The United States will provide depleted uranium tank ammunition to Ukraine as part of a $175 million aid package, the Pentagon said on September 6. The 120-millimeter rounds are for the U.S. M1 Abrams, the Pentagon said, referring to tanks that Washington has promised to Kyiv. The density of uranium -- about 1.7 times that of lead -- helps such ammunition punch through heavy armor. But depleted uranium is controversial due to its association with health problems such as cancer and birth defects, though the munitions have not been definitively proved as the cause.

Moldova's energy minister says the government will propose that Moldovagaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom, pay the Russian gas giant $8.6 million to settle a debt that Gazprom says is more than $700 million.

Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said the government would propose paying the $8.6 million, an amount he said was “arrived at following a complex estimate” and after an international audit that disputed Russia’s claim that Moldovagaz owed $709 million.

The audit showed that there was no documentation for some of the debt and another portion of the debt was considered expired because it had accumulated over a long time while not being periodically reconfirmed by Gazprom.

The audit also found that the Moldovan government can demand compensation for Gazprom’s decision in October 2022 to reduce the volumes of natural gas delivered to Moldova in violation of its contract.

The audit conducted by Forensic Risk Alliance of Britain and Wikborg Rein of Norway detailed "significant discrepancies" in the amount allegedly owed to Gazprom, the Moldovan government said in a statement on September 6.

It found that Moldovagaz, which is 50 percent owned by Gazprom and 36.6 percent by the Moldovan government, could insist that most of the alleged $709 million in debt be written off.

"Citizens of the Republic of Moldova should not bear the burden of nonexistent debts to Gazprom," Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said in the statement.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu was quoted last week as saying that the audit had disproved Gazprom's claim that the Moldovan government owes it hundreds of millions of dollars.

SEE ALSO:

The Kremlin Is Threatening To Turn Off Moldova's Gas. Pro-Russia Separatists Are Blamed For Running Up The Energy Bill.

Gazprom said it "categorically disagrees with the Moldovan side's assertions and intends to continue defending its rights by all possible means."

The auditors’ conclusions "cannot in any way affect the amount and validity of the said debt," Gazprom said on Telegram, insisting it was confirmed in "documents regularly signed by Gazprom and Moldovagaz."

Moldova previously received Russian gas through its separatist region of Transdniester and through Ukraine, but Moscow cut deliveries after its invasion of Ukraine.

The audit also found that the Moldovan government can demand compensation for Gazprom’s decision in October 2022 to reduce the volumes of natural gas delivered to Moldova in violation of its contract.

Moldova and Gazprom in October 2021 extended their gas contract by five years after a bitter standoff over a hike in gas prices. At that time, Gazprom and its Moldovan subsidiary said it had accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that had to be repaid to ensure further stable supplies.

With reporting by AFP

Heavy rains pounded areas across the Black and Aegean sea regions, leaving at least four people dead in southeastern Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Interior Ministry said on September 6 that two men and a woman in the municipality of Tsarevo, 50 kilometers south of the Black Sea city of Burgas.

Tsarevo Mayor Georgi Lapchev identified the two women as the president of the regional court in Tsarevo, Maria Moskova, and her daughter, Daniela Yordanova, a veterinarian.

The two were traveling in a car that fell into a river after a bridge collapsed and the rushing water dragged the vehicle into the sea.

The rains dumped unusually large volumes of water on the region, swamping rivers, flooding two dams, sweeping away bridges and triggering landslides. TV footage showed cars and camper vans being swept out to the Black Sea.

Tsarevo is a popular holiday destination in Bulgaria, known for its small seaside villages, beaches, and a natural park.

A police spokesperson told the BTA news agency that there were numerous reports of flooded buildings, and electricity in Tsarevo had been cut off in flooded areas as a safety precaution.

Visiting the flooded areas on September 5, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov pledged government compensation for flooded areas.

• RFE/RL
• AP

Cars and camping caravans were sent into the sea as flooding from torrential rain inundated homes, hotels, and a campsite in Bulgaria. Authorities say at least two people died and they are still searching for a mother and child who were swept away.

The heavy rainstorms also affected neighboring Greece and Turkey with at least 11 people reported dead in the three countries, including Bulgaria.

A flood at a campsite in Turkey's Kirklareli Province, near the border with Bulgaria, killed at least four people and carried away bungalow homes, the Associated Press reported. Rescuers were still searching for two people reported missing at the campsite.

Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, was also hit by torrential rains, sending walls of water rushing through some districts. Authorities say at least two people died.

In Greece, a record rainfall caused at least two deaths near the central city of Volos and three people were reported missing.

With reporting by AP and AFP.

Ukrainian officials said at least 17 people were killed and many others wounded in a Russian missile strike on a busy market in the eastern city of Kostyantynivka, sparking immediate condemnation from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the United Nations, and Kyiv's allies.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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A video of the attack, posted on social media by Ukrainian officials, showed people falling in the streets in the area where the missile hit in the industrial city, which is near Bakhmut and the front line of the war.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 17 people died and 32 were injured, adding that the search and rescue operation had been completed. Zelenskiy said a child was among the dead.

"This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible," Zelenskiy said, describing the missile strike as a deliberate attack on a "peaceful city."

Denise Brown, the UN's humanitarian envoy for Ukraine, denounced the attack as "despicable," and the European Union condemned it as "heinous and barbaric."

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said these "brutal Russian attacks" underscore the importance of continuing to support the people of Ukraine.

The attack came during an unannounced visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with top Ukrainian officials in Kyiv as he pledged U.S. support for Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive and “what it needs for the long term.”

Blinken announced new aid for Ukraine totaling more than $1 billion, including over $665 million in military and civilian security assistance and millions of dollars in support for Ukraine's air defenses and other areas.

"We will continue to stand by Ukraine's side," Blinken told reporters at a press conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The U.S. State Department said Blinken's visit was intended to demonstrate the United States’ "unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy, especially in the face of Russia’s aggression."

Unnamed U.S. officials told reporters traveling with Blinken that he would also announce a new military aid package of between $175 million and $200 million, with another, larger package expected to be announced later this week.

WARNING: This gallery contains graphic content.

• RFE/RL
• AP

An Associated Press photographer captured the horrific scene following a deadly Russian missile attack that struck a busy market in the center of Kostyantynivka, in eastern Ukraine, on September 6. WARNING: This gallery contains graphic content.

Blinken, who traveled to Kyiv by train, met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during the journey, according to a State Department spokesman, who said Blinken thanked Frederiksen for Denmark's offer to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and for promising to donate the jets to Kyiv.

In a speech to Ukraine's parliament, Frederiksen told lawmakers that the world was in awe of Ukrainians' "incredible strength" and their "will never to give in" in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022.

"Your fight is our fight," she said.

After arriving, Blinken laid a wreath at a Kyiv cemetery commemorating members of the Ukrainian armed forces killed while defending the country, according to press reports.

“We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long-term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent,” Blinken said in Kyiv. speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

“We’re also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, strong democracy.”

The trip is Blinken’s fourth to Ukraine since Russia launched its ful-scale invasion.

Ukraine is in the third month of a major counteroffensive against Russia forces that it hopes will decisively shift the momentum of the war.

SEE ALSO:

'Ukraine Has Retaken The Initiative From The Enemy,' Says Former Top NATO Officer

While Ukrainian forces have made some progress in the southern Zaporizhzhiya region, and in the eastern Donetsk region, the advances have been small. Some of Ukraine’s Western backers have expressed frustration at the slow pace of the offensive.

Ahead of the visit, Russia again targeted the Ukrainian capital with cruise missiles. In a post on Telegram, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said air defenses shot down the missiles, and there were no casualties or damage to the city in the early morning attack.

In Izmayil, a Danube River port southwest of Odesa, at least one person was killed in Russian drone attacks that lasted for three hours. Oleh Kiper, the region’s governor, said on Telegram.

The port and some connected agricultural infrastructure had also been damaged, he said.

Izmayil borders NATO member Romania, which has become a major route for Ukrainian grain and agricultural shipments out of the country following Russia's withdrawal in July from a United Nations deal that had allowed maritime shipments of Ukrainian products via the Black Sea.

Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine's Odesa and Mykolayiv regions in recent weeks as talks on reviving the deal continue.

Blinken’s meetings with Ukrainian officials were also expected to touch on alternative export routes for Ukrainian grain.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials complained that Russian drones had hit Romanian territory, a claim that Bucharest later “categorically denied.”

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on September 5 that the attacks had taken place "very, very close" to his country's border.

Blinken’s trip to Kyiv was his first since September 2022, and comes with Zelenskiy trying to tamp down concerns that his government was not doing enough to root out some of the endemic corruption Ukraine has grappled with for years.

SEE ALSO:

Amid Corruption Scandals And Mounting Problems, Ukraine Vows To Shake Up The Military Enlistment System. It's A Tough Task.

Anti-corruption activists and some lawmakers have raised questions about weapons contracts and procurement procedures. Some lawmakers in the United States, Ukraine’s biggest donor of military equipment, have voiced concerns.

Last month, Zelenskiy dismissed the heads of all military recruitment centers, amid questions of draft-eligible-age men being illegally allowed to leave the country. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister also resigned after facing allegations of corruption.

Earlier this week, Zelenskiy sacked Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who has served as the defense chief since before Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Last week, White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan met with three top Ukrainian officials to discuss efforts to tackle wartime graft.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has vowed to ban the international community's envoy, Christian Schmidt, from entering Bosnia-Herzegovina's Serbian entity, Republika Srpska. The September 6 announcement comes just days after prosecutors charged Dodik for passing laws that would allow him to bypass or ignore decisions made by Schmidt. Dodik is in ongoing confrontation with Schmidt, who is tasked with overseeing the civilian aspects of the Dayton agreement that ended Bosnia's bloody civil war in the 1990s. As the international envoy, Schmidt has vast powers, including to fire officials and to impose laws.

Parts of a Russian drone fell on Romanian territory, Defense Minister Angel Tilvar said on September 6, the HotNews website reported, citing Antena 3 CNN. Kyiv said two days ago that Russian drones had detonated on Romanian territory, a claim Bucharest denied at the time. It was not clear if Tilvar was referring to that attack, or a Russian attack overnight on Ukraine that was also close to the Romanian border. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Pakistani border guards have clashed with militants in a region bordering Afghanistan and at least three guards were wounded in a gunfight. Muhammad Ali Khan, an administrator in the remote Chitral district, said that the fighting erupted early on September 6, and police were blocking roads in the district. Earlier, militants from the extremist group known as the Pakistani Taliban claimed to have captured security checkpoints and killed several Pakistani soldiers, but Ali Khan denied that. Known for its annual traditional festivals held by a local pagan tribe, Chitral borders several Afghan provinces, and has seen increased sectarian violence in recent years. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

A European Union court has rejected an appeal by Russian billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky to be removed from the bloc's sanctions list for his alleged ties to the Kremlin. The EU General Court, the bloc's second-highest tribunal, dismissed his appeals, as well as those of Pumpyansky's wife and son. The founder of Russia's biggest steel-pipe maker, TMK, Pumpyanskiy was included in sanctions by the EU in March 2022 for being among 36 businesspeople who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the EU sanctions. Kremlin-connected billionaire Gennady Timchenko also reportedly lost his appeal to the General Court. Both are expected to appeal further.

Taliban officials have rejected reports that Afghanistan will send female athletes to the Asian Games in China later this month, saying all 133 athletes in the delegation being sent are male.

In reaction to a report on Reuters early on September 6, Ahmadullah Wasiq, the head of physical education and sport in the country, said in a written statement to RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that it was not true that 17 athletes on the team were female.

Two years since it overran the country and ousted the Western-backed Afghan government, the hard-line Taliban has failed to live up to promises of moderation and has instead severely curbed women's freedoms, waged a brutal crackdown on dissent, and reintroduced their brutal form of justice.

The Taliban's theocratic de facto government has imposed restrictions on every aspect of life in Afghanistan, including people's appearance, freedom of movement, right to work or study, and access to entertainment.

The result has been the crushing of female sport in the country, prompting many prominent women to flee the country.

The International Olympic Committee warned Afghanistan's Taliban rulers in December that allowing women and young girls safe access to sport was a condition for the country's representation at the 2024 Paris Games.

Reuters quoted a September 6 statement by Afghanistan's National Olympic Committee that claimed that the country would send "a female group sports team comprising a total of 17 phenomenal women athletes." It added that they would compete in three sports: athletics, cycling, and volleyball.

Wasiq said the statement quoted by Reuters on participation in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8, was not issued by the National Olympic Committee.

In a July report, UN experts said that the situation of girls and women in Afghanistan was the worst in the world and added that systematic restrictions on women and girls could amount to "gender apartheid."

With reporting by Reuters

Tajikistan said it killed three members of a "terrorist group" who had crossed into the country from neighboring Afghanistan. The incident, announced on September 6 by the KDAM security service, was the second this year in the Central Asian country. The three crossed overnight on August 30, intending to "commit a terrorist act ahead of the Tajik national holiday" on September 9, the Kabar news agency quoted the KDAM as saying. The three, identified as natives of Tajikistan, were killed early on September 5. It wasn't immediately possible to confirm the statement. The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan has stoked fears of instability in Tajikistan. To read the original story from RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.

Great Britain announced on September 6 that it will declare Russia's Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organization, saying it remains a threat to global security even after the death of leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. The government said an order will be introduced in Parliament to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act. The designation, once approved by lawmakers, will bar membership in or support for Wagner, which has played a major fighting role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has also operated in Syria and several African countries. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Armenian and U.S. forces will hold joint military exercises beginning next week, as Yerevan faces mounting tensions with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenia's Defense Ministry said on September 6 that the nine-day exercise would involve "stabilization operations between conflicting parties during peacekeeping tasks." There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials. The drills, being held in Yerevan, are the first of their kind. They come amid an escalating crisis as Yerevan and local authorities accuse Azerbaijan of blockading Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in severe shortages of food, fuel, and basic products. Baku has denied the accusations. Yerevan has accused Russian peacekeepers in the region of failing to do their jobs.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with top Ukrainian officials in an unannounced trip to Kyiv as he pledged U.S. support for Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive and "what it needs for the long term."

Blinken's visit on September 6 came just hours after the Ukrainian capital was again targeted by Russian missiles.

It also came days after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced a major shake-up at the Defense Ministry amid mounting concerns of wartime corruption involving military contracts.

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 a statement, the State Department said Blinken's visit was intended to demonstrate the United States' "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy, especially in the face of Russia's aggression."

Unnamed U.S. officials told reporters traveling with Blinken that he would also announce of new military aid package of between $175 million and $200 million, with another, larger package expected to be announced later this week.

Blinken, who traveled to Kyiv by train, met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during the journey, according to a State Department spokesman, who said Blinken thanked Frederiksen for Denmark's offer to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s fighter jets and for promising to donate the jets to Kyiv.

In a speech to Ukraine's parliament, Frederiksen told lawmakers that the world was in awe of Ukrainians' "incredible strength" and their "will never to give in" in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022.

"Your fight is our fight," she said.

After arriving, Blinken laid a wreath at a Kyiv cemetery commemorating members of the Ukrainian armed forces killed while defending the country, according to press reports.

"We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent," Blinken was quoted as telling reporters in Kyiv while standing alongside Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

"We're also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, strong democracy."

The trip is Blinken's fourth to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine is in the third month of a major counteroffensive against Russia forces that it hopes will decisively shift the momentum of the war.

While Ukrainian forces have made some progress in the southern Zaporizhzhiya region, and in the eastern Donetsk region, the advances have been small. Some of Ukraine's Western backers have expressed frustration at the slow pace.

SEE ALSO:

'Ukraine Has Retaken The Initiative From The Enemy,' Says Former Top NATO Officer

Ahead of the visit, Russia again targeted the Ukrainian capital with cruise missiles. In a post on Telegram, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv city military administration, said air defenses shot down the missiles, and there were no casualties or damage to the city in the early morning attack.

In Izmayil, a Danube River port southwest of Odesa, at least one person was killed in Russian drone attacks that lasted for three hours. Oleh Kiper, the region's governor, said on Telegram.

The port and some connected agricultural infrastructure were also damaged, he said.

Izmayil borders NATO-member Romania, which has become a major route for Ukrainian grain and agricultural shipments out of the country following Russia's withdrawal in July from a United Nations deal that had allowed maritime shipments of Ukrainian products via the Black Sea.

Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine's Odesa and Mykolayiv regions in recent weeks as talks on reviving the deal continue.

• RFE/RL
• Reuters

Members of Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade engage their Russian enemies near the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut.

Blinken's meetings with Ukrainian officials were also expected to touch on alternative export routes for Ukrainian grain.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials complained that Russian drones had hit Romanian territory, a claim that Bucharest later "categorically denied."

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on September 5 that the attacks had taken place "very, very close" to his country's border.

Blinken’s trip to Kyiv was his first since September 2022, and comes with Zelenskiy trying to tamp down concerns that his government was not doing enough to root out some of the endemic corruption Ukraine has grappled with for years.

Anti-corruption activists and some lawmakers have raised questions about weapons contracts and procurement procedures. Some lawmakers in the United States, Ukraine's biggest donor of military equipment, have voiced concerns.

Last month, Zelenskiy dismissed the heads of all military recruitment centers, amid questions of draft-eligible men being illegally allowed to leave the country. Ukraine's deputy defense minister also resigned after facing allegations of corruption.

SEE ALSO:

Amid Corruption Scandals And Mounting Problems, Ukraine Vows To Shake Up The Military Enlistment System. It's A Tough Task.

Earlier this week, Zelenskiy dismissed Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who had served as the defense chief since before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

On September 6, Ukrainian lawmakers approved Rustem Umerov as the new defense minister. A total of 338 lawmakers voted in favor of Umerov, the former head of the Ukrainian State Property Fund, well above 226 votes needed.

Last week, White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan met with three top Ukrainian officials to discuss efforts to tackle wartime graft.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said the latest statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Jewish roots are "another manifestation of deep-rooted anti-Semitism of the Russian elites."

The ministry said on September 5 that Putin has a chronic fixation on the ethnic origin of the Ukrainian president and his statement shows that he connects Zelenskiy's Jewish origins with the "heroization of Nazism."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said Ukraine called on the world to strongly condemn Putin's anti-Semitic statements.

"There should be no place for ethnic hatred in today's world," Nikolenko said on Facebook.

Putin said in comments broadcast on Russian television that Western powers had installed Zelenskiy as president of Ukraine to cover up the glorification of Nazism. He presented no evidence for his allegation.

Moscow has previously accused Kyiv's leaders of pursuing a neo-Nazi "genocide" of Ukraine's native Russian speakers in seeking to justify its attack on Ukraine. Putin himself called the "denazification" of Ukraine the goal of the full-scale invasion.

Kyiv and its Western allies have called the accusations a baseless pretext for a war that only seeks to expand Russian territory, and human rights activists and representatives of the Jewish community have condemned such statements in the past.

Putin said Western powers had "put a person at the head of modern Ukraine -- an ethnic Jew, with Jewish roots, with Jewish origins. And thus, in my opinion, they seem to be covering up an anti-human essence that is the foundation...of the modern Ukrainian state.

"And this makes the whole situation extremely disgusting, in that an ethnic Jew is covering up the glorification of Nazism and covering up those who led the Holocaust in Ukraine at one time -- and this is the extermination of 1.5 million people."

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak, asked for comment by Reuters, said Putin himself was disgusting "when he tries to justify mass crimes against citizens of another country with a monstrous lie."

Putin in June tried to draw parallels between the Nazis who carried out the Holocaust during World War II and Ukraine's current democratically elected government, telling an economic forum in St. Petersburg, also without evidence, that some Jews considered Zelenskiy a disgrace to their people.

With reporting by Reuters

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on September 5 said attacks are occurring close to Romania's border with Ukraine but no drone or other device landed in Romania during a weekend attack by Russian forces on Ukrainian port infrastructure.

"I can tell you that there was no part, and no drone and no other part of any device that arrived in Romania. We have total control over our national space,” Klaus said, echoing comments a day earlier by the Romanian Defense Ministry.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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“I checked absolutely everything and I can reassure the population that there was nothing that reached Romania," Iohannis told a joint press conference with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

Iohannis added that the Romanian authorities are monitoring the attacks that take place just a few hundred meters from the border.

"We had attacks just today that were verified at 800 meters from our border. So very, very close. However, we are alert and within NATO we are very well defended," he said, speaking from the Cincu military base in central Romania.

Bucharest has strongly condemned the Russian attacks on Ukraine's Danube infrastructure, but its Defense Ministry on September 4 denied a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry claim that at least one Russian drone launched during an overnight attack fell and detonated on Romanian territory.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry still claims that one of the drones Russia launched in the air strike over the weekend hit across the Danube River.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pointed to photos that show that Russian equipment fell in Romania.

"There is no point in denying that something fell there," Kuleba said.

Since the collapse in July of the United Nations-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of grain shipments from Black Sea ports, Moscow has ramped up attacks on the Odesa and Mykolayiv regions in southern Ukraine along with their ports and infrastructure.

With reporting by AFP

The war crimes trial of three men accused of abusing non-Serb citizens in prison camps during the Bosnian War opened on September 5 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The three defendants -- Slavko Puhalic, Dragan Skrbic, and Rajko Damjanovic -- face sweeping war crimes charges, including the rape of at least 10 women and girls. One of the women died, and the rapes resulted in forced pregnancy and childbirth for two of the victims.

At least 21 prisoners died as a result of the abuse suffered at prison camps in Prijedor, where more than 30,000 non-Serbs were illegally detained in three camps established in 1992 by civil and military authorities of Republika Srpska. The bodies of five of the people who died have never been found.

The victims were tortured, raped, and killed in the camps, and the accused contributed to these crimes, the Prosecutor-General’s Office of Bosnia said in announcing the indictment in December of Puhalic, Skribic, and Damjanovic. All three pleaded not guilty. They face many years in prison if convicted.

Puhalic was an assistant to the commander of one of the camps. He and the other two defendants are accused of participating in a joint criminal enterprise during the attack on the civilian population of Bosniaks and Croats in and around Prijedor.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office in the indictment said it has statements from 180 witnesses, including three experts, and has submitted more than 900 pieces of evidence.

Puhalic was one of the defense witnesses at the trials in The Hague of Ratko Mladic, the wartime Bosnian Serb commander, and Radovan Karadzic, the wartime president of Republika Srpska.

Mladic is serving a life sentence after being convicted of commanding forces responsible for crimes, including the deadly three-year siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, and the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.

Karadzic was found guilty of similar charges, including genocide, and is also serving a life sentence.

During his testimony in Mladic trial, Puhalic claimed that non-Serb civilians came to the camp in Prijedor on their own searching for protection from out-of-control Serbian units. He said they were allowed to leave at their own will, which numerous surviving witnesses denied during the trial.

Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ordered the country’s embassies to stop issuing passports to Belarusians living abroad. Until now Belarusian expats could get new passports at the country's diplomatic missions, but according to a decree published on September 4, they can only get a new passport or renew an old one in Belarus. Lukashenka’s critics say the rule leaves Belarusians living abroad vulnerable to prosecution if they return to Belarus. The Belarusian opposition called the move a "repressive mechanism." Tens of thousands of Belarusians fled the Moscow-allied country in 2020 after the crackdown on protests against Lukashenka’s rule. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Belarusian Service, click here.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Bulgaria violated the rights of a same-sex couple by not recognizing their marriage abroad, a ruling LGBT rights activists said would help seal a legal vacuum in the country, which does not allow same-sex marriage and does not recognize same-sex couples married abroad.

Rights groups welcomed the ruling by the court in Strasbourg on September 5 as a "historic win" showing Bulgaria has an obligation to ensure a specific legal framework exists to allow same-sex couples adequate recognition and protections.

"It is clear to the Court that to date the Bulgarian authorities have taken no steps to have adequate legal regulations adopted with regard to the recognition of unions between persons of the same sex," the court wrote in its decision, noting the vote was unanimous among the seven presiding judges.

The ECHR's ruling does not oblige Bulgaria to legalize same-sex marriage but says the authorities must have legal framework ensuring that same-sex couples have protection.

Darina Koilova and Lili Babulkova, Bulgarian nationals married in 2016 in the United Kingdom, wanted their marital status to be recognized in Bulgaria, where they live now. The municipality of Sofia refused to acknowledge their status as "married" in the civil records, sparking the case in local courts, which ruled against them.

In 2020 Koilova and Babulkova filed a complaint against Bulgaria at the ECHR claiming the inability to obtain any form of legal recognition of their couple constitutes discrimination on the grounds of their sexual orientation.

The ECHR's ruling said Bulgaria violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights -- the right to respect for private and family life -- in the case of Koilova and Babulkova.

The decision also says the absence of any official recognition means same-sex couples in Bulgaria cannot regulate essential aspects of their life such as those related to property, inheritance, and protection from domestic violence.

"The decision is key and fundamental for the development of Bulgarian legislation in the field of equality and LGBTI rights," said Deystvie, an LGBT rights group in Bulgaria.

"Many couples in Bulgaria find themselves in a legal vacuum because on one side of the border they are husband and wife, and on the other side -- in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria -- they have no legal relationship. The ECHR obliges the Bulgarian state to create a legal framework that allows same-sex couples to receive adequate recognition and protection of their relationship."

The ECHR's decision comes after the Supreme Administrative Court in March denied a Bulgarian birth certificate to the daughter of a same-sex couple married in Gibraltar. The ruling came even though the Court of Justice of the European Union said in 2021 that Bulgaria is obliged to issue an identity document to the child, known as "baby Sara."

Rights groups described that decision as "another blow" against the LGBT community in Bulgaria after earlier this year the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled that transgender people cannot legally change their gender.

The LGBT community in Bulgaria has long been targeted with hate speech and violence. In June, supporters of the pro-Russian Revival sabotaged a film screening part of the Sofia Pride Film Fest.

In a development welcomed by rights groups, parliament in July adopted tougher penalties for homophobic hate crimes.

With writing and reporting by Elitsa Simeonova

Saudi Arabia and Russia on September 5 said they would extend voluntary oil cuts until the end of the year, continuing their campaign to bolster prices. The Saudi production cut of 1 million barrels per day, which first took effect in July, will continue "until the end of December 2023," the kingdom's Energy Ministry said in a statement. Russia's export cut of 300,000 bpd will continue for the same period, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said in a separate statement. Saudi Arabia first announced its cut in June after a meeting of the 23-nation OPEC+ alliance, which includes Russia.

Russia has increased its disinformation campaigns in Germany since its invasion of Ukraine, the German domestic intelligence agency said in Berlin on September 5. Moscow's activities in the information area have changed radically since February last year, said Bodo Becker, espionage specialist for the agency. "Its approach has become evidently more confrontational and more aggressive as a whole," he said. The content and tone of the disinformation is being adapted to the Russian military campaign and to German and global debates, he told a conference convened by the intelligence agency.

A senior Ukrainian official on September 5 rebuffed a suggestion by Turkey that Kyiv should soften its stance to revive the Black Sea grain deal, saying Ukraine would not support sanctions relief for Moscow or a policy of "appeasement." "Let's be realistic after all and stop discussing nonexistent options, much less encouraging Russia to commit further crimes," presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak told Reuters. He made the remarks when asked about comments made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 4 after talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Uzbekistan's leading payment services Oson and Pay Way said they have suspended foreign money transfers as of September 5 amid warnings from the central bank over avoiding the violation of Western sanctions imposed against Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The companies handle a large amount of remittances from Uzbeks living abroad, many in Russia. On August 31, the central bank fined Brio Group (Oson brand) for violating anti-money laundering and antiterrorist financing legislation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, click here.

Relatives of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death nearly a year ago sparked mass protests in Iran, have confirmed reports that one of her uncles has been arrested ahead of the anniversary of her death.

A brother of Amini's, Ashkan Amini, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Safa Aeli was arrested in their hometown of Saghez, in the northwestern Kurdistan Province, on September 5.

It is not known what the reasons are for the arrest or what entity carried it out, although social media posts indicated that security forces in Saghez were involved.

RFE/RL was unable to determine Aeli's whereabouts.

The arrest took place as the anniversary of Amini's September 16, 2022, death approaches.

Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13, 2022, while visiting the Iranian capital with her family. She was detained by Iran's "morality police" for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, or head scarf. Within hours of her detention, she was hospitalized in a coma and died on September 16.

Her family has denied that Amini suffered from a preexisting health condition that may have contributed to her death, as claimed by the Iranian authorities, and her father has cited eyewitnesses as saying she was beaten while en route to a detention facility.

Amini's death sparked protests in Saghez that spread around the country and ultimately posed one of the biggest threats to Iran's clerical establishment since the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979.

At least 500 people were killed around the country after the Iranian authorities clamped down on the demonstrations with brutal force.

Ahead of the anniversary of her death, the authorities have stepped up pressure against family members of those killed, including through arrests, summons for questioning, and warnings against them holding memorial events in honor of Amini or their loved ones.

Ukraine's parliament has approved the resignation of Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, paving the way for Rustem Umerov to take over the post amid Russia's full-scale invasion of the country. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on September 3 that he had made the decision to switch ministers to bring in "new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole" after 550 days of war with Russia. Umerov is expected to be approved as defense minister on September 6. To see the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Opposition politicians who are among dozens of members of the Kempir-Abad Defense Committee placed in pretrial detention last year following protests against Kyrgyzstan's decision to cede water supplies to Uzbekistan have said they are facing pressure in custody that amounts to torture.

Three politicians, Azimbek Beknazarov, Kubanychbek Kadyrov, and Jenish Moldokmatov, published a public appeal on Facebook on September 4 in which they described a conflict members of the Kempir-Abad Defense Committee had with prison staff.

The statement said that, after the conflict arose over orders that Kembir-Abad Defense Committee members be transferred to different cells, Bezknazarov, Kadyrov, and Moldokmatov were separated from the rest of the group and held in a basement.

The text describes unsuitable conditions, including high humidity and cells in disrepair, and said the three men consider the transfers of their fellow Kempir-Abad Defense members to be "torture and violence with the aim of breaking the members of Kempir-Abad."

The claims followed a statement by opposition politician and Kempir-Abad Defense Committee member Ravshan Jeenbekov on September 1 in which he said he had been tortured. In his appeal, Jeenbekov said he had been searched for five days in a row and transferred to a cold cell.

The Kempir-Abad Defense Committee is opposed to a long-standing Kyrgyz-Uzbek border demarcation deal that in November 2022 handed the Kempir-Abad water reservoir over to Uzbekistan. In October of that year, members of the committee organized protests against the deal, leading to the arrest of 27 members of the Kempir-Abad Defense Committee. Fourteen members, including activists and opposition politicians, remain in pretrial detention.

Those arrested for protesting the deal were charged with planning riots over the agreement, which had been in the making for over three decades.

Some members of the group have staged hunger strikes, the latest in August, demanding a fair investigation and their release from custody. The detainees have said they consider the criminal case against them to be political persecution for their position on the transfer of the land.

The Kempir-Abad Reservoir, known in Uzbekistan as the Andijon Reservoir, was built in 1983. It is located in the fertile Ferghana Valley and represents a vital regional water source.

Uzbekistan, whose population of 35 million is five times larger than that of Kyrgyzstan, uses most of the water from the area.