News
- By Todd Prince
NATO Should Put Troops In Ukraine On Rotational Basis To Deter Russia, Bolton Says
WASHINGTON – The United States and other members of NATO should rotate troops through Ukraine to deter Russia from pursuing military action against its smaller neighbor, former national-security adviser John Bolton said.
Bolton, who served under then-President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019, also said that the United States should send more lethal weapons to Ukraine amid growing concerns Russia could soon invade the country.
“We need … to make sure the costs are so high that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his advisers will find it unacceptable. I think that's the way to deter the military action that seems so imminent,” Bolton, an outspoken advocate of the use of American military power, told RFE/RL in an interview on December 6.
Russia has amassed more than 90,000 troops near its border with Ukraine for the second time this year, but this time around the concerns in the United States and Europe of a possible invasion are greater. Russia has denied it is planning military action against Ukraine.
A senior U.S. administration official said on December 6 that the current Russian troop and weapon movements “are consistent” with a planned military escalation in Ukraine, though the official said it was still unclear if Putin has ordered an invasion.
U.S. President Joe Biden will speak with Putin on December 7 to discuss Russia’s troop buildup as well as other important bilateral issues.
The senior administration official said Washington “is not seeking” to make U.S. troop deployment to Ukraine “the focus of U.S. countermeasures” should Russia initiate military hostilities. The senior official declined to say under what circumstances U.S. troops could be sent to Ukraine.
The United States currently has several hundred military trainers stationed in western Ukraine while U.K. media reported last month that Britain has 600 troops ready to deploy to Ukraine should hostilities erupt.
Moldova Strategy
Russian aggression toward Ukraine has been building as Putin sees the country slowly slipping away from the Kremlin’s orbit, analysts say.
Ukraine continues to push ahead with plans to join the European Union and NATO, something the Kremlin has called a red line.
Bolton said Russian aggression against Ukraine is just part of Putin’s wider strategy for maintaining the Kremlin’s influence in Russia’s near abroad.
He said the Russian leader keeps “probing” the six former Soviet states in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus -- Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan -- that are not in the Western military alliance and that NATO has to end the ambiguity over their future.
Only the governments of Georgia and Ukraine have expressed clear interest in joining NATO. Moldova has neutrality written into its constitution, while Belarus and Armenia are members of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
He said leaving any of six out of possible NATO membership is “basically saying to the Russians: ‘you can have suzerainty or even reannexation,’ which is something very, very dangerous.”
Russia uses so-called “frozen conflicts” in some of these nations, including Georgia and Moldova, to prevent those nations from moving forward with NATO membership.
Bolton said now is “the most favorable moment we've had in a long time” for NATO to end the frozen conflict in Moldova following the election of a West-leaning government.
Russia continues to back the Moldovan breakaway region of Transdniester, a sliver of land wedged between Moldova and Ukraine.
Bolton called Transdniester a “totally unnatural, artificial” republic that is on its “last legs” and said NATO members should threaten the breakaway region and Russia with economic sanctions to bring about an end to the standoff.
“I think economic pressure here is the way to go...to say we don't accept that Russia can create these frozen conflicts with this turmoil and uncertainty,” he said.
While not dismissing the difficulty of ending the frozen conflict in Moldova, Bolton said Russia’s hand was more vulnerable there than in the other five nations due to geographical distance.
“I'm confident we can make progress [on Moldova] and I think it's important that we try because that's one way of releasing [Russian] pressure on Ukraine,” he said.
With reporting by Oana Serafim and Ileana Breitenstein
Bashkir Activist Asks For Asylum In Lithuania
Bashkir ethnic activist Ruslan Gabbasov has left Russia for Lithuania, where he has asked for asylum, Gabbasov told RFE/RL's Idel.Realities on December 6.
Gabbasov said his decision was influenced by pressure from Russian authorities, who tried to connect him with criminal cases in Russia's Bashkortostan region.
According to Gabbasov, the authorities have been trying to incriminate him for his participation in the activities of the banned organization Bashkort. Before the organization was declared extremist and banned, Gabbasov was in the group's leadership.
The civil activist, who is a witness in one of the criminal cases, said more than 50 percent of the questions during interrogations concerned the Bashkort organization, and his name also appeared during the questioning within a Karmaskala case.
The authorities say there was an ethnic conflict between Bashkirs and Armenians, and Bashkort activists were allegedly instigators of the conflict.
Gabbasov, who is well-known in Bashkortostan, said he was summoned in September to the Center for Combating Extremism for interrogation as a witness in the criminal case, which he said he has nothing to do with.
"The investigator's questions mainly concerned the Bashkort organization: when it was established, what status I had there, the goals and objectives of the organization," Gabbasov told Idel.Realities.
He said he answered some questions but refused to answer others based on Article 51 of the Russian Constitution that says no one is obliged to testify against himself.
Gabbasov said he concluded from the questioning that the authorities' interest in Bashkort was an indication that he could be arrested.
“It is clear that these questions are not just being asked,” he said, adding that the situation in Bashkortostan remains unstable.
He noted that in November the former leader of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's headquarters in Bashkortostan, Lilia Chanysheva, was transferred to a detention center in the Moscow region, and activist Ramila Saitova in November was sentenced to three years in a colony settlement after a court in Bashkortostan found her guilty of calling for extremist activities.
Gabbasov participated in the Forum of Free Russia, which took place in Lithuania on December 2-3. He was a speaker of a panel that discussed federalism in Russia.
- By RFE/RL
Zelenskiy Talks With Blinken Ahead Of Biden-Putin Call
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by phone on December 6 ahead of President Joe Biden’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which Biden is expected to issue a strong warning against a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"Agreed to continue joint & concerted action. Grateful to U.S. strategic partners & allies for the continued support of our sovereignty & territorial integrity," Zelenskiy said on Twitter.
Russia's troop buildup as well as Ukraine's efforts to join the NATO alliance are expected to top the agenda of the video call between Biden and Putin on December 7.
Biden will make clear to Putin that there will be "very real costs" should Russia choose to proceed with military aggression against Ukraine, a White House official said in a background briefing call with reporters.
There "will be genuine and meaningful and enduring costs to choosing to go forward,” the official said.
The United States and European allies are prepared to take "substantial economic countermeasures...that would impose significant and severe economic harm on the Russian economy" if Russia attacks, the official said.
Ukraine has accused Russia of massing tens of thousands of troops near its border in preparation for a possible major military offensive. Russia has dismissed talk of a new assault on Ukraine as fearmongering and describes relations between the United States and Russia as in “a lamentable state.”
U.S. intelligence reports have suggested that Russia could be preparing to invade Ukraine as early as 2022. Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backs separatists in eastern Ukraine who have waged a bloody war against Kyiv that began the same year.
Moscow has demanded written guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO, calling such a scenario a "red line." The Kremlin has also expressed concerns about Western weapons supplies to Kyiv, as well as military drills in international waters of the Black Sea.
NATO and Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, have had friendly relations since the country gained its independence in the early 1990s. The two have deepened their cooperation since Russia's military actions in Ukraine in 2014.
Ukraine adopted legislation in 2017 reiterating its aim to join NATO as a strategic objective. However, Zelenskiy this summer expressed frustration over the issue, calling on Biden to give Kyiv either a "yes" or "no" on mapping out a plan for Ukraine to enter the alliance.
The United States has provided more than $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014, and both Washington and NATO have offered assurances of their unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
Regarding Moscow's ultimatums, Biden has said that he will not accept "anyone's red line."
Biden and Putin have met as presidents in person once, in Geneva in June. They last spoke by telephone in July.
With reporting by the BBC, AP, dpa, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Amnesty Launches Petition Demanding Release Of RFE/RL Journalist
Amnesty International has launched an online petition demanding the immediate release of RFE/RL freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko, who has said he has been tortured while in detention in Russian-occupied Crimea since March.
Yesypenko, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen who contributes to Crimea.Realities, was detained on March 10 on suspicion of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence. The father of one daughter had worked in Crimea for five years reporting on the social and environmental situation there before being detained.
Russia has sought to crush dissent in Crimea, including prosecuting journalists and human rights activists, since seizing the Ukrainian peninsula in March 2014.
"An officer of [Russia's Federal Security Service] FSB tortured Vladyslav with an electric shocker, beat and humiliated him. For almost a month, his lawyers were barred from seeing him. [If convicted]," he may face up to 18 years," Amnesty's petition said.
Yesypenko said earlier in court that he was tortured for two days from the moment he was detained until his transfer to a detention center in Crimea's capital, Simferopol.
In mid-July, a Russian-imposed court in Simferopol formally charged Yesypenko with the possession and transport of explosives. He pleaded not guilty.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has described the case as the latest example of the Kremlin's campaign to target independent media outlets and called it “a mockery of justice.”
Press freedom advocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, along with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the U.S. State Department, are among those who have called for Yesypenko’s immediate release in the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing.
In October, Yesypenko appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. lawmakers to do more to free more than 100 political prisoners detained by Russia's FSB for their activities in Crimea.
Shortly after Russia illegally annexed Crimea, Moscow began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine, known as the Donbas, in a conflict in which more than 13,200 people have died since April 2014.
Berlin Dismisses Tehran's Proposals On Nuclear Talks As Unacceptable
Germany's Foreign Ministry has said that it does not consider Iran's proposals regarding its nuclear program acceptable and expects Tehran to return to international negotiations with "realistic" bargaining positions.
"We reviewed the proposals...carefully and thoroughly, and concluded that Iran violated almost all compromises found previously in months of hard negotiations," a ministry spokeswoman said on December 6.
The proposals were "not a basis for a successful end to talks," the spokeswoman added.
Negotiations in Vienna aimed a resurrecting the stalled 2015 nuclear deal got off to a rocky start last week.
The United States, which left the agreement in 2018 but which is open to rejoining the pact under President Joe Biden, accused Iran of not being seriously interested in a new deal.
Iran, which has refused to participate in direct talks with Washington, has said that there can be no new deal unless all punitive sanctions imposed against Tehran are lifted.
Iran agreed to curbs on its controversial nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief under the original deal worked out between Iran and world powers.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume this week.
Based reporting by dpa and Reuters
Notorious Tajik Islamic State Recruiter Reappears In Syrian Refugee Camp
A notorious Islamic State recruiter from Tajikistan, who went missing from a prison in northern Syria last year, is in a refugee camp in the Turkey-controlled Syrian city of Jarabulus, sources and a relative told RFE/RL.
Parviz Saidrahmonov, 34, who is suspected of having links to terrorist attacks in Sweden, Russia, and Tajikistan, disappeared from a prison in the Syrian town of Afrin in mid-2020 when Tajikistan was working on his extradition to Dushanbe.
Two people told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that they saw Saidrahmonov, aka Abu Dovud, in a refugee camp in Jarabulus last week.
One of Saidrahmonov's relatives told RFE/RL that one of Saidrahmonov’s wives, who is from Russia's North Caucasus region of North Ossetia, and his four children are also in the refugee camp.
"Currently, the conditions Abu Dovud is experiencing fully differ from prison conditions, and the Turkish authorities are allowing him to meet his wife regularly," the relative said, adding that Saidrahmonov asked for money to be sent in one of his latest conversations by phone.
Meanwhile, an official of the Tajik Interior Ministry, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to speak officially on the issue, told RFE/RL that Ankara "had not given any clear answers" to Dushanbe's requests to extradite Saidrahmonov, who is wanted in Tajikistan and Russia on a charge of allegedly recruiting people to the extremist Islamic State (IS) organization in Syria.
According to Tajik authorities, he is accused of recruiting more than 200 people to IS.
Saidrahmonov has been suspected of being behind several attacks and terrorist plots in several countries.
Swedish investigators say he was an accomplice of Rakhmat Akilov, an Uzbek man who drove a hijacked truck down a busy pedestrian street in Stockholm on April 7, 2017, killing five people and injuring 10 others.
Akilov, a rejected asylum seeker in Sweden before the attack, was sentenced to life in prison in June 2018.
Belarusian Blogger Palchys Goes On Trial Amid Crackdown
MINSK -- Noted Belarusian blogger Eduard Palchys has gone on trial amid an ongoing crackdown on those who have challenged the official results of last year's presidential election that handed victory to strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka despite opposition claims the balloting was rigged.
Palchys refused to stand up when Judge Pyatro Arlou of the Minsk City Court entered the courtroom on December 6, saying he does not recognize the process as fair.
The judge in turn declared that the trial will be held behind closed doors "to prevent the distribution of extremist materials present in the case."
Palchys was arrested in September last year and sentenced to 30 days in jail on a charge of violating the law on mass gatherings.
After serving his sentence in October 2020, officials did not release Palchys and instead he was charged again, this time with incitement of social hatred, organization of mass disorder, organization of activities that disrupt social order, and calls for activities that aim to damage the country’s national security.
If found guilty, Palchys faces up to 12 years in prison. He has rejected all of the charges calling them politically motivated.
Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
Palchys is one of many in Belarus who have faced trials in recent months as authorities brutally suppress dissent in any form since the disputed presidential election in August 2020.
Rights activists and opposition politicians say the poll was rigged to extend Lukashenka's 26-year rule. Thousands have been detained during countrywide protests and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.
Many of Belarus's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka has refused to negotiate with the opposition.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the police crackdown.
Another Navalny Associate Flees Russia, Asks U.S. For Political Asylum
KALININGRAD, Russia -- Another associate of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has left Russia amid an ongoing crackdown against the defunct organizations associated with the Kremlin critic that were labeled as extremist earlier this year.
Aleksandr Chernikov, the former head of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups in Russia's far-western exclave of Kaliningrad, told the Novy Kaliningrad newspaper on December 6 that he and his family are currently in the United States where they have asked for political asylum.
According to Chernikov, Russian investigators had questioned him twice in "a case concerning extremism" after a court in Moscow labeled all organizations associated with Navalny as extremist earlier in June, effectively outlawing them.
Less than two weeks ago, the former head of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Sergei Boiko, who is also a member of the Novosibirsk city council wrote on Twitter that he and his family would not return to Russia from a business trip in an unspecified country because he feared persecution.
Boiko said he decided not to return to Russia after the arrest of the former chief of Navalny’s support group in the city of Ufa, Lilia Chanysheva, earlier in November.
In another case last month, the chief of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups in St. Petersburg, Irina Fatyanova, said she had left Russia for an unspecified country. Fatyanova also said that she decided to leave Russia after the arrest of Chanysheva.
Navalny has been in prison since February, while several of his associates have been charged with establishing an extremist group.
- By RFE/RL
Russia Records First Confirmed Cases Of Omicron Variant
Russia has recorded its first cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 as the country continues to struggle under a wave of new coronavirus infections.
The Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the state-run Rospotrebnadzor agency said on December 6 that a total of 10 cases of the Omicron variant were detected among a group of citizens who were tested after returning from South Africa or its neighbors.
"Research on other patients continues, the situation is under the special control of Rospotrebnadzor," the federal agency said.
The announcement came on the same day the coronavirus crisis center said a total of 1,184 COVID-19 deaths were recorded in the country over the previous 24 hours, the lowest one-day total in a month, but still near the record highs seen in the middle of last month.
The center added that 32,136 cases were recorded in the period, the lowest total since mid-October.
Officials have blamed the stubbornly high case loads in part on the reluctance of Russians to get vaccinated. Even though the country has several domestically produced vaccines, only about one-third of the population is vaccinated.
The country has recorded just over 9.8 million coronavirus infections and some 282,000 related deaths during the pandemic.
But critics and some health experts have accused officials of skewing the numbers to cover up a much higher death count, making the situation in hospitals even more precarious, they say.
Omicron is believed to be more infectious than its predecessors including the Delta variant, but scientists are still trying to determine how effective it is at evading vaccine protection.
The new strain has been identified in dozens of countries.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
Bulgarian Party Leader Expects Coalition Government Soon
Bulgaria's largest political party expects to soon form a coalition government and put an end to the political deadlock that has resulted in three parliamentary elections this year.
Kiril Petkov, the co-leader of the We Continue the Change party that won but fell far short of a majority in repeat elections in November, told President Rumen Radev on December 6 that "we fully understand that Bulgaria already absolutely needs to have a regular government."
The anti-graft We Continue the Change is currently holding coalition talks with the Socialists, the anti-elite populist movement There is Such a People party, and the center-right faction Democratic Bulgaria.
Petkov said he expects a deal by next week, which would give Bulgaria its first regular cabinet since the decade-long rule of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ended in April amid public anger over corruption.
According to a copy of the coalition proposal obtained by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, Petkov would be nominated by his party for the post of prime minister, and the government would include a separate minister for e-government, a deputy prime minister for effective governance, and a new ministerial position for growth and innovation that would be separate from the economic minister.
"No matter whether you are right-wing, leftist, or centrist, Bulgaria needs highways, safe dams, and good incomes," Petkov told Radev, adding that the coalition government would bring back millions of Bulgarians who left the country to work abroad.
Bulgaria is the European Union's most impoverished member, and voters went to the polls on November 14 with concerns about corruption, energy prices, and the coronavirus pandemic.
We Continue the Change won 67 seats in the 240-seat parliament, while Borisov's GERB party took 59 seats.
The new government is expected to overhaul the country's anti-corruption agency, boost COVID-19 vaccinations, and take steps to shield citizens from rising energy costs.
With reporting by Reuters
Instead Of Being Released, Belarusian Journalist Gets Another 10-Day Jail Term
MINSK -- Instead of being released from a detention center in Minsk after finishing a 10-day jail term, a freelance journalist who has worked for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, Andrey Kuznechyk, has been handed another 10-day jail term on a controversial hooliganism charge.
Relatives of Kuznechyk told RFE/RL that the journalist was supposed to be released on December 6 but remained in custody. Several hours later, they were told that he had been found guilty of hooliganism again and remanded in the detention center for another 10 days.
The relatives said that Kuznechyk maintained his innocence. According to the relatives, they were not allowed to bring parcels containing food, clothes, and letters to Kuznechyk, who has been held in Minsk’s notorious Akrestsina detention center, where many inmates have said they were tortured.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said the extension of Kuznechyk’s sentence "on absurdly fabricated charges" should be considered a crime in itself.
"Andrey’s state-sponsored kidnapping continues, all in furtherance of the Lukashenka regime’s efforts to block independent information from reaching the Belarusian people. Andrey should be allowed to return to his family immediately," Fly said in a statement on December 6, referring to Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Kuznechyk went for a bike ride on November 25. He returned accompanied by four men dressed in civilian clothes, according to his wife, Alesya Rak.
The men, who did not show any identification, then searched their apartment, Rak said, only avoiding the rooms of their two young children.
Kuznechyk was then led away by the group, who did not give a reason for his detention.
Over the weekend, another Belarusian journalist, Paval Belavus, was not released from jail, although his 15-day jail term ended on December 4.
Belavus was found guilty of taking part in an unsanctioned rally and sentenced on November 19. He was also held in the Akrestsina detention center.
On December 6, Belavus's colleagues said that he was handed a 13-day jail term two days earlier on hooliganism charges.
Tensions have been running high in Belarus since Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared winner of a presidential election in August 2020 that opponents and the West say was rigged.
Many Western nations have since refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus, leaving him more reliant than ever on Russia, which analysts say is using his weakened position to strengthen its hold over its smaller neighbor.
Tens of thousands of people have been detained, and human rights activists say more than 800 people are now in jail as political prisoners.
Independent media and opposition social media channels have been targeted as well.
"The regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues its effort to crush all independent media in Belarus," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said on the day of Kuznechyk's capture.
"Andrey was kidnapped by agents of the regime for nothing more than being a journalist. The regime also targeted one of our social media accounts, attempting to cut off more channels of information for the Belarusian people. Andrey should be released immediately and allowed to return to his wife and young children. He has committed no crime."
- By RFE/RL
Russia, India Extend Military Cooperation Deal During Putin-Modi Summit
Russia and India extended a program for military and technical cooperation lasting until 2031 and signed a slew of bilateral defense agreements, including a deal for the production of assault rifles, during President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi on December 6.
In addition, the two countries are planning long-term cooperation on coal, shipbuilding, fertilizer, steel, and skilled labor, India’s foreign secretary said after the meeting in New Delhi.
Harsh Vardhan Shringl said that Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed interest in furthering oil and gas investments in each other's countries, agreed on the need to strengthen the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and discussed extending maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean.
The agreement for the manufacture of Kalashnikov assault rifles at a factory in India's Uttar Pradesh through a joint venture was one of the pacts signed during a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation, a Defense Ministry spokesman said. India will produce more than 600,000 AK-203s under the deal.
Another pact signed during the meeting led by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was a program for military technical cooperation from 2021 to 2031, which extends an existing protocol.
On COVID-19, Shringl said the two leaders agreed on the need for multilateral framework to manage the pandemic.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced ahead of the summit that an agreement to supply India with S-400 air-defense missile systems would go ahead despite what he described as efforts by the United States to undermine the deal.
India has begun taking deliveries of the advanced Russian system under a $5.4 billion deal signed by Putin during a visit to India in 2018, potentially putting New Delhi in the crosshairs of U.S. sanctions.
"The S-400 deal is not only symbolic, but also pragmatically significant for ensuring India’s defense potential," Lavrov said after negotiations with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Lavrov also told journalists that the two sides agreed that the Taliban, which retook control of Afghanistan in August, must live up to its pledges to have an inclusive and ethnically and political mixed government, safeguard human rights, and prevent any terrorist and drug trafficking threats on Afghan soil.
The Russian foreign minister added that Moscow saw benefits to India and Iran joining the so-called extended Troika on Afghanistan, which currently includes Russia, the United States, China, and Pakistan.
Putin’s visit to India marks only his second trip outside Russia since the coronavirus pandemic, after a June summit in Geneva with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Putin's deal for Russia to deliver S-400 systems has attracted controversy going into the talks.
A similar purchase by NATO ally Turkey led to U.S. sanctions and Ankara’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet program under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
The United States hasn’t decided whether to grant India a waiver for Russian arms purchases under CAATSA, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on November 23.
Conversations with India are ongoing “in the context of a defense relationship that is meaningful to us, that is important both to the United States and India, including in the context of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Price said.
India appears to believe it will be granted a waiver as it expands ties with the United States with the aim of countering China.
Junior Defense Minister Ajay Bhatt told parliament last week that the government was aware of potential U.S. action but will make “sovereign decisions” based on the country’s defense needs.
“The S-400 is a potent system in terms of its operational capability to provide a continuous and effective air defense system to a very large area,” Bhatt said. “With the induction of this system, [the] air defense capability of the nation will be significantly enhanced.”
The world’s largest democracy is a member of the Quad group with United States, Japan, and Australia that is emerging as a bloc to contain Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region, making New Delhi a key partner for Washington.
India views China as one of its biggest security threats and the two nuclear-armed powers skirmished along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020, leading to dozens of casualties on both sides amid an ongoing standoff.
India plans to place the S-400s in the northwest of the country, near the disputed borders with China and rival nuclear power Pakistan. The S-400s will be operational early next year and expanded as the system is progressively delivered by 2023, The Times of India reported.
Russia is India’s largest weapons supplier, accounting for 23 percent of Moscow’s global arms exports between 2016 and 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
But the share of India’s arms purchases from Russia has fallen from 70 to 49 percent between the period 2011 and 2015 as well as between 2016 and 2020, according to SIPRI. The drop comes as New Delhi seeks to modernize and diversity away from Soviet-era and Russian military equipment by expanding defense purchases from France, Israel, and the United States.
With reporting by AFP, TASS, dpa, AP, and The Times of India
Belarus Charges Russian Sapega With Incitement
Belarusian prosecutors have filed charges against Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was arrested along with her boyfriend, opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich, after authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka ordered a passenger plane they were on diverted as it flew over the country's airspace.
Sapega has been charged with “inciting hatred” for administering a Telegram channel that published the personal data of security forces, which have led a crackdown on the country’s pro-democracy movement, civil society, and independent media, the BBC’s Russian Service reported on December 5.
If convicted, Sapega could face up to six years in prison.
Sapega, a Russian citizen who lived most of her life in Belarus, and Pratasevich, who is Belarusian, were arrested on May 23 when Belarus scrambled a military jet to escort a Ryanair passenger flight over its airspace to land in Minsk. Many countries regarded the diversion as a "state hijacking."
After the plane landed, law enforcement immediately arrested the two, who were flying from Athens to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. They were later put under house arrest.
Pratasevich faces charges of being behind civil disturbances that followed a disputed presidential election in August 2020, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
He was a key administrator of the Telegram channel Nexta-Live, which had been covering mass protests denouncing the official results of the election.
The charges against Sapega were previously less clear.
Belarusian authorities earlier released a video of Sapega, a law student studying for her master's degree in Vilnius, where she says that she edits Black Book of Belarus -- a Telegram channel which has published the personal information of security officials.
Belarus has classified the channel as an extremist group.
But critics say she made the statement under duress.
Lukashenka's regime has been under international pressure since it launched a brutal crackdown in the wake of the disputed election.
The opposition says the election was rigged, while the EU, the United States, and other countries have refused to recognize the official results of the vote and do not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader.
The United States, the European Union, Britain, and Canada have slapped several rounds of coordinated sanctions on Belarus.
With reporting by BBC's Russian service
- By RFE/RL
Russia Renews Push For WHO Approval Of Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine
Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping for World Health Organization (WHO) approval soon for Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine so that it can be used more broadly around the world.
"We intend to expand such assistance," Putin said on December 5 in a video call with Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Approval by the WHO could pave the way for its inclusion into the COVAX program that is shipping COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world based on need.
The Gamaleya Institute that developed Sputnik V has said the vaccine should be efficient against the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but also said it would immediately start working on adapting it to counter the new variant.
"No doubt, we need to pool efforts internationally. Because if we see problems linked with insufficient vaccination even in one part of the world, these new variants, strains will reach even countries with wide vaccination coverage again and again," he said, according to TASS.
Russia has for months pressed for the WHO's approval of Sputnik V. In October the WHO's assistant director-general for access to health products wouldn't make any commitment to a timetable. The official said the approval process at the time was on hold, citing legal procedures.
The Russian leader also argued that WHO's approval would open the door people who have had the Sputnik V vaccine to travel more freely. He noted that around 200 million people worldwide had been inoculated with Sputnik V thus far, and he was one of them.
Putin received his first dose in March and became fully vaccinated with a second dose in April. He said on November 21 that he received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot and felt no ill effects afterward. But the Russian public has been less enthusiastic, and so far only about 40 percent of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated.
Russia approved the Sputnik V vaccine months before most countries rolled out their own shots. The country was criticized when it announced the approval because at the time Sputnik V had only been tested on a few dozen people.
But a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet in February showed the Sputnik V was 91.6 percent effective in preventing people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19.
The shot has been given the green light in more than 70 countries, and Putin said data from those countries indicated that the vaccine is safe.
With reporting by AP and TASS
Belarus Summons Ukrainian Military Attache Over Alleged Airspace Violation
The Belarusian Defense Ministry has summoned Ukraine's military attaché to protest what the ministry said were "increasing violations" of Belarus's airspace by Ukrainian aircraft.
The ministry on December 5 said the attaché was summoned because of what it said was a violation the day before of the country's airspace by a Ukrainian military helicopter that flew up to a kilometer into Belarusian territory.
Belarus handed a note of protest to the attaché after he was summoned to the ministry's Department of International Military Cooperation, the ministry said in a statement.
"The military attaché was informed that the Ukrainian side is avoiding a dialogue to resolve controversial issues, both in terms of international military cooperation and arms control, which is very worrying," the ministry said.
A spokesperson for Ukraine's border-guard service denied the accusation, according to Reuters. The Ukrainian Army said on December 5 that it had nothing to add to that comment.
Belarus is engaged in a bitter diplomatic standoff with the West over Alyaksandr Lukashenka's crackdown on dissent since a disputed election in 2020 and what the European Union has called his "weaponization" of Middle Eastern migrants to create a crisis on Belarus's border with EU members Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
The European Union, United States, and other Western powers this week imposed a fifth round of sanctions on Lukashenka and his elites over alleged rights and other abuses.
Lukashenka has increasingly relied on the diplomatic, economic, and military support of Moscow, which has recently staged joint military drills and last month launched regular air patrols over Belarus's western border.
Meanwhile, many of the thousands of Iraqis and other migrants from the Middle East hoping to travel to the West remain camped out in Belarus near the Polish border.
Tensions have also increased over concerns that Russia is massing tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders in what NATO and Ukraine have suggested is part of preparations for a possible invasion of Ukraine. Russia denies any such plan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are due to hold a video call on December 7 in which they will discuss wider tensions in the region.
With reporting by Reuters
Azerbaijan Returns Captured Armenian Soldiers In Exchange For Mine Maps
Azerbaijan has freed 10 Armenian soldiers captured during deadly border clashes last month.
In return, Armenia handed over maps detailing the location of minefields in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan's State Security Service said on December 4, adding that Russia mediated the exchange.
Renewed border clashes erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia in mid-November before Russia brokered a cease-fire, ending the worst fighting since last year's Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Azerbaijan said seven of its soldiers were killed in the November 16 fighting. Armenia said six of its soldiers were killed and more than 30 servicemen were captured.
The violence renewed international calls for the two neighbors to engage in a process of delimitating and demarcating their Soviet-era border.
Following the clashes, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
In last year's six-week war, Baku gained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as adjacent territories that had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since the end of a separatist war in 1994. Some 2,000 Russian troops were deployed to monitor the cease-fire.
Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts are one of the most heavily mined areas of the former Soviet Union.
Since the end of last year's war, Azerbaijan says more than two dozen of its security forces and civilians have been killed and more than 100 people wounded by land mines in the area.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have previously swapped prisoners for minefield maps.
Azerbaijan's government hopes obtaining mine maps will help save lives and accelerate construction, so that people displaced from villages and towns during a bloody conflict in the early 1990s can return to their lands.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
- By Current Time
Russian Ruling Party Sticks With Medvedev As Chairman, Other Familiar Faces
Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and longtime sidekick to Vladimir Putin, has won a new five-year term as chairman of the ruling United Russia party.
He was chosen unanimously at a party congress on December 4 that also returned other veteran leaders to senior posts.
Medvedev is currently the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, a standalone part of the presidential administration with formal and informal influence on security-related policies.
He maintains leadership of the party following elections in September that highlighted declining support for United Russia.
Critics say it took the systematic elimination of challengers like jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, along with fraud and administrative resources to keep the Kremlin-backed United Russia in tight control of government in the face of a falling standard of living for most Russians.
"We will try to help every person regardless of his political convictions," Medvedev told delegates after his reelection.
Medvedev served as president for one term from 2008-12 in a move that allowed Putin to claim compliance with Russia's constitutional two-consecutive-term limit upon his return.
Boris Gryzlov was reelected as United Russia's chairman of the supreme party council, a post he has held since 2002.
Andrei Turchak was also given a new term as secretary of United Russia's general council.
United Russia's support was 28.6 percent in late November, according to state polling agency VTsIOM.
The Communist Party was second at around 18 percent.
Putin's current stint as president has seen the jailings of political opponents, a further consolidation of Kremlin influence over media, a tightening of prohibitions on dissent, and the use of a controversial "foreign agent" law to frustrate and shut down independent NGOs and journalists.
- By RFE/RL
Iran's Army Says Air-Defense 'Test' Behind Blast Over Nuclear City Of Natanz
Iranian state television has said the country's military fired a missile to test air defenses over Natanz, a city that houses nuclear sites.
The announcement came after unconfirmed local reports on December 4 of a blast in the sky above the city, in central Iran, about 200 kilometers from the capital, Tehran.
"Iran's air-defense units fire missile to test [the] rapid-reaction force over Natanz city," read a bulletin on Press-TV, Iran's English-language international broadcaster.
Natanz hosts an underground center for centrifuges that enrich uranium, which is at the center of Western allegations of secret military nuclear activities.
"Such exercises are carried out in a completely secure environment...and there is no cause for concern," army spokesman Shahin Taqikhani told state TV, according to Reuters.
AFP quoted a spokesman as saying, "An hour ago, one of our missile systems in the region was tested to assess the state of readiness on the ground, and there is nothing to fear."
The army was responding after widespread concern from locals who witnessed the unexplained blast.
No drills or exercises had been announced prior to the incident.
"Local sources have reported hearing a large explosion in the Natanz sky," the ISNA news agency said earlier on December 4. "No official source has yet confirmed or denied the report."
The semiofficial Fars news agency quoted a reporter in a nearby city as saying an intense light had been seen and a blast rang out.
"No exact details are available about this," Fars quoted a local governor as saying, according to Reuters.
Later, Press-TV published a breaking story that said simply that "Iran’s air defense force" had confirmed the "test."
Iran blamed Israel for what it called an attack on Natanz when a power cutoff caused a blackout at the facility in April.
Multiple incidents at Iranian nuclear and scientific facilities and assassinations of leading nuclear scientists have been blamed by Iranian officials on Israel or the West.
A seventh round of international talks in Vienna aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers including the United States ended on December 3 with talk of new setbacks.
Israel has threatened to take military action if diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability fail.
Iran has consistently rejected accusations it is developing nuclear weapons and says its atomic activities are for civilian aims, despite findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Tehran previously obfuscated and deceived over its nuclear activities.
Secretary-General Rafael Grossi warned after a trip to Tehran last month that time was running out for the IAEA to gain access to reinstall cameras at a workshop in Iran that makes parts for advanced centrifuges, saying its inspectors would soon be unable to "guarantee" equipment there was not being diverted to a potential secret nuclear program.
With reporting by Reuters
Belarus Alleges Border Violation By Ukrainian Military Helicopter
Belarus's border authority has alleged, without producing evidence, that a Ukrainian military helicopter flew up to a kilometer into Belarusian territory, underscoring increasingly tense bilateral relations as Minsk and its ally Moscow test Western resolve in the region.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the accusation by the Belarusian state border service on December 4, which said the alleged overflight happened during military drills, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
There was no outside confirmation of such a violation.
Belarus is engaged in a bitter diplomatic standoff with the West over Alyaksandr Lukashenka's crackdown on dissent since a disputed election in 2020 and what the European Union has called his "weaponization" of Middle Eastern migrants to create a crisis on Belarus's border with EU members Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
The European Union, United States, and other Western powers this week imposed a fifth round of sanctions on Lukashenka and his elites over alleged rights and other abuses.
Lukashenka has increasingly relied on the diplomatic, economic, and military support of Moscow, which has recently staged joint military drills and last month launched regular air patrols over Belarus's western border.
Russia has also been accused of a major troop buildup in its west in what Kyiv and Washington have suggested is part of preparations for a possible invasion of Ukraine.
In July, Lukashenka fully closed Belarus's border with Ukraine after he alleged that the United States and its allies had been plotting a coup to topple him from power, the latest such accusation rejected by Washington or its allies.
Minsk on November 30 reversed policy to recognize Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine -- a takeover that has been overwhelmingly rejected in the United Nations -- as Kyiv continues to battle Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, many of the thousands of Iraqis and other migrants from the Middle East hoping to travel to the West remain camped out in Belarus near the Polish border.
Belarusian sources have said thousands have already been flown back to the Middle East since Turkey and other countries began cooperating more closely to thwart Minsk's alleged efforts to ship in migrants to put pressure on the EU border.
An Iraqi Airways flight left Minsk for Irbil on December 4 with more than 400 people aboard, according to officials at Minsk's international airport.
Many more third-country migrants are still camping out in subzero temperatures, including at an emergency shelter at a logistics center in Bruzhi.
With reporting by Reuters and RIA Novosti
- By RFE/RL
Biden, Putin Set Video Call For Next Week To Discuss Ukraine, Other Issues
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will hold a secure video call on December 7 to discuss Ukraine and other topics, the White House and Kremlin have confirmed.
The virtual meeting comes as Washington and Kyiv say Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of troops along with tanks and heavy weaponry in western Russia and could be planning an offensive as early as January.
"President Biden will underscore U.S. concerns with Russian military activities on the border with Ukraine and reaffirm the United States’ support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the White House said on December 4.
The two leaders will also discuss a range of topics, including strategic nuclear weapons, cyberattacks, and regional issues, the White House said.
Earlier this week, Putin reiterated Russia had "red lines" about any prospective NATO membership for Ukraine and raised concerns about Western weapons supplies to Kyiv and military drills in the Black Sea.
The Kremlin said that the Russian leader would seek binding guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine during the call with Biden.
Washington has rejected Russia's ultimatums. "I don't accept anyone's 'red line,'" Biden told reporters on December 3.
"What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he's going to do," Biden said.
U.S. officials have said they are uncertain of Russia's motives and whether Putin has made the political-military decision to stage an offensive against Ukraine.
Russia forcefully seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and is backing separatists in eastern Ukraine in an ongoing conflict that has claimed more than 13,200 lives.
A report in The Washington Post on December 3, citing a U.S. official and an unclassified intelligence document, said Russia could be planning a multifront offensive involving up to 175,000 troops as soon as early next year.
Earlier on December 3, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told lawmakers that the country's intelligence had assessed that the "likelihood of large-scale escalation by Russia exists."
"The most likely time to reach readiness for escalation will be the end of January," Reznikov said.
Ukraine has estimated around 95,000 Russian troops are currently near its borders.
Biden is also expected to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in this week, according to Ukrainian officials.
Moscow blames Ukraine and its Western backers for fanning recent tensions, pointing to what it says is a similar Ukrainian military buildup and a failure by Kyiv to meet its commitments under the Minsk agreements aimed at putting an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Some analysts say Russia is saber-rattling to extract concessions from the United States and its allies over issues such as NATO's eastward expansion, weapons shipments to Ukraine, and the stalled Minsk agreements.
Biden and Putin have had one face-to-face meeting since the U.S. president took office in January, sitting down for talks in Geneva last June. They last talked by phone in July.
During those talks, Biden pressed Putin to rein in ransomware and cybercrime attacks emanating from Russian soil. Ransomware attacks have continued since then.
With reporting by Reuters, Interfax, and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Thousands Of Serbs Protest 'Anti-Environment' Laws; Vucic Vows To 'Solve Problems'
BELGRADE/NOVI SAD -- Thousands of demonstrators have protested around the country with blockades in Belgrade and other cities to oppose new legislation on property expropriation and referendums that they contend favor private companies over citizens and the environment.
Main streets and a highway in the capital were blocked by protesters.
Minor incidents and some skirmishes were reported as demonstrations took place in Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Sabac, Nis, Kragujevac, Subotica, Uzice, and Raska.
The protests come as long-standing public opposition mobilizes against plans for a huge Anglo-Australian lithium mine in western Serbia and with reports trickling out of alleged neglect for environmental and labor safeguards at a handful of major Chinese-run facilities in the country.
Serbia suffers from some of Europe's worst pollution, and critics lay much of the blame on government corruption and lax regulatory enforcement to encourage the flow of foreign investment into the Western Balkans' biggest economy.
For the second Saturday in a row, activists took to the streets over the authorities' recent moves to lower the referendum threshold and allow for swift expropriation of private property if deemed in the public interest.
A fight broke out in Novi Sad between protesters and a small number of young men who threw stones at those gathered to block a main boulevard.
There was no police presence at that event, in an echo of similar standoffs last week where groups of counterprotesters were allowed to manhandle demonstrators.
Ahead of the rallies, the Interior Ministry warned that the blockades were illegal.
President Aleksandar Vucic had said there would be no action against the protesters by lay enforcement "as long as they do not endanger the lives and property of people and institutions."
Speaking during a trip to western Serbia on December 4, Vucic said he had not yet signed the amendment to the law on expropriation, which was passed by his Progressive Party (SNS) allies in parliament a week ago.
The deadline for his signature is December 10.
Vucic said he disagreed with the changes to the expropriation law as passed and pledged to seek changes, but he did not specify what those changes would be.
The approved bill allows for private property to be taken, with compensation, within five days if it is deemed to be in the national interest.
Vucic said that is insufficient time for owners to challenge such a finding.
Vucic already signed new legislation eliminating the threshold for minimum participation in national referendums.
He has previously pledged to hold a referendum on Anglo-Australian mining and mineral giant Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion plans for a 250-hectare underground mining complex near Loznica.
On November 27, thousands of protesters blocked traffic at roads and bridges in Belgrade and other cities and towns.
Several demonstrators were detained.
Environmental groups and civil society organizations argue recently adopted amendments to the Law on Expropriation and the Law on Referendum will pave the way for foreign companies to circumvent popular discontent over projects such Rio Tinto's.
Serbian authorities have rejected the accusations, saying the new laws are needed because of infrastructure projects.
Rio Tinto has said it plans to present an environmental impact study by the end of this year, and next year begin the four-year construction of the mine to exploit a massive deposit of jadarite, a mineral high in lithium and borates that was discovered in 2004.
Experts have warned the project could destroy farmland and further pollute the waters of a country already racked by severe levels of air, land, and water pollution.
Rio Tinto has vowed to respect all Serbian laws and denied its project will endanger the environment.
Vucic said during a visit to the planned mine site in Gornje Nedeljice, near Loznica, that he wanted to hear all of the citizenry's concerns and promised he will ask Rio Tinto to protect public health.
"What is important is that we talk and try to solve problems," Vucic said.
- By RFE/RL
Russia Blasted Over 'Unprecedented' Pressure On Jailed Journalist's Lawyers
Human rights and media-freedom watchdogs are calling on Russia to stop prosecuting media lawyers and allow reporters to receive proper legal assistance as the authorities are "stepping up their harassment" of journalists via the controversial "foreign agents" law.
Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued the pleas this week after one of the lawyers defending Ivan Safronov, a jailed investigative reporter charged with treason, fled Russia late last month.
Yevgeny Smirnov fled to Georgia after the Leningrad regional bar association initiated disciplinary proceedings against him at the behest of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Smirnov, who is accused of failing to be present for six investigative procedures without a valid reason, is the second lawyer defending Safronov to flee Russia in the past three months.
Ivan Pavlov also left to Georgia in September after the authorities opened a case against him earlier this year for allegedly disclosing classified information about the Safronov investigation -- an allegation he denies.
Amnesty International on December 1 expressed deep concern about the "unprecedented pressure" placed by the authorities on Pavlov and Smirnov, and about "the continuing unlawful pressure" exerted on Safronov and the conditions of his pretrial detention.
"The actions of the Russian authorities violate the rights to fair trial, freedom of expression, and freedom of association, as well as are entirely inconsistent with the obligations to protect human rights defenders," the London-based human rights group said in a statement.
Safronov was arrested and charged with high treason in July 2020. He is accused of passing secret information to the Czech Republic, a university in Switzerland, and Germany's intelligence service.
A former adviser to the head of Russian space agency Roskosmos and a onetime journalist, he has rejected the accusations against him and many of his supporters have held pickets demanding his release.
A wanted notice has been issued for Pavlov, who headed the St. Petersburg-based legal-defense organization Komanda 29, and he was placed on the "foreign agents" list in early November along with four former colleagues.
The coalition of lawyers and journalists was dissolved in July over its alleged links to a Czech nongovernmental organization branded by the Russian authorities as "undesirable."
"These proceedings and this use of the 'foreign agents' label against media lawyers is designed solely to put additional pressure on the journalists they defend, to isolate these journalists, and to deter those who could assist them," Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a statement on December 3.
Cavelier urged the Leningrad regional bar association and the Russian Justice Ministry "not to yield to the FSB's pressure and to drop all the baseless proceedings against lawyers who defend journalists, so that they can practice their profession in the manner prescribed by the law."
The Russian authorities a year ago began to place media outlets and journalists on the "foreign agents" list, and are now targeting lawyers, the Paris-based group said, noting that the head of the Mass Media Defense Center, a source of expertise and legal assistance for media in difficulty, became the first lawyer to be placed on the register in October.
When it was first promulgated in 2012, the "foreign agents" law originally targeted organizations that receive foreign funding, and which the government deems to be engaged in political activity. It has since been amended repeatedly and increasingly used to target media outlets and individual journalists and bloggers.
The law requires targeted organizations to be registered, to identify themselves as "foreign agents," and to submit to audits.
The designation also restricts other media from citing a "foreign agent" organization without including a disclaimer.
According to RSF, the wording of the legislation "has become so vague that it is now easy for the authorities to use it against anyone they want to silence."
The law is used "to intimidate not only journalists and sources but also the readers and advertisers of a media outlet placed on the list, with the aim of making the outlet gradually disappear," the group said.
On December 3, Russia's Justice Ministry labeled four current and former RFE/RL journalists as "foreign agents," adding their names to a list of about 100 media entities and journalists.
The regime of President Vladimir Putin "is escalating its campaign against journalists who dare to report the facts inside Russia's own borders," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said.
- By RFE/RL
Biden Says He'll Make It 'Very Difficult' For Russia To Attack Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden has said that he is prepared to "make it very, very difficult" for Russia to launch an attack against Ukraine, amid growing Western concerns over Moscow’s intentions in the face of a Russian military buildup near the Ukrainian border.
The warning came as Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold a video call in the coming days, both sides confirmed on December 3.
Washington and Kyiv say Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's border, and is potentially planning an offensive as early as January.
But U.S. officials have said they were unclear of Russia's motives and whether Putin has made the political-military decision to stage an offensive.
Some analysts say Russia is saber-rattling to extract concessions from the United States and its allies over issues such as NATO's eastward expansion and weapons shipments to Ukraine.
Russia forcefully seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and is backing separatists in eastern Ukraine in an ongoing conflict that has claimed more than 13,200 lives over the past seven years.
"What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he's going to do," Biden told reporters.
The president said his administration was in "constant contact" with Ukraine and European allies about the situation, following weeks of reports Russian troops, tanks, and heavy weaponry were massing near the Ukrainian border.
A report in The Washington Post on December 3, citing a U.S. official and an unclassified intelligence document, said Russia could be planning a multifront offensive involving up to 175,000 troops as soon as early next year.
Earlier on December 3, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told lawmakers that the country's intelligence had assessed that the "likelihood of large-scale escalation by Russia exists."
"The most likely time to reach readiness for escalation will be the end of January," Reznikov said.
While Ukraine has estimated that around 95,000 Russian troops are currently near its borders, the U.S. intelligence assessment put the current number at 70,000 but predicted a potentially higher buildup.
"The plans involve extensive movement of 100 battalion tactical groups with an estimated 175,000 personnel, along with armor, artillery and equipment," an administration official told The Washington Post.
Moscow blames Ukraine and its Western backers for fanning recent tensions, pointing to what it says is a similar Ukrainian military buildup and a failure by Kyiv to meet its commitments under the Minsk agreements aimed at putting an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Putin reiterated Russia had "red lines" about any prospective NATO membership for Ukraine, and raised concerns about Western weapon supplies to Kyiv and military drills in the Black Sea.
Washington has rejected Russia's ultimatums about weapon supplies and Ukraine one day joining NATO, but the issue is likely to dominate discussions between Biden and Putin.
The Kremlin said that the Russian leader would seek binding guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine during the call with Biden.
"I don't accept anyone's red line," the U.S. president said.
It's unclear what the U.S. response would be to any Russian offensive. At a NATO ministerial in Latvia on December 1, Secretary of State Antony Blinken threatened "a range of high-impact economic measures that we've refrained from using in the past."
He did not specify what sanctions were being weighed, but one potential could be to cut off Russia from the SWIFT system of international payments, a move that would be devastating to the Russian financial system.
With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and The Washington Post
Azerbaijan Urged To Probe 'Horrific' Beating Of Opposition Activist In Custody
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on Azerbaijan to conduct a "prompt, impartial, and thorough" investigation into the violent dispersal of a peaceful protest by police in Baku earlier this week, and the "horrific" beating of an opposition politician and vocal government critic while in detention.
"Azerbaijani authorities have yet again demonstrated brazen contempt for people's right to hold peaceful protests and used violence to quash dissent," Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at the New York-based human rights watchdog, said in a statement on December 3, two days after police detained dozens of protesters gathered in central Baku.
In a tweet on December 2, the U.S. Embassy in Baku expressed deep concern about the violence against the protesters, and said it supported "peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression, as enshrined in Azerbaijan’s constitution."
Among those detained during the December 1 rally was a leading member of the opposition Musavat Party, Tofiq Yaqublu, who sustained multiple injuries while in police custody.
Yaqublu, 60, said police beat him while demanding that he say on camera that he would stop criticizing Azerbaijan's leadership.
"Yaqublu's horrific mistreatment was an attack on both an individual and the right to peaceful assembly," Gogia said. "Given Azerbaijan's poor record of addressing police abuses, the authorities need to ensure an effective, impartial investigation and hold to account those responsible."
The Azerbaijani government has been widely accused of human rights abuses, including torture and arbitrary detention.
The participants at the December 1 rally demanded the release of opposition activist Saleh Rustamli, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence on what HRW called "spurious" money-laundering charges.
Rustamli has been on a hunger strike since November 6, after parliament adopted an amnesty bill that is expected to release 3,000 prisoners but did not apply to his case.
Police cordoned off areas of Baku's center ahead of the protest, but several dozen protesters managed to make their way to the city center, chanting "Free Saleh Rustamli."
Police and security officials in civilian clothes immediately intervened and "forcibly restrained protesters, twisting their arms, and violently dragging them," including Yaqublu, to police vehicles, HRW said.
About 40 demonstrators were rounded up, the group said, adding that most of them were released shortly thereafter in the outskirts of the capital.
At least five were sentenced by courts to up to 30 days of administrative detention.
Appearing in a video after his release, Yaqublu was badly bruised and said he was nearly suffocated by officers.
Yaqublu told RFE/RL he had officially filed a complaint at the Prosecutor-General's Office.
The Interior Ministry has denied that police beat the opposition politician or subjected him to any pressure, but said that Yaqublu's allegations will be investigated.
Opponents of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Western countries, and international human rights groups say his government has persistently persecuted critics, political foes, independent media outlets, and civic activists.
Aliyev, who has ruled the country of almost 10 million people since shortly before the death of his father and predecessor, Heydar Aliyev, in 2003, has shrugged off the criticism.
Russia Hits Record 75,000 Monthly COVID-19 Deaths In October
Russia's state statistics agency, Rosstat, has tallied 74,893 deaths from COVID-19 in October, the highest monthly number since the pandemic began.
The agency reported on December 3 that total deaths from the pandemic through October reached over 537,000, the worst fatality count in the world behind the United States and Brazil.
Statistics for November, when the country faced a surge of infections, haven't been released.
The government's official COVID-19 death figures are almost half the Rosstat numbers.
The discrepancy can be explained by the government's coronavirus task force 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.
The surge in infections is largely attributed to the highly infectious Delta variant and low vaccination rates, with only around 40 percent of Russians fully vaccinated.
Russia in recent months has faced its deadliest and largest surge of coronavirus cases, with both figures regularly breaking records.
Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters
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