following his arrest one month earlier after he returned from Germany, where he was treated for a near-fatal poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin, which has denied any involvement.

He and his team have said the charges against him are trumped up for his efforts to expose corruption in the Russian government.

WATCH: Russia's most famous political prisoner spends most of his time in a 2.5-by-3-meter isolation cell. Supporters of Aleksei Navalny have created a traveling exhibition complete with a mock-up of the cell.

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In Jail With Navalny: Mock-Up Shows Conditions In Russian Prison

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A Moscow court has set a June 6 date for a hearing for a new trial for Navalny on a charge of extremism, which could keep him in prison for 30 years. He also said an investigator told him that he would also face a separate military court trial on terrorism charges that potentially carry a life sentence.

On June 2, Navalny released excerpts of his correspondence with prison administrators detailing sarcastic demands for outlandish things such as a bottle of moonshine and a pet kangaroo.

Prison officials denied all of his requests, according to the correspondence, often in stilted, bureaucratic Russian.

"When you are sitting in a punishment isolation cell and have little entertainment, you can have fun with correspondence with the administration," Navalny said on Twitter in a series of tweets posted on June 2, apparently by his team.

Among the items he requested was a megaphone to be given to the prisoner in a nearby cell "so he can yell even louder." Another was a request for an inmate who "killed a man with his bare hands" to be awarded with the highest rank in karate.

"The question of awarding eastern martial-arts qualifications is not handled by the administration," the prison wrote back on April 28.

Prison officials also turned down requests for moonshine, tobacco for rolling cigarettes, a balalaika, and the kangaroo.

In response to his wish for a pet kangaroo, the prison wrote: "The animal identified in your request relates to the double-crested marsupial.... Your request is left without satisfaction."

In mock outrage over the refusal, Navalny said he would continue to fight for his "inalienable right to own a kangaroo." The politician said inmates can have a pet if the prison administration allows it.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack in northwestern Pakistan that left two soldiers and two militants dead. The army said in a statement that militants opened fire on a security checkpoint in the evening on June 3 in the Jani Khel area of Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, leading to a shoot-out with Pakistani troops. A search operation was under way to track the militants behind the attack. To read the original story by AP, click here.

A 2-year-old child was killed in a Russian air strike on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, while air defenses in the capital of Kyiv repelled a wave of Russian drones and missiles, Ukrainian officials said on June 4.

The Russian military strike late on June 3 on a residential district of Dnipro also left 22 people -- including five children -- injured, according to Serhiy Lysak, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.

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In a post on Telegram, Lysak said the attack damaged a pair of two-story buildings, as well as 10 homes, a shop, and a gas pipeline.

Russian air strikes over Ukraine have increased in recent weeks amid expectations that Ukrainian forces will soon launch a much-anticipated counteroffensive to reclaim territory lost since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in published remarks on June 3 that Ukrainian forces were ready for the counteroffensive.

He later condemned Russia for the air strike on Dnipro.

"Once again, Russia proves it is a terrorist state. The Russians will bear responsibility for everything committed against our state and people," Zelenskiy said in a post late on June 3 on Facebook.

Zelenskiy said on June 4 that Russia's war, now in its 16th month, had killed at least 500 Ukrainian children.

He said in a statement that "Russian weapons and hatred, which continue to take and destroy the lives of Ukrainian children every day," killed the hundreds who had perished since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started on February 24, 2022.

Elsewhere, Russia launched a wave of air attacks on Ukraine early on June 4, with air-defense systems successfully targeting all missiles and drones heading toward Kyiv.

"According to preliminary information, not a single air target reached the capital," Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said.

Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat later told local television that four of six cruise missiles had been shot down by air defenses but that two had struck an "operational airfield" near the central city of Kropyvnytskiy.

He added that two of the five Iranian-made drones launched by Russia had struck infrastructure in the northern Sumy region.

Meanwhile, the General Staff said in its daily report on June 4 that Russian invading forces had carried out two unsuccessful operations around Bakhmut and launched several air strikes and artillery shelling on nearby villages.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia's mercenary Wagner Group, said on June 3 that 99 percent of his fighters had left Bakhmut after their monthslong assault in the war's longest and bloodiest battle.

Ukraine said late last month that fighting had eased in the area, but General Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of the ground forces, said on June 3 that Ukrainian forces continued their fight there.

"The enemy continues to suffer significant losses in the Bakhmut direction," Syrskiy said on Telegram after what he said was a visit to troops around Bakhmut. "Defense forces continue to fight. We will win."

Zelenskiy told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on June 3 that Ukrainian forces were ready to launch their counteroffensive, cautioning it could take some time and be costly.

SEE ALSO:

Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Ready To Launch Its Long-Awaited Counteroffensive

"We strongly believe that we will succeed," Zelenskiy said. "I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready," he added.

Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian Army had not received "all the weapons it hoped for, but we can't wait any longer."

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the center of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on June 3 for the fifth anti-government protest in recent weeks.

The protests were sparked by two mass shootings in early May that left 18 people dead and several wounded. Half of those killed were students at a Belgrade elementary school. That shooting was carried out by a 13-year-old student.

Protesters, marching under the slogan "Serbia against violence," accuse the government of fanning a culture of violence, as well as an atmosphere of hopelessness and division, in the country through state media outlets.

"The fact that you young people have taken to the streets with a clear message that you will no longer live in this diseased society gives hope that maybe we will lift ourselves up," popular actor Dragan Bjelogrlic told the rally.

They have demanded the revocation of the broadcasting licenses of television and radio outlets that promote violence, as well as the closure of government newspapers that have urged violence against political dissidents. They have called for the resignations of all the members of the regulatory agency that oversees broadcast media.

Protesters have also demanded the resignations of the interior minister, Bratislav Gasic, and the head of the national intelligence agency, Aleksandar Vulin.

The rally began outside the Serbian parliament building, after which protesters marched to the president's office. Organizers urged demonstrators to write messages to President Aleksandar Vucic, which were to be collected and presented to him.

Protesters also laid flowers outside the presidential office complex.

Opposition critics have accused Vucic, 53, of drifting toward authoritarianism for years, using harsh measures to fragment the opposition and exercising firm control over state media.

Vucic has dismissed the protests as a "publicity stunt" and has alleged without proof that they have been orchestrated by "foreign powers."

After the shootings, the government boosted the police presence in schools and urged the public to hand over weapons.

Education Minister Branko Ruzic later resigned.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on June 3 protested to the government of Hungary over an official video that used a map of Ukraine that did not include the Russian-occupied region of Crimea. The complaint called the incident a "provocation" and demanded that Hungary fulfill its commitment as a member of the UN, the European Union, and NATO to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. Hungary, which published the video on May 30, has not responded to Kyiv's protest. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.

Three Europeans returned home on June 3, a day after being released by Iran in a prisoner swap, and Tehran said there was no reason for Europeans to be arrested if they were not "exploited" by foreign security services. The three men -- two with dual Austrian-Iranian nationality and one Dane -- were released on June 2 by Iran in return for Iranian diplomat Asadollah Assadi as part of a swap in which Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele last week, a Belgian government spokesperson said. Assadi was convicted in Belgium in 2021 in connection with a foiled bomb plot in France and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Iran said the charges against him were fabricated. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he met South Korea's defense minister on June 3 to discuss Ukraine's needs for ammunition. The meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top security summit, came amid pressure from the United States and NATO countries for South Korea to provide weapons and ammunition for Ukraine. "Good meeting with Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup at #SLD23. Shared alarm at continued DPRK provocations and discussed Ukraine's needs for ammunition," Borrell wrote on Twitter. A U.S. ally and major producer of artillery ammunition, South Korea had so far ruled out sending lethal aid to Ukraine, citing business ties with Russia and Moscow's influence over North Korea, despite mounting pressure from Washington and Europe to supply weapons. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Turkey will send a battalion as reinforcements for the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR in Kosovo, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on June 3. A "reserve force" is scheduled to arrive on June 4 and 5, the ministry said. The unit has previously served under KFOR, it added. The deployment comes amid recently escalating tensions in the tiny Balkan country's north. Ankara urges restraint on both sides in "brotherly Kosovo" to help resolve the conflict that has "damaged regional stability," the Turkish statement read. Turkey has traditionally had good relations with predominantly Muslim Kosovo. There were serious clashes over the past week in northern Kosovo involving local Serbs and NATO soldiers.

Iran's navy commander said his country and Saudi Arabia, as well as three other Persian Gulf states, plan to form a naval alliance that will also include India and Pakistan, Iranian media reported on June 3. "The countries of the region have today realized that only cooperation with each other brings security to the area," Iranian naval commander Shahram Irani was quoted as saying. He did not elaborate on the shape of the alliance that he said would be formed soon. Iran has recently been trying to mend its strained ties with several Persian Gulf Arab states. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran ended seven years of hostility under a China-mediated deal, stressing the need for regional stability and economic cooperation. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says his country is ready to launch its much-anticipated counteroffensive to liberate territory occupied by Russian forces while warning that it could take some time and be costly.

"We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelenskiy said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on June 3.

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"I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready,” he added.

Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian Army had not received "all the weapons it hoped for, but we can't wait any longer."

Zelenskiy said last month his country needed more weaponry, including armored vehicles, before it could launch its long-awaited counteroffensive.

The Ukrainian president has been pushing for more military aid and weapons from Western countries.

Russia has captured Ukrainian territory in the east, south, and southeast.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine urgently needed more U.S.- made Patriot missile-defense systems to protect its citizens from Russian air strikes and to shield troops fighting on the front lines.

He said a lack of protection from Russian aerial attacks means "a large number of soldiers will die”" in the counteroffensive.

Separately, Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov told Reuters on June 3 that the goal of an "unprecedented" wave of Russian missile and drone attacks across the country in recent weeks was to stop the counteroffensive.

SEE ALSO:

Air Defense: Ukraine Parries As Russia Seeks To Slow Counteroffensive With New Surge Of Attacks

Speaking on the sidelines of a top security conference in Singapore, Havrylov called Russia's heavy use of ballistic missiles in May a "last strategic resort" and said that his country's air-defense systems had been "more than 90 percent effective" against the attacks.

Meanwhile, Kremlin-connected Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who controls the notorious Wagner mercenary group, said on June 3 that Kremlin factions were weakening the state by trying to undermine him.

In a message posted by his press service, Prigozhin accused unnamed officials in the Russian elite of "playing dangerous games," adding that they had "opened Pandora's box."

Prigozhin repeated his past criticisms of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov, saying that the Defense Ministry was "not in a state to do anything at all."

With reporting by Reuters

A rapid inspection of Ukraine's air-raid shelters on June 3 has found that nearly one-quarter of them were either locked or unusable.

The Interior Ministry reported that "over 4,800" shelters had been inspected and 252 were found to be locked, while 893 were deemed "unfit for use."

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In a post on Telegram the same day, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the authorities had received "more than 1,000" complaints from the public about locked or inadequate air-raid shelters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered the audit of all of Ukraine's air-raid shelters after a 9-year-old girl, her mother, and another woman were killed by falling fragments of a missile after being unable to enter a Kyiv shelter that was reportedly locked during a Russian attack.

The deaths caused a public outcry.

Zelenskiy said on June 1 he had ordered the industries minister and his interior minister to conduct a "full audit of bomb shelters."

Police opened a criminal investigation into the three deaths near a medical clinic in the Desnyan district of Kyiv amid intensified Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of May.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said four people were detained in connection with the closed shelter of a medical facility. They face criminal charges.

In a video message released late on June 1, Zelenskiy said shelters "must be kept accessible. Never again should we see a repeat of the situation that occurred last night in Kyiv."

He suggested local authorities could be prosecuted for failing to make shelters available to residents.

"If this duty is not fulfilled at the local level, it is the direct duty of law enforcement bodies to prosecute,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video message.

SEE ALSO:

Air Defense: Ukraine Parries As Russia Seeks To Slow Counteroffensive With New Surge Of Attacks

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said his government will make sure those who put people are risk due to "their negligence" will be punished.

"The punishment will be severe so that such egregious cases do not happen again," Shmyhal said on June 1.

Officials said they were also auditing shelters in Lviv, Vinnytsya, and Mykolayiv in southern Ukraine.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fiercely defended sending aid to Ukraine after protesters shouted at him during a speech at a gathering of his party in Falkensee near Berlin. The protesters shouted phrases such as "warmongers" and "Create peace without weapons" during Scholz’s speech on June 2. Scholz shouted back, telling the disruptors that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the true warmonger and if they "had any sense" they would be shouting at him. Scholz also made clear that he sees no alternative to supporting Ukraine, not just in principle but also with weapons, given Russia's full-scale invasion.

Family members of Russian President Vladimir Putin quietly acquired several plots of real estate in Moscow’s tony western suburbs near his residence, where a series of luxury homes have been built, a new investigation found.

The findings, by the Russian news site Proyekt, were the latest documenting what some experts believe is a vast, secretive, and lucrative network of assets linked to Putin, his allies, and his family.

Putin officially earns an annual salary of around $140,000, while his publicly declared assets include a 75-meter foot apartment, a trailer, and three cars. But some analysts estimate his wealth -- hidden behind complex financial schemes organized by close associates -- at some $200 billion or more.

In its report released on June 1, Proyekt found that, in 2006, several plots of land near the official government residence of Novo-Ogaryovo, where Putin lives much of the time, were acquired by offshore companies based in Panama and elsewhere.

Putin’s two daughters from his now ex-wife Lyudmila later received the real estate as a form of dowry, Proyekt said.

Putin’s eldest daughter, Maria, settled in one of the locations. Maria, who has used the surname Vorontsova, was married to a Dutch man for several years, though they reportedly have since split and she remarried a Russian oil and gas executive.

Kirill Shamalov, the now ex-husband of Putin’s other daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, reportedly received title to another plot, Proyekt said, not long after he and Tikhonova married in 2013. The couple then conducted extensive renovations on the property worth millions of euros.

Among the refurbished house’s decorations were a handmade gilded chandelier with an estimated value of 72,000 euros ($77,576) and a 19th century painting by revered Russian artist Ivan Shishkin, Proyekt said.

Another plot that was titled to Shamalov was expected to have a house built on it for Lyudmila Putin. She and Putin announced in 2013 that they were ending their marriage, and she later remarried.

According to Proyekt’s findings, in 2013, Shamalov sent a power of attorney regarding the plot to the man whom Lyudmila ultimately remarried.

Shamalov and Tikhonova later separated, and Shamalov has since been hit with financial sanctions starting in 2018 by the United States, Britain, and other countries, for his close ties to Putin.

Shamalov then transferred ownership of the plots he owned to a firm allegedly associated with Arkady Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Putin and billionaire businessman.

Shamalov reportedly sold the properties for significantly less than their estimated land values, Prokyekt said.

Putin’s wealth and assets have been the subject of numerous investigations by Western governments, reporters, and other researchers.

Researchers at Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation have documented a massive mansion on the Black Sea that Putin uses regularly.

And the 2016 “Panama Papers” report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, found luxuries linked to Putin and his friends and families, including yachts and real estate inside and outside of Russia.

Imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny on June 2 released excerpts of his correspondence with prison administrators, detailing sarcastic demands for outlandish things such as a bottle of moonshine and a pet kangaroo.

Prison officials denied all of his requests, according to the correspondence often in stilted bureaucratic Russian.

Navalny, 46, is serving sentences that add up to 11 1/2 years for violating the terms of a parole, contempt of court, and embezzlement through fraud that he and his supporters have repeatedly rejected as politically motivated and designed to silence him.

He is currently in a punitive solitary confinement at a penal colony in the Vladimir region east of Moscow.

“When you are sitting in a punishment isolation cell and have little entertainment, you can have fun with correspondence with the administration,” Navalny said on Twitter in a series of tweets posted on June 2 apparently by his team.

Among the items he requested was a megaphone to be given to the prisoner in a nearby cell “so he can yell even louder.” Another was a request for an inmate who “killed a man with his bare hands” to be awarded with the highest rank in karate.

"The question of awarding eastern martial arts qualifications is not handled by the administration," the prison wrote back on April 28.

Prison officials also turned down requests for moonshine, tobacco for rolling cigarettes, a balalaika, and the kangaroo.

In response to his wish for a pet kangaroo, the prison wrote: "The animal identified in your request relates to the double crested-marsupial.... Your request is left without satisfaction."

In mock outrage over the refusal, Navalny said he would continue to fight for his “inalienable right to own a kangaroo." The politician said inmates can have a pet if the prison administration allows it.

Navalny will mark his 47th birthday on June 4, and there have been calls by his team for protests to support him.

Navalny has been in prison since February 2021 following his arrest one month earlier after he returned from Germany where he was treated for a near-fatal poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin, which has denied any involvement.

He and his team have said the charges against him are were trumped-up because of his efforts to expose corruption in the Russian government.

A Moscow court has set a June 6 date for a hearing for a new trial for Navalny on a charge of extremism, which could keep him in prison for 30 years. He also said an investigator told him that he would also face a separate military court trial on terrorism charges that potentially carry a life sentence.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Security personnel at a university in southwestern Iran appear to have severely assaulted a student, the latest in a series of violent attacks on school campuses amid anti-government protests led by young Iranians angered at the regime's intrusions on their rights.

The incident took place on May 30 at Chamran University in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, where a video shows several security personnel cornering and severely assaulting a student near the university dormitory.

The Union Council of Iranian Students reported the incident, sharing a video of the attack on June 2.

"According to numerous reports, on May 30, security agents for Chamran University in Ahvaz attacked a male student after a football match, beat him, and then took him away in a car," the council said.

As of June 2, no information has been made available about the condition of the student who was assaulted.

The incident comes days after a a video was released showing a female student being injured when someone pulled a knife on her at Tehran’s Soore University and another on the campus of Kerman University in central Iran where a female student was stabbed.

The Union Council said that in the Kerman University attack, security forces failed to intervene to aid the student, who was rescued instead by other students. The woman who was attacked was seriously injured and is currently in the intensive care unit at a local hospital.

It added that security forces have since tried to "cover up" the incident and "have not accepted any responsibility for it."

Iranian universities have become a hotbed for unrest since the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran. The 22-year-old died while in police custody for an alleged violation of the country's mandatory head-scarf law.

Police have tried to shift the blame onto Amini's health, but supporters say witnesses saw her being beaten when taken into custody. Her family says she had no history of any medical issues and was in good health.

There have been clashes at universities and schools between protesters and the authorities, prompting security forces to launch a series of raids on education facilities across the country, violently arresting students, especially female students, who have defiantly taken off their head scarves, or hijabs, in protest.

The Union Council blasted campus authorities for pushing security officers to focus on enforcing dress codes "lest a strand of hair disgrace the university," instead of ensuring safety.

Another group, the Student Guild Council, noted that since the student protests started, "increasing the budget, increasing power, and an extensive recruitment for the university’s security office" have become the main focus of school administrators.

Meanwhile, it says there has also been an influx of people, thought to be security agents, "in civilian clothes roaming universities, taking pictures of students, and engaging with them" as officials try to enforce the hijab law.

The situation has prompted some to say these attacks are intentional and a scare tactic being used to intimidate students so they will end their protests.

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

Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka skipped the post-match press conference at the French Open on June 2, citing mental health reasons. After defeating Russian Kamilla Rakhimova, the world No. 2 instead released an interview with the tournament organizers in which she said she had not felt safe at a press conference two days earlier during which she was asked about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and her country's role as a staging ground for Moscow's troops and weapons. Sabalenka said that her choice not to take part in the press conference was supported by the French Open organizers. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The popular online Tatar language school Ana Tele (The Mother Tongue) has announced its closure as of June 30. The Education Ministry in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan explained on June 2 that the closure is linked to the international Education First (EF) group's decision to leave Russia. The online school was launched in 2013 on the order of the president of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov. Hosted by the EF's website, the online school had more than 100,000 users from Russia's regions and various countries who registered to study Tatar, which is a Turkic language. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service. click here.

Protesters have again gathered in front of municipal buildings in several cities in northern Kosovo as Western diplomats ratchet up pressure on Pristina to hold fresh elections to defuse tensions over the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors that sparked clashes between ethnic Serbs and NATO peacekeepers earlier this week.

The ethnic Albanian mayors were installed with the help of Kosovar police in three towns with overwhelming ethnic Serbian majorities -- Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok -- following by-elections in April with a turnout of under 3.5 percent amid a boycott by ethnic Serbs.

Reports from the towns said hundreds had showed up to protest again, though the situation remained calm four days after violence flared -- injuring dozens, including peacekeepers -- when the new officials were brought to their offices with the help of special police units. NATO's KFOR peacekeeping troops have since erected a cordon to keep ethnic Serb protesters from accessing the buildings.

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The presidents of Kosovo and Serbia held talks on measures to lower tensions between the Balkan neighbors late on June 1, and sources told RFE/RL that the Special Representative of the European Union (EU) for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and the American envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, will visit Pristina and Belgrade next week to push for a diplomatic solution.

The president of Kosovo confirmed that the European Union, France, and Germany have all suggested holding new elections in four municipalities in as a means of defusing tensions over the forced installation of ethnic-Albanian mayors.

So far, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has appeared to be against fresh elections, but on June 2 he acknowledged that another vote could happen at some point.

"Removing violent mobs in front of municipality buildings & full implementation of the [Brussels] Agreement is the way toward de-escalation until new elections," he said, referring to a 2013 deal struck by the country in Brussels to normalize relations some five years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

SEE ALSO:

Kosovo 'Tactical Game' Is A Strategic Blunder, Security Expert Charles Kupchan Warns Amid Balkan Violence

But later, in a speech at parliament, Kurti seemed to fan the flames by blaming the escalation of the situation on Serbia.

"The escalation of the situation on May 29 was planned, well-organized and had an author," Kurti told lawmakers in parliament.

"The author is official Belgrade," he added.

That prompted an immediate response by the Serb minority political party Serbian List (Srpska Lista).

"How much of a farce is everything that Kurti said today in the assembly, and the fact that he labeled honorable people, women, disabled people, and even some who are in the hospital, and have not been in the north of Kosovo for weeks now, as criminals and protest organizers," the party said.

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Kosovo, Serbia Blame Each Other For Tensions At EU Summit

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The by-elections at the center of the current unrest were sparked by mass resignations in November 2022 by influential Serbian mayors, police, and other officials essential to the "parallel system" that helps local Serbs avoid recognizing Kosovar institutions.

The mayoral buildings in all but North Mitrovica have been controlled for years by the so-called "parallel" institutions run by Serbs and backed by neighboring Serbia, which 15 years after Kosovo's declaration of independence still doesn't recognize its former province's sovereignty. Neither do Russia or China.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic used a major rally in Belgrade last week to condemn Kosovo's swearing-in of ethnic Albanian "alleged mayors" in the north without local Serbs' votes.

Officials in neighboring Serbia have demanded as part of EU- and U.S.-mediated talks over the past decade that Pristina fulfill the 2013 Brussels Agreement to establish an association of Serb municipalities to represent the majority-Serb communities.

Kurti came to power in 2020 and again in 2021 pledging to impose greater “reciprocal” measures on Serbia and accelerate efforts to achieve full international recognition for his country. He has resisted forming the association.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Kosovar and Serbian leaders to ease tensions, warning they were putting their aspirations of European integration at risk.

A group of citizens in the western Iranian city of Abdanan, took to the streets chanting anti-government slogans on June 1 to protest the suspicious death of 21-year-old student Bamshad Suleimankhani. Several protesters were injured when security forces opened fire on them, local sources reported.

Suleimankhani reportedly died earlier this week following his release from prison. Authorities said he had committed suicide.

According to videos shared on social media, protesters chanted slogans such as "Death to Khamenei," a reference to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They also blocked some streets of Abdanan by setting fires and continued their protest with slogans like " We don't want a child-murdering government.”

The Twitter account "Voice of Shahrivar," which covers protests in Iran, reported hours before the night protests in Abdanan that the seventh-day memorial service for the “government murder" of Bamshad Suleimankhani, who died “after continuous threats by government institutions” was attended by many of the city’s residents.

The human rights website Hengaw reported that security forces and special units had attacked protesters in Abdanan, firing "live ammunition, pellet guns, and tear gas."

Images and videos from the protests appear to show that several demonstrators were injured by the pellet guns of security forces during the protests on June 1. Dozens of security forces and special unit vehicles were reportedly stationed in the main square of Abdanan and various streets of the city in the late hours of June 1. However, reports said protests continued in different neighborhoods of the city.

Issa Baziar, a civil activist from Abdanan who now resides outside the country, said on Twitter on May 28 that Suleimankhani returned home on May 26, “with signs of beating and cigarette burns on his hand, and due to severe injuries, he fell into a coma that night and his death was announced by doctors on May 28."

Baziar said Suleimankhani had received “serious warnings” from security forces. He also said that Suleimankhani’s family have been threatened by authorities and warned not to speak to the media.

Judicial and law enforcement officials in Abdanan in Ilam Province did not provide any explanation about the manner of Suleimankhani's death until the start of a strike by some merchants in the city, the widespread presence of people marking a week since his death, and the beginning of nighttime protests in Abdanan.

Speaking on June 1, Omran Ali Mohammad, the head of the Ilam Province judiciary, was quoted by the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as saying that Suleimankhani died as a result of “suicide.”

Mohammad said that the student “had not been accused or summoned by any law enforcement, military and security institutions, or the judiciary of Ilam Province."

Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran.

According to the Human Rights Activists Organization, more than 750 students have been arrested by security forces, mostly by kidnapping accompanied by assault and battery in the streets around universities amid the nationwide antiestablishment protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September.

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

European governments confirmed on June 2 that one Danish and two Austrian-Iranian citizens have been released by Iran after mediation efforts by Oman and Belgium.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing "satisfaction" with the release of Kamran Ghaderi and Massud Mossaheb, confirming that the two men were returning to their homeland.

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Twitter he was “very relieved” that Ghaderi and Mossaheb were released after years “of arduous imprisonment” in Iran.

“They are already on their way to Austria, where their families are eagerly waiting for them,” Schallenberg said.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said earlier that he had informed the governments of Denmark and Austria about the release of the prisoners, which came a week after Tehran freed a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was convicted on terrorism charges.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry also praised Belgium and Oman for their role in the release and called the years of detention in Iran "excruciating."

Ghaderi was jailed for more than seven years and Mossaheb more than four years. Both men had been tried and convicted on espionage charges.

The identity of the Danish national who was released was not disclosed.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he was "pleased" at his return to his home country and to his family but said he could not name the man because it was "personal" and it was not possible to give further details.

A Belgian government statement said the Danish citizen was arrested in the autumn of 2022 in the midst of nationwide protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody for an alleged infraction of the country's mandatory head-scarf law.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said on September 30 that it had identified and detained people it called "seditious" and "destructive agents," including nine foreign nationals at the scene of or behind the scenes of the recent protests.

Neither the Austrian Foreign Ministry nor the Danish Foreign Ministry elaborated on the manner of support of the Belgian government or on the role of Oman. However, the release of the three Europeans came five days after Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit.

Oman also played a role in negotiations that resulted in Iran and Belgium exchanging two prisoners last week.

The swap involved Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian aid worker jailed in Iran, and Asadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat imprisoned in Belgium.

Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year in connection with a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, outside Paris in June 2018. Tehran considers the NCRI a terrorist group and has called the Paris attack plot a "false flag" move by the group.

The NCRI called the release of Assadi a "shameful ransom to terrorism and hostage-taking."

Western countries have repeatedly charged that Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage and then using them in prisoner swaps.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian says "in its war with Ukraine, we are not Russia's ally." In an interview with CNN Prima News in Prague, broadcast late on June 1, Pashinian said Armenia's membership in Russia-led groupings creates the opinion in the West that Yerevan is Moscow's ally, while Russian authorities understand that Armenia is not their ally in the war against Ukraine. "So, in this situation, we are nobody's ally," Pashinian said, adding that it is difficult for Yerevan to continue to maneuver between the West and Moscow as the situation gets "more complicated." To read the original story by RFE/RL's Armenian Service, click here.

Police in Russia have warned activists of possible repercussions for their participation in nationwide rallies to support jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, scheduled for June 4, his birthday. Anton Kartavin, a municipal lawyer in Novosibirsk, and local activist Irina Selishcheva were detained for questioning on June 2 and handed written warnings about the consequences for taking part in "extremist activities." Kartavin said he had nothing to do with the planned rallies. Meanwhile, blogger Sergei Veselov in the city of Shuya was charged with violating regulations for holding public events over his announcement of rallies on his Telegram channel. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.