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- By RFE/RL
Ukraine's Zelenskiy Defends Drone Strike On Russia-Backed Separatists
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has defended the use of a Turkish-supplied armed drone to strike Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying the military acted in self-defense and did not violate any agreements.
"When the Ukrainian army feels the need to defend its land, it does so. And it will further act under this principle,” Zelenskiy said, according to comments published on the presidential website on October 29.
The Ukrainian military this week released footage of what it said was a Bayraktar T2B drone destroying a Russian-made howitzer in a separatist-controlled area.
The military said the drone was used “for the first time” to suppress artillery fire that killed a Ukrainian soldier and wounded another.
Moscow accused Ukraine of violating the Minsk agreements meant to put an end to a war that has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014, and said the use of drones could “destabilize the situation” in eastern Ukraine.
Paris and Berlin -- both mediators of the conflict – also criticized the strike.
France said it was "concerned" by the use of the Bayraktar drone and by the "increasingly frequent use of heavy weaponry" that violate a cease-fire.
A German government spokesperson also criticized the use of the drone but noted that “all sides are using drones,” which according to the Minsk agreements is reserved for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Ukrinform news agency reported.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv called on both sides in the conflict to respect a cease-fire agreement, while saying that the separatists have also used drones.
“We urge both sides in the Donbas (eastern Ukraine) conflict to abide by the terms of the cease-fire agreement, but let’s be clear — The Russia-led side has repeatedly deployed howitzer artillery and drones against Ukrainian forces, in direct violation of the enhanced measures agreed last year…and recently killed a Ukrainian soldier,” the embassy said in two Twitter posts.
“Official Russian rhetoric suggesting Ukraine is aggravating the situation is not only misleading, it serves to escalate tensions,” it added.
Turkey has sold Ukraine Bayraktar drones and Kyiv plans to buy dozens more to deploy to eastern Ukraine.
In September, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country plans to build a factory to produce the drones in cooperation with the Turkish drone maker, Baykar.
Defense Minister Andriy Taran earlier this month said a joint maintenance and training center for the drones would be established in Ukraine.
The growing defense ties between NATO member Turkey and Ukraine have been a source of tension between Ankara and Moscow, threatening to shift the balance of power on the eastern Ukrainian battlefield in Kyiv’s favor.
The Bayraktar has proven to be one of the best armed drones on the market, having been battle-tested in conflicts in Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh, and against Kurdish militants.
With reporting by AFP and Ukrinform
Moldova, Russia's Gazprom Extend Gas Contract After Dispute
The Moldovan government and Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom say they have agreed to extend a contract for Russian natural gas supplies for a period of five years, after disagreements between the sides over the price triggered severe shortages in the former Soviet republic.
Gazprom said in a short statement on October 29 that talks between a Moldovan delegation and Gazprom ended in St. Petersburg with the sides reaching an agreement to extend the expired contract on "mutually beneficial terms” while Moldova’s Infrastructure Ministry called it an "agreement in principle" under which the previous deal will be extended "using the price formula proposed by the Moldovan side."
Neither Gazprom nor the Moldovan side revealed the price agreed.
“Gas deliveries under the new contract are expected to start from November 1, 2021,” the Ministry said in a post on Facebook.
Moldova declared a state of emergency last week and started buying gas from other countries after its contract with Gazprom, the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe, expired at the end of September, and the two sides failed to agree on details and pricing of a new long-term deal.
Traditional supplier Russia had been threatening to cut off gas supplies to the impoverished country sandwiched between EU member Romania and Ukraine at the end of the year if the existing gas contract was not extended by then.
One of the key issues was Moldova's debt for previous gas supplies that Russia estimated at more than $700 million.
Gazprom and the government in Chisinau agreed to audit the debt and to negotiate a payment schedule, according to the Moldovan side.
The two-day talks in St. Petersburg, where Gazprom has its headquarters, involved Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu and the Russian firm's CEO Aleksei Miller.
Gazprom drastically raised the prices for gas deliveries to Moldova to $790 per cubic meter from $550 while slashing its gas supply by about one-third after their contract expired last month, prompting criticism from the European Union, which said that Russia was "weaponizing" gas supplies.
Some observers say Moscow has boosted prices as reprisals against Moldova for electing pro-Western President Maia Sandu last year and rejecting Russia-backed incumbent Igor Dodon. Russia rejects the accusations, saying the hike is purely commercial, reflecting global markets.
Moldova has also complained of received “insufficient volumes” of gas from Gazprom based on the one-month extension of the contract.
As the country faced a growing energy crisis, Chisinau signed a contract to buy a million cubic meters of natural gas from Poland, the government said on October 25, calling it "the first purchase of gas from alternative sources” in the history of independent Moldova.
And earlier on October 29, Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said it had won a tender to supply 500,000 cubic meters of gas to Moldova.
The EU offered Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, 60 million euros ($70 million) in emergency aid on October 27 to help the country manage its natural gas crisis.
Russia has been criticized in the past for setting prices according to a country's political allegiance. Belarus, a close Moscow ally, has recently negotiated a significantly lower price for next year.
- By RFE/RL
Russia's Statistics Agency Says COVID-19 Deaths In September Nearly Double Official Numbers
At least 44,265 people died of COVID-19 and related causes in Russia in September, the country’s statistics agency, Rosstat, said.
The figure announced on October 29 brings to around 462,000 the number of deaths in Russia since the pandemic began, the highest toll in Europe.
Overall COVID-19 fatalities reported by Rosstat compares to 236,220 published by the Russian coronavirus task force earlier in the day. The task force tally said Russia saw 24,031 deaths in September.
Critics accuse Russian authorities of downplaying the death toll from the pandemic.
The discrepancy can be explained by task force figures taking into account deaths where the virus was established as the primary cause of death after a medical examination.
Rosstat publishes figures under a wider definition for deaths linked to the virus.
To more accurately measure the impact of the pandemic, some epidemiologists argue calculating excess mortality.
Reuters calculated that the number of excess deaths in Russia between April 2020 and September 2021 was more than 632,000 in comparison with the average mortality rate in 2015-2019, signaling that the pandemic may have had a much larger impact.
While Rosstat's September numbers are lower than a peak of 51,044 deaths in July, infections and fatalities have surged in October.
In response, Moscow reimposed a partial lockdown on October 28 with only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets allowed to remain open.
The country will also go into a weeklong nationwide workplace shutdown starting on October 30.
The surge in infections is largely attributed to the highly-infectious delta variant and low vaccination rates, with only one in three Russians fully vaccinated.
According to a Gallup poll released this week, three out of four unvaccinated Russians said they do not plan on getting a free shot.
The survey of 2,001 Russian citizens aged 15 or older was conducted by Gallup from May through July and published on October 28. The margin of error is 2.8 percent.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Western Envoys In Minsk Commemorate Victims Of Soviet Great Terror
MINSK -- Western diplomats in Minsk have commemorated more than 130 Belarusian intellectuals, including 22 writers and poets, who were executed by the Soviet secret police 84 years ago.
The October 29 ceremony comes amid an ongoing crackdown on the opposition, civil society, and independent media following last year’s disputed presidential election that gave authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term.
Representatives of the diplomatic missions of the European Union, Britain, Switzerland, and the United States gathered in Kurapaty, a wooded area on the Belarusian capital's outskirts that was used as an execution site by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police in the 1930s and 1940s.
Some journalists of state media outlets tried to disrupt the ceremony, for instance by asking the diplomats to name at least one of the victims they were commemorating.
During the night of October 29-30 an event to commemorate the Belarusian victims of Soviet repressions will be held online. Activists have created a special website -- the Night of Poets -- for the occasion.
Similar commemoration events are being held in other parts of the former Soviet Union to mark an unofficial day of remembrance for the victims of Soviet leader Josef Stalin's Great Terror, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Many of those executed overnight in Belarus on October 29, 1937, were from the local intelligentsia.
Lukashenka's government has cracked down hard on the pro-democracy movement after unprecedented anti-government protests erupted across Belarus following the August 2020 election.
Thousands of people have been arrested, dozens of news websites blocked, and independent media shuttered as part of the sweeping clampdown, which has pushed most of the top opposition figures out of the country.
The Vyasna human rights center considers 833 people to be political prisoners.
The opposition and the West say the presidential vote was rigged to keep Lukashenka in power, and the European Union, the United States, and other countries have refused to recognize him as the winner of the election.
Annual Commemoration Of Victims Of Stalin's Great Terror Held Online In Russia
MOSCOW – An annual commemoration for thousands of people executed during Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's Great Terror is being held in Russia online for a second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has held a ceremony every year since 2006 at the Solovetsky Kamen (Solovki Stone) memorial on Moscow's Lubyanka Square, which is the site of the former headquarters of the Soviet KGB and the current headquarters of its successor, the Federal Security Service (FSB).
For 12 hours, relatives of those executed, rights activists, and other participants read aloud the names, ages, occupations, and execution dates of some of the estimated 1 million or more Soviet citizens executed by Stalin's regime in 1937-38.
But due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year's commemoration in Moscow and elsewhere is being held online, as in 2020.
Memorial asked participants to shoot video statements at symbolic sites that were added to its YouTube broadcast running from 10.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.
The ceremony is held ahead of the October 30 Day of Commemoration of the Victims of Political Repressions in Russia, the date chosen to honor gulag inmates in the Russian regions of Mordovia and Perm who started a mass hunger strike on that day in 1974, protesting political persecutions in the Soviet Union.
The exact number of Soviet citizens repressed by Stalin’s regime remains unknown. According to Memorial, at least 12 million men and women were persecuted during the Great Terror. The Gulag Museum puts the number at 20 million, and estimates that more than 1 million people were executed.
Kazakh Students Protest After Skirt-Wearing Boy Commits Suicide
A group of schoolchildren in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have staged a protest after an eighth grader at another school committed suicide following his meeting with a psychologist for coming to school in a skirt.
Russian Blogger Jailed For Accessing Secret Data
A blogger from Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg, has been sentenced to five years in prison for illegally obtaining classified information.
A Moscow court found 37-year-old Andrei Pyzh guilty of accessing data on the construction designs and technical systems of sensitive facilities in the capital region.
According to Moscow prosecutors, Pyzh illegally received the classified information between December 2018 and August 2020.
Earlier reports said the dual Russian-Ukrainian national was suspected of passing information about the Moscow metro system to Ukraine.
Russia Jails Blogger, Model For Imitating Oral Sex Near Church
MOSCOW -- A Moscow court has sentenced a blogger and his girlfriend to 10 months in prison each over a photo imitating oral sex in front of the St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square.
The court on October 29 found Tajik citizen Ruslan Bobiev, also known as Ruslani Talabjon, and model Anastasia Chistova guilty of insulting believers' feelings and sentenced them the same day.
In late September, Bobiev placed a photo on Instagram of Chistova on her knees in front him, imitating oral sex with the cathedral in the background. Chistova was wearing a jacket that had "police" imprinted on the back.
Initially, the two were sentenced to 10 days in jail each on charges of disobeying police.
The court also ordered Bobiev to be deported to his native Tajikistan.
Later, the two were charged with insulting believers' feelings.
On September 30, the Interior Ministry issued a video in which Bobiev offers apologies for the photo and promises not to do anything like that in future.
With reporting by OVD-Info
- By RFE/RL
Belarus Blocks Three News Sites In Latest Crackdown On 'Extremist' Media
Belarusian authorities have blocked access to Germany's state-backed international broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, amid an intensifying crackdown on the media and civil society following last year’s disputed presidential election.
The Information Ministry said on October 28 that the two news websites as well as that of Belarusian newspaper Novy Chas had been blocked for spreading material containing links considered “extremist” by Belarusian courts.
Internet users reported that the news sites did not open and later a message appeared indicating access was limited. However, the sites can still be accessed through virtual private networks (VPNs), which people can use to circumvent government restrictions on the web.
“The Information Ministry, within its powers, will continue to monitor compliance with national regulations and intends to continue to make decisions aimed at protecting the country's information space,” First Deputy Information Minister Andrey Kuncevic told state news agency BelTa.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly condemned the move to block Current Time and vowed to continue providing information to the Belarusian people.
“The Lukashenka regime’s attempts to criminalize journalism know no bounds and are now depriving the Belarusian people of yet another independent source of news and information. Despite Lukashenka’s continued assault, RFE/RL and Current Time will continue to provide objective reporting to the people of Belarus,” he said.
Deutsche Welle Director-General Peter Limbourg said the blocking of the broadcaster for spreading extremist material was "absolutely ridiculous."
“Mr. Lukashenka has shown that he will stop at nothing to maintain his hold on power in his struggle against his own people," Limbourg said.
Dozens of news websites have been blocked in Belarus and independent media shuttered as part of a sweeping crackdown on information in the wake of unprecedented protests triggered by the August 2020 presidential election that gave authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term. The opposition and the West say the vote was rigged to keep him in power.
Lukashenka's government has cracked down hard on the pro-democracy movement, arresting thousands of people and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country. The Vyasna human rights center says it considers 833 people to be political prisoners.
Authorities have also declared hundreds of opposition Telegram channels and social-media sites “extremist,” and anyone operating or using such sites can face jail time or fines.
In the latest move, the Belarusian Interior Ministry on October 29 classified three of the country's most popular opposition social media channels as “extremist” organizations.
The NEXTA news outlet, run from Poland, has three channels on Telegram, including NEXTA Live, which has 1.4 million subscribers in a country of 9.5 million.
“1.4 million more extremists appeared in Belarus today,” NEXTA wrote on Twitter. “Ministry of Internal Affairs recognized telegram channels NEXTA, NEXTA Live and LUXTA as ‘extremist formations.’ This means that criminal cases can be opened against creators, administrators, and subscribers in Belarus.”
Previously, anyone who reposted material from NEXTA could face a fine or detention for 30 days. But the new classification means subscribers could be prosecuted for participating in an extremist organization and be jailed for up to seven years.
With reporting by Current Time, Deutsche Welle, and Reuters
Kazakh Children Protest After Skirt-Wearing Schoolboy's Suicide
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A group of schoolchildren in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have staged a protest after an eighth grader at another school committed suicide following his meeting with a psychologist for coming to school in a skirt.
Dozens of boys came to school in skirts on October 29 under the banner "Clothes do not have gender."
A day earlier, media reports said that a boy had committed suicide by jumping from a high-rise building after he wore a skirt as a joke at an event devoted to the characters of the Harry Potter books.
The reports said that the boy killed himself after a school official forced him to meet a school psychiatrist questioning his decision to wear a skirt.
The administration of the Nazarbaev Intellectual School in Almaty where the boy studied confirmed "the fact of an accident involving a schoolboy during out-of-school time on October 27."
The Almaty city police department said that investigation had been launched into a possible “incitement to suicide."
A spokesperson for the school, Zhanar Adambaeva, told RFE/RL that there was no homophobia at the school and there was no pressure on the boy from school officials.
However, boys and girls at the school wrote on social media networks that the boy committed suicide after he was forcibly taken to the school's psychiatrist over the skirt.
- By Reid Standish and
- Stuart Greer
Europe Should 'Think Twice' About Deeper Ties With China, Warns Taiwanese Foreign Minister
European countries -- including Hungary, Romania, and Serbia -- should "think twice" about deepening economic ties with China before their foreign policy becomes "skewed," warned Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu during a diplomatic trip through Europe. In an October 27 interview with RFE/RL in Prague, Wu said that Taiwan was looking for "new friends" amid growing tension with China. Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan to be one of its provinces and has recently stepped up military activity in the region. U.S. President Joe Biden has reiterated his "rock-solid" commitment to Taiwan. But Biden caused confusion when he said the United States would come to Taiwan's defense if it was attacked by China, departing from a long-held U.S. policy of "strategic ambiguity." Wu said the United States remains a reliable ally despite the chaos that followed the U.S.-pullout from Afghanistan.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Says Belarus Forces Closure Of Embassy Aid Office
The U.S. Embassy in Minsk said on October 29 that Belarusian authorities were “forcing the closure” of its humanitarian and outreach programs that have benefited thousands of people in the authoritarian country.
Strongman leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s government has cracked down on civil society groups and the pro-democracy opposition since protests erupted against his disputed reelection last August, leading to several rounds of Western sanctions.
The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that authorities informed it of new measures “designed to impede the functioning” of the mission by forcing the closure of its Public Diplomacy and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) offices, as well as the American Center in Minsk.
The move also forces the Embassy to terminate the employment of more than 20 Belarusian staff members.
“These actions reflect the Belarusian authorities’ deep insecurities about the role of diplomacy, people-to-people ties, and independent civil society,” the Embassy said.
The U.S. government’s development assistance and civil society programs have benefited the Belarusian people since the 1990s, the Embassy said.
U.S. funds have supported entrepreneurship, business development, civil society, independent media, families living in radiation-affected areas, and more than 36,000 orphans and vulnerable people, the embassy said.
“Despite new limitations by the regime, we will not be deterred from our commitment to bolster fundamental freedoms in Belarus. Our efforts to support health, education, and economic improvement in Belarus will continue,” Washington's special envoy for Belarus, Julie Fisher, said on Twitter.
Fisher, the first U.S. ambassador to Belarus since 2008, has been unable to take up her post in Minsk because the Belarusian government has denied her a visa.
Exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she was thankful for years of support developing the U.S.-Belarus relationship.
“They will return to (a) new Belarus. I ask them to continue work for Belarusians – we see and value this consistent support,” she wrote on Twitter.
The opposition and the West say Tsikhanouskaya was the true winner of a presidential election last year.
Russia Gives Four Crimean Tatars Stiff Prison Sentences In Hizb ut-Tahrir Case
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia -- A Russian court has handed lengthy prison terms to four Crimean Tatars for being members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group and "plotting to seize power by force."
Defense lawyers said on October 29 that the Southern District Military Court in the city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Seytumer Seytumerov to 17 years in prison, Osman Seytumerov to 14 years, Rustem Seytmemetov to 13 years, and Amet Suleymanov to 12 years. The lawyers said they would appeal the sentences.
Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine more than seven years ago, and since then Moscow-imposed authorities have prosecuted dozens of Crimean Tatars for allegedly belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Russia as a terrorist organization but operates legally in Ukraine.
Ukraine's ombudswoman, Lyudmyla Denisova, protested against the court's "illegal" ruling and urged the international community to "force the Russian Federation to stop groundless detentions and rigged trials of illegally detained Ukrainian citizens."
"By illegally trying Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainian citizens, the occupier-country Russia violates the norms of international law, the European Convention on Human Rights, basic freedoms, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Denisova wrote on Telegram.
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they describe as a campaign of repression by the authorities installed in Crimea, who are targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar community and others who have spoken out against Moscow's takeover of the peninsula.
Memorial, Russia’s premier human rights group, considers the four Crimean Tatars sentenced on October 29 to be political prisoners.
“We believe they were arrested in connection with their non-violent exercise of their rights to freedom of religion and association,” Memorial said in May.
Russia took control of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Moscow also backs separatists in a war against Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 13,200 people in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow Court Cancels Acquittal Of Former Daghestan PM’s Son In Case Of Kazakh Girlfriend's Death
The Moscow City Court has cancelled the acquittal of a son of the former prime minister of the North Caucasus region of Daghestan in the high-profile 2018 death of a Moscow student that sparked an outcry in her native Kazakhstan.
Murtuzali Medzhidov, a son of the former prime minister of Daghestan, Mukhtar Medzhidov, was acquitted in June of causing the death of 21-year-old Tomiris Baisafa, his Kazakh girlfriend.
Medzhidov, also a student, was arrested after a witness said that he beat the girl and forced her out of a fourth-floor window in a building at the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO).
Medzhidov’s lawyer, Shamil Yandarbaev, said on October 28 that his client’s acquittal has been annulled, and that he will be retried.
Baisafa’s death caused a public outcry in Kazakhstan. The country’s ombudswoman, Elvira Azimova, asked her Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova to take the case under her personal supervision.
In September, a lawyer for Baisafa’s family, Yevgeny Yavorsky, said he will demand a new trial for Medzhidov, but this time in Kazakhstan.
Murtuzali Medzhidov’s father, Mukhtar Medzhidov led Daghestan’s government from January to July in 2013. Before that he served as Daghestan’s deputy prime minister and a lawmaker.
With reporting by Novaya Gazeta
Georgian PM Says Hunger-Striking Saakashvili Has 'Right To Commit Suicide'
TBILISI – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on a hunger strike for almost a month, has a “right to commit suicide” amid concerns about his deteriorating health.
The opposition, doctors, and Saakashvili’s lawyers have been calling on the ruling Georgian Dream government to move the former leader to a private hospital to receive treatment, something Garibashvili ruled out.
“The law says an individual has the right to commit suicide,” Garibashvili said in a late-night televised interview on October 28.
“If an individual decides to kill themselves, they can…the state cannot take responsibility for this,” he added.
Garibashvili also said Saakashvili could be moved to a prison hospital but not transferred to a private hospital due to security concerns.
“[Saakashvili’s supporters] plan to mobilize thousands of people [near the private clinic.] We will have to bring police, use impact munitions, and be put into a permanent state chaos and disturbance,” Garibashvili said.
Garibashvili said that his government will neither grant early release to Saakashvili nor hand him to Ukraine, where he is a citizen. Dozens of European lawmakers and other current and former politicians have called for his release.
Saakashvili was arrested on October 1 for what Georgian law enforcement agencies called illegally crossing the border. The arrest, which the 53-year-old politician says was politically motivated, came hours after he announced he had returned to the country following an eight-year absence.
He immediately went on a hunger strike to protest his arrest, which has triggered protests by tens of thousands of his supporters in the capital, Tbilisi.
Saakashvili’s detention has deepened a protracted political crisis in Georgia ahead of a second round of municipal elections scheduled for October 30.
Ahead of the local elections, Saakashvili called on Georgians to vote for the opposition.
In a letter sent through his lawyer on October 29, Saakashvili said "the continuation of my life is entirely tied to your decision tomorrow and the victory of Georgia."
“Every person’s participation is extremely important. Also, I would like to ask you to gather again tomorrow evening at the polling stations to protect the votes... The fate of Georgia and my fate are in your hands now," the letter said.
Saakashvili served as the South Caucasus country's president from 2004 and 2013. He was sentenced in 2018 in absentia to a total of nine years in prison after being convicted of abuse of power in two separate cases. The ex-president has rejected all charges as politically motivated.
With reporting by Imedi TV and Civil.ge
Eight People Handed Lengthy Prison Terms Over Deadly Siberian Mall Fire
KEMEROVO, Russia -- A court in Siberia has sentenced eight people to prison terms ranging from five years to 14 years in prison for negligence in a 2018 fire in the city of Kemerovo that killed 60 people, including 37 children.
The Zavodskoi district court in the city of Kemerovo on October 29 handed the longest sentence, 14 years in prison, to Yulia Bogdanova, the former director of a company that owned the Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) mall ravaged by the March 2018 blaze, one of the deadliest in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
All of the defendants were found guilty of violating fire safety rules and negligence that led to human loss of life.
Former mall manager Nadezhda Suddenok was sentenced to 13 1/2 years, while the mall's former technical director, Georgy Sobolev, was given 11 years in prison.
The mall's former security officer, Sergei Antyushin, was handed 8-year prison term.
Igor Polozinenko, the chief of a company that installed a fire alarm system in the mall, and his assistant, Aleksandr Nikitin, were sentenced to 6 1/2 and 5 1/2 years in prison, respectively.
Andrei Bursin and Sergei Genin, the individuals who led firefighting operations at the blaze, were sentenced to six and five years in prison, respectively.
The judge said he take into consideration time already spent in pretrail detention before November 8 when he will release the final amounts of prison time the convicted officials will have to spend behind bars.
Bogdanova, Suddenok, and Sobolev pleaded partially guilty to the charges, while the others entered not guilty pleas.
The fire was the one in a series of disasters caused by or exacerbated by the corrosively deadly effects of negligence, carelessness, corruption, corner-cutting, and crumbling infrastructure among officials.
Residents, relatives of the victims, and Russians nationwide blamed corruption and government negligence for the high number of casualties.
Days after the fire, investigators said that blocked fire exits, an alarm system that was turned off, and "glaring violations" of safety rules before the blaze started led to the high death toll.
A total of 16 people, including leaders of the regional Emergency Ministry and officials who had approved the mall's operations, have been charged with crimes that investigators say led to or aggravated the tragedy.
- By RFE/RL
Biden Set For G20 Summit, Meetings With Allies On Iran Nuclear Program
U.S. President Joe Biden on October 29 opened a dense five-day European trip at the Vatican, where he and Pope Francis had an unusually long meeting during which they were set to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and global poverty.
Biden's tour also includes attending the summit of the Group of 20 (G20) industrialized nations in Rome and talks with European allies on Iran's nuclear program and other bilateral issues.
Biden is also due to attend the COP26 world climate conference in Glasgow as the world struggles to deal with the effects of climate change and global warming.
The Vatican said the private meeting lasted one hour and 15 minutes and then about another 15 minutes were allotted to picture taking and the exchange of gifts.
Biden's predecessor Donald Trump's meeting with the Pontiff in 2017 lasted about 30 minutes and former President Barack Obama spent about 50 minutes with Francis in 2014.
Both the White House and the Vatican were due to issue statements on the meeting later in the day.
“It’s good to be back,” Biden, a practicing Catholic, said earlier upon arrival at the Vatican.
It is unclear whether Biden's audience with the pope included the controversial issue of abortion. The Biden administration backs the right to abortion, which is at odds with the position of the Catholic Church.
Biden is the second Catholic to serve as U.S. president, following John F. Kennedy from 1961-63.
The two-day G20 summit is scheduled to begin on October 30 in the Italian capital.
Biden is set to meet for bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the meeting would "cover the waterfront" of issues as the two look to ease tensions following a rift over a U.S. security pact with Britain and Australia that saw France lose out on a major submarine deal.
U.S. officials stressed, however, that the main topic on October 30 at a meeting involving Biden, Macron, and leaders of Germany and Britain will be the status of the Iranian nuclear program.
Sullivan told reporters that Biden would be working for a "shared strategy and solidarity and unity in our approach" on Iran. He did not say if the leaders would discuss the resumption of talks with Tehran.
Tehran has said it expects to resume talks with world powers in November on reinvigorating the landmark 2015 nuclear pact, which then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of in 2018.
Biden is also expected to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sullivan said. Erdogan has said he wants to discuss a deal with Washington over F-16 fighter jets after a pact for more advanced F-35s was scrapped due to Ankara's purchase of a Russian missile system.
On November 1, Biden will travel to Glasgow, Scotland, for the COP26 world climate conference, where the U.S. leader is expected to give a major speech at the UN-sponsored event.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
Ukraine Reports New Record Daily High Of Coronavirus Cases
Ukraine has registered another daily record for new coronavirus infections as a wave of cases and deaths continues to sweep across Eastern Europe.
The Health Ministry said on October 29 that the Eastern European country had 26,870 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24 hours, exceeding the previous high of 26,071 seen a day earlier.
The number of fatalities over the previous 24 hours was 648, the ministry added.
The total number of infections since the start of the pandemic stands at 2.88 million, with more than 67,000 deaths, official figures show.
Authorities across the region have blamed the worsening situation in large part on slow vaccination rates.
Kyiv is imposing new lockdown measures as of November 1 to combat the spread of the deadly virus.
Ukraine, a nation of 42 million, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, making the country vulnerable to an uptick in cases, medical experts say.
About 9.5 million Ukrainians -- or slightly more than one-fifth of the population -- have received the first of two doses of a vaccine with just 7.2 million Ukrainians fully vaccinated.
On October 28, EU member Bulgaria announced it was temporarily closing its border to most Ukrainian visitors. The travel restrictions are set to take force on October 30, the Ukrainian Embassy in Sofia announced.
Only Ukrainians with Bulgarian residency, as well as their family members, will be allowed to enter the country under the temporary restrictions if they have a negative COVID test, proof of vaccination, or documents showing they have recovered from the virus within the previous 180 days.
With reporting by Reuters and Kyiv Post
EU Says Russia 'Weaponizing' Gas Against Moldova
The European Union's top diplomat has said that Russia is weaponizing its natural-gas supply to bully Moldova, one of Europe's poorest nations, as a gas dispute between Moscow and Chisinau continues.
Moldova declared a state of energetic emergency last week after its gas contract with Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom, the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe, expired at the end of last month, and the two sides failed to agree on details of a new long-term deal.
Gazprom has extended the contract to the end of October, while raising the price to $790 per cubic meters from $550 last month.
"In global terms the price increases around the world are not a consequence of weaponization of the gas supply, but in the case of Moldova, yes it is," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a news conference on October 27 alongside Moldova's Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita in Brussels.
Russia has been threatening to cut off the gas supply to the impoverished ex-Soviet republic, which borders EU member Romania, at the end of the year if the existing contract is not extended by then.
Some observers say Moscow has boosted prices as reprisals against Moldova for electing pro-Western President Maia Sandu last year.
"In the case of Moldova, political characteristics have to be taken into account ... In the case of Moldova, it's a sharp (price) increase which was related with political problems, which requires our support," Borrell said.
The EU had pledged 60 million euros ($70 million) in aid to Moldova on October 27.
Gavrilita highlighted the importance of EU support for Moldova.
"We believe that the next few weeks are crucial and we think that Moldova's friends should help us to get alternative supplies," Gavrilita said.
The statements came as a second day of negotiations in a row in St Petersburg ended without an agreement between state-controlled Russian gas giant Gazprom and Moldova.
Russia has repeatedly been criticized for setting prices according to a country's political allegiance. Belarus, a close Moscow ally, recently negotiated a significantly lower price for 2022.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
- By RFE/RL
Russia Approves Additional Overflight Permits For U.S. Airlines
The United States says Russia has approved U.S. airlines’ requests for more overflight permits after some passenger and cargo carriers sent a letter "urgently" asking for the State Department's help in dealing with Moscow.
The State Department late on October 28 confirmed it received the letter and said that "Russia approved U.S. carriers’ applications for overflights last week.“
“The Department of State continues to engage with the relevant Russian authorities to secure expanded air services opportunities for U.S. carriers," it said.
U.S.-Russian relations are at a post-Cold War low, with a variety of security, commercial, and diplomatic issues separating Moscow and Washington.
International airlines make hundreds of flights over eastern Russia each week, a short route to South Asia. Airlines are required to receive permission from a country’s civil aviation authority to travel through its airspace on passenger and cargo flights.
Airlines for America, a trade group representing major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers, on October 14 asked the State Department to "act urgently" to address the needs of airlines to secure rights to overfly Russian airspace, Reuters reported.
The group -- which represents American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, FedEx Corp, United Parcel Service, and others -- asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to intervene, warning that without action they could be put at a competitive disadvantage.
"Many U.S. airlines urgently need additional rights to overfly Russian airspace to meet market demands," the letter said.
Without additional rights, it said, "U.S. airlines will be forced to operate on alternate, inefficient routes resulting in time penalties, technical stops, excess CO2 emissions, and loss of historic slot rights."
Nicholas Calio, chief of the airline association, wrote in the letter that "U.S. passenger airlines need additional Russian overflights to operate efficiently from the U.S. to destinations in Asia, India, and the Middle East."
He added that "U.S. all-cargo carriers need restoration of overflight rights on all-cargo routes between points in Europe and Asia that were mutually agreed upon but were unilaterally stripped away by the Russian government."
"U.S. carriers may need to consider mitigation measures, including schedule reductions. This outcome would make U.S. carriers far less competitive globally ... and will exacerbate the growing backlog of cargo and express shipments needed to reduce the pressure on the supply chain," Calio wrote.
The State Department did not say how many overflights had been approved.
United late on October 28 said it "has received the necessary overflight approvals from Russian authorities to continue operating our nonstop flights to India this winter without interruption."
The Russia's embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. The airline group did not comment following the State Department statement.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Iranian Parliament May Decide Soon On Allowing Women Into Soccer Stadiums
The Iranian Parliament is set to decide soon on whether women should be allowed into soccer stadiums, a move pushed hard in recent years by FIFA, the world governing body for the sport.
Women have been banned from attending soccer matches in stadiums for four decades in the conservative Muslim nation.
"The Football Federation of Iran [FFI] has presented a draft to Parliament,” FFI Director General Hassan Kamranifar said on October 28, according to local media.
“If that is approved, then women will be able to enter [soccer] stadiums soon," Kamranifar said without providing further details.
The arch-conservative ruling clergy class has long opposed the idea of women being allowed in stadiums with male fans.
Under FIFA pressure, Iran in October 2019 allowed about 4,000 women into Tehran's Azadi Stadium for a World Cup qualifying match against Cambodia.
But the coronavirus pandemic halted any progress on the issue as all football matches have since taken place without spectators in the stands.
Women were to be allowed in the stadium again in early October for a World Cup qualifier against South Korea, but a late decision was made to hold the event before closed door amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Should fans be allowed in stadiums again, the FFI would be required to allow admission to women, at least for World Cup qualifying matches, or face possible FIFA sanctions.
With reporting by dpa and AFP
- By RFE/RL
U.S., 17 Other Nations Condemn Russia’s ‘Intensifying Harassment’ Of Media, Journalists
WASHINGTON – An 18-member group of nations, including the United States and United Kingdom, has expressed “deep concern” over what it calls the Russian government’s “intensifying harassment of independent journalists and media outlets” in the country.
The statement, issued on October 28 under the name of the Media Freedom Coalition, was also signed by Ukraine and North Macedonia, along with Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The statement said that “media freedom is vital to the effective functioning of free and open societies and is essential to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Russian authorities have been accused of increasingly cracking down on independent media outlets, civil society groups, rights activists, and others, using legislations on “undesirable” individuals or groups, as well as the so-called “foreign agents” law.
The 18-nation statement said Russian authorities continue in 2021 to “systematically detain journalists and subject them to harsh treatment while they reported on protests in support of imprisoned opposition figure Aleksei Navalny.”
It also said the office of student journal Doxa was searched in April in relation to “spurious charges, and four editors were then subjected to severe restrictions on their freedom.”
Other cases cited by the group included a June 29 raid by Russian authorities on the apartments of staff members of investigative news website The Project (Proekt), a move made on the same day the site published an investigation into alleged corrupt practices by Russia’s interior minister.
The statement added that Russian occupation authorities in Crimea have held Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko since March “and have reportedly tortured him in detention.”
“On July 15, Yesypenko was indicted on specious charges and faces up to 18 years’ imprisonment,” it said.
Yesypenko, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen who contributes to Crimea.Realities, was detained on suspicion of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence. He had worked in Crimea for five years reporting on the social and environmental situation on the peninsula before being detained.
A court in Simferopol on July 15 formally charged him with possession and transport of explosives. He pleaded not guilty and faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly at the time described the case as the latest example of the Kremlin's campaign to target independent media outlets and called it “a mockery of justice.”
The statement by the 18-nation group also said that on October 8, Russian authorities applied the “media foreign agent” label to the international investigative journalism project Bellingcat, known for its investigation of the poisoning of Navalny.
“In an unambiguous effort to suppress Russians’ access to independent reporting, the Russian government introduced onerous labeling requirements for so-called ‘media foreign agents’ last year.
“Since then, it has charged RFE/RL with more than 600 violations, resulting in fines totaling more than $4.4 million,” the statement said.
“It increasingly appears the Russian government intends to force RFE/RL to end its decades-long presence in Russia, just as it has already forced the closure of several other independent media outlets in recent years.”
In addition, it said, authorities have applied the media foreign agent label to independent Russian outlets operating within or near Russia’s borders,
"While concerns related to freedom of expression and the safety of journalists in Russia have intensified, they are not new. We stand in solidarity with independent Russian journalists who assume personal risk in carrying out their professional activities, and we honor the memory of those reporters whose intrepid work has cost them their lives...."
The statement urged Russia to comply with its international human rights commitments and obligations and “to respect and ensure media freedom and safety of journalists.”
Russian Rights Lawyer Who Fled Country Said He Has Been Added To 'Wanted List'
A well-known human rights lawyer who fled Russia last month after defending members of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's team said he has been added to the nation’s wanted list.
Defense lawyer Ivan Pavlov, who has taken on many politically charged cases over the years, including defending people charged with treason or espionage, made the comment on October 28 on this Telegram account.
Pavlov fled to neighboring Georgia last month, saying it was impossible to work in Russia because of the restrictions imposed on his activities by the criminal investigation opened against him.
The lawyer came under criminal investigation in April after he was accused of disclosing classified information in his defense of former journalist Ivan Safronov, who is being held on treason charges that he denies.
Earlier this year, Pavlov led the defense of Navalny's political network at a series of hearings that were closed to the public, which resulted in the groups being banned as "extremist."
Pavlov told Reuters last month that he did not think he had been targeted in a criminal case because of his work for Navalny, but for his years of dealing with cases involving Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Based on reporting by Reuters
Russian National Extradited By S. Korea Faces U.S. Court On Cybercrime Charges
A Russian national wanted on cybercrime charges has made his first appearance in a U.S. federal court after being extradited hours earlier by South Korea to the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged on October 28 that 38-year-old Vladimir Dunayev was a member of an international “cybercriminal organization” that developed and distributed the “Trickbot” malware that targeted U.S. schools, hospitals, and governments.
“Trickbot attacked businesses and victims across the globe and infected millions of computers for theft and ransom, including networks of schools, banks, municipal governments, and companies in the health care, energy, and agriculture sectors,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in a statement.
She said Dunayev is the second overseas Trickbot defendant arrested in recent months, “making clear that, with our international partners, the Department of Justice can and will capture cybercriminals around the world.”
The indictment alleges that Dunayev and others “stole money, confidential information, and damaged computer systems from unsuspecting victims, including individuals, financial institutions, school districts, utility companies, government entities, and private businesses” from November 2015 through August 2020.
It alleges that Dunayev performed a variety of developer functions in support of the Trickbot malware, “including managing the malware’s execution, developing popular browser modifications, and helping to conceal the malware from detection by security software.”
The DOJ said the suspect resided in the Yakutsk region of Russia and in Southeast Asia.
Dozens of ethnic Russians have been extradited to the United States over the past decade to face hacking charges as the DOJ steps up its fight against the cybercrime pandemic.
The United States is forced to extradite Russian nations from third countries as Russia does not turn over its own citizens to foreign law enforcement.
The latest suspect had been stuck in South Korea since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Seoul media reported.
Dunayev’s Russian passport had expired and was in the process of obtaining a new one from the local Russian Embassy in order to exit South Korea and return home.
Trickbot, which was created in 2016, is designed to steal personal and financial information and has caused tens of millions of dollars in damages to date.
The Trickbot group operated in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Suriname, according to the DOJ.
The malware is typically spread through email campaigns that entice an individual to open a malicious file attachment or click on a link that leads to a malicious file.
The creators of the Trickbot malware have continuously released new versions that evade the latest cyber security programs.
In February, the United States arrested Alla Witte, an ethnic Russian and TrickBot programmer, after she traveled to Miami.
Witte is charged with 19 counts of cybercrimes and is on trial in Cleveland, Ohio.
Russia Extends Detention Of Crimean Tatar Leader Another 2 1/2 Months
A court in Russia-annexed Crimea has extended the detention of Crimean Tatar leader Nariman Dzhelyal until January 23, his lawyer Mykola Polozova said.
Dzhelyal was arrested with four colleagues in early September on suspicion of involvement in an attack on a gas pipeline and initially ordered held for two months.
Ukraine has called the charges against Dzhelyal fabricated, while the United States has called for Russia to release him.
Dzhelyal is deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar's self-governing assembly -- the Mejlis -- which was banned by pro-Moscow representatives in Crimea after the annexation in 2014.
The arrest of Dzhelyal and his colleagues immediately sparked a protest outside the Crimean office of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) that ended with the detention of more than 50 people.
The Russian news agency Interfax in September reported that the criminal investigation against Dzhelyal relates to a gas pipeline that was damaged on August 23 in a village near Crimea’s capital, Simferopol.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzheppar said at the time that the detention of the five men was Moscow's "revenge" for a Kyiv conference dedicated to the "de-occupation" of Crimea that Dzhelyal had taken part in in August.
The event had been decried by Moscow as “anti-Russian.”
The court earlier this month sent Dzhelyal to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, a pressure tactic the Kremlin has often used against political opponents.
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