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Russia Bars Eight EU Citizens From Entry In Tit-For-Tat Move Slammed By Brussels
Russia has barred eight officials from European Union countries from entering the country in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russian citizens by Brussels -- a move to which the bloc said it "reserves the right" to respond.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 30 that those banned included European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, and David Sassoli, the president of the European parliament.
The EU imposed sanctions last month on two Russians accused of persecuting gay and lesbian people in the southern Russian region of Chechnya.
The EU also imposed sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin the same month.
Russia once again criticized the bloc's punitive measures and accused it of fomenting anti-Russian "hysteria."
"The EU continues the policy of illegitimate unilateral sanctions against Russian citizens and organizations," the statement said.
"In March 2021, six Russians were subjected to unlawful EU restrictions. This practice contradicts the UN charter and the basic norms of international law. It is accompanied by anti-Russian hysteria, deliberately spread by the Western media," it said.
Berlin's chief state prosecutor Joerg Raupach is also on the list, an apparent tit-for-tat response to the bloc's decision last month to slap entry bans on high-ranking Russian officials for their role in the jailing of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.
The other five Europeans on the list are Ivars Abolins, the head of Latvia's national council for electronic media; Maris Baltins, the director of Latvia's state language center; Jacques Maire, a member of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE); Asa Scott, the head of the chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear safety lab at the Swedish Total Defense Research Institute; and Ilmar Tomusk, the chief of the Language Department of Estonia.
The statement says that the actions of the bloc "leave no doubt that their true goal is to restrain the development of our country at any cost."
In response, the EU called the Russian move "unacceptable" and "entirely groundless" and condemned it "in the strongest possible terms" in a statement on April 30.
"This decision is the latest, striking demonstration of how the Russian Federation has chosen confrontation with the EU instead of agreeing to redress the negative trajectory of our bilateral relations," the statement said.
"The EU reserves the right to take appropriate measures in response to the Russian authorities' decision."
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Severely Beaten Uzbek Blogger Under House Arrest After Release From Hospital
TASHKENT -- Uzbek blogger and rights activist Miraziz Bazarov, who was severely beaten by unknown attackers in March, has been put under house arrest after being released from the hospital.
Bazarov's lawyer, Sergei Mayorov, told RFE/RL that his client was immediately taken to the Tashkent City Main Directorate of Interior Affairs after he was released from hospital on April 29.
According to Mayorov, Bazarov is under house arrest on charges of libel and public insult. The case against Bazarov was launched last week after teachers at Tashkent school No. 110 filed a lawsuit against him over a video placed by the blogger on the Internet last October.
"In the video, Bazarov says 'school is a place where slaves and losers teach children to become slaves and losers' and that became the basis of the lawsuit," Mayorov said.
Representatives from the school's administration were not available for immediate comment.
The school was renovated by a well-known Russian tycoon of Uzbek origin, Alisher Usmanov. Earlier in April, it was at the center of a scandal after Shahnoza Soatova, an adviser to the justice minister, said that the school administration measured the height of students' socks as part of the "struggle against LGBT ideas."
Bazarov. 29, was hospitalized in late March after he was severely attacked by unknown men hours after a public event he organized was disrupted by dozens of aggressive men in the Uzbek capital.
Bazarov is known for his criticism of the Uzbek government on his Telegram channel.
Among other issues, Bazarov has also publicly urged the government to decriminalize same-sex sexual conduct, which is still legally considered a crime in Uzbekistan.
Bazarov has openly said he is not an LGBT activist, but believes that being gay is a personal issue and therefore there should be no laws against it.
Bazarov has also criticized President Shavkat Mirziyoev for insufficient anti-corruption efforts, and has questioned the efficiency of ongoing restrictions to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Last summer, Bazarov was questioned by State Security Service investigators after he called on the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank on Facebook not to provide loans to Uzbekistan without strict control over how the funds are used.
Bazarov had told RFE/RL that he had received many online threats before the attack. He said had informed the police of this, but law enforcement did not take any action.
- By RFE/RL
EU, U.S. Criticize Sacking Of Ukraine's Naftogaz CEO
Kyiv’s Western backers have raised deep concerns over the Ukrainian government's unexpected decision to replace the head of state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz.
The government said on April 28 that Andriy Kobolyev, Naftogaz’s chief since 2014, was dismissed from the post due to "unsatisfactory" results of the company’s operations last year, when it posted a loss of nearly $700 million.
The move threatens to complicate talks to access a $5 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Peter Stano, the lead spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said Brussels had "serious concerns" over the decision, and called on “the leadership of Ukraine to ensure that the management decisions at state-owned enterprises are taken in full accordance with basic tenets of recognized corporate governance standards.”
The U.S. State Department earlier said the "calculated move" showed "disregard for fair and transparent corporate governance practices."
"Unfortunately, these actions are just the latest example of ignoring best practices and putting Ukraine's hard-fought economic progress at risk," spokesman Ned Price told reporters on April 29.
He added that the United States “will continue to support Ukraine in strengthening its institutions, including advancing democratic institutions and corporate governance reforms, but Ukraine's leaders must do their part."
Ambassadors from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations said in a tweet that “effective management and governance of state-owned enterprises, free from political interference, is crucial to Ukraine’s competitiveness, prosperity, and Ukraine fulfilling its international commitments.”
Kobolyev’s moves toward transparency won him support among Western investors and donors.
He was credited for overseeing an energy overhaul that helped Ukraine to narrow its budget deficit, and leading the former Soviet republic to a multibillion-dollar win in a legal dispute with Russian energy giant Gazprom in 2018.
He also faced criticism for increases of heating costs.
His successor, Yuriy Vitrenko, said on April 30 that Naftogaz will continue to cooperate with international partners and that the company needed to return to profit.
Vitrenko was serving as acting energy minister before his appointment as CEO.
Ukraine’s Western backers tied financial aid to the country to concrete steps to clean up state companies such as Naftogaz, one of the country's largest companies by revenue.
Naftogaz has long been the object of corruption schemes by officials and oligarchs, but the situation began to change after the 2014 upheaval that swept pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych from power.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and Bloomberg
Hungary Eases COVID-19 Restrictions For Those Who Are Vaccinated
BUDAPEST -- Hungary will loosen coronavirus restrictions for holders of a government-issued immunity card as Prime Minister Viktor Orban says the country is about to reach 4 million first-dose vaccinations, representing about 40 percent of the population.
“In the past, we defended ourselves by closing, thereby slowing the spread of the virus. But now we are on the attack,” Orban told public radio on April 30, saying the country had enough vaccine doses to inoculate everyone who has registered for them.
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“The vaccine is like a bulletproof vest. The virus bounces off of it,” he said. "We now have one for everybody. Please come and suit up so the virus has no one to attack."
In the latest round of reopening, card holders may access indoor restaurants, hotels, theaters, cinemas, spas, gyms, libraries, museums, zoos, and other recreational venues from May 1.
Opening hours for businesses will also be extended to 11 p.m.
Hungary is mainly relying on vaccines from China and Russia that have not been approved by the European Medicines Agency, alongside Western vaccines.
The country has the second-highest vaccination rate in the European Union, but a pandemic surge in the spring has given it the highest total death rate in the world.
With reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Rammstein Guitarist Expresses Shock At Prison Sentence For Russian Man Who Shared Band's Video
Richard Kruspe, the guitarist for the German rock group Rammstein, has expressed his support for a former associate of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny after he was handed a prison sentence for sharing the band's video online in 2014.
Kruspe wrote on Instagram late on April 29 that he is aware of the case of Andrei Borovikov from Russia's northwestern city of Arkhangelsk, who was sentenced earlier that day to 2 1/2 years in prison for reposting the music video to Rammstein's song Pussy on VKontakte, a popular Russian social network similar to Facebook..
“I very much regret that Borovikov has been sentenced to imprisonment for this. The harshness of this sentence is shocking. Rammstein have always stood up for freedom as a guaranteed basic right of all people," Kruspe's Instagram statement said.
A court in Arkhangelsk on April 29 found Borovikov guilty of "distributing pornography” by sharing the video in question in 2014.
Amnesty International said Borovikov -- a former coordinator of Navalny's Arkhangelsk regional headquarters -- was being “punished solely for his activism, not his musical taste.”
The music video posted by Borovikov came to the attention of authorities six months ago when a former volunteer at his office informed the police. Amnesty International said it suspected the volunteer was employed as an agent provocateur to help fabricate the case.
The prosecution ordered “a sexological and cultural examination” of the clip, before experts found it to be of “pornographic nature” and “not containing artistic value.”
- By RFE/RL
Russia's Financial Watchdog Puts Navalny's Regional Campaign Offices On 'Terrorism, Extremism' List
The regional campaign offices of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny have been placed on the Russian financial regulator's list of organizations involved in "terrorism and extremism."
The network appeared on an updated list maintained by Russia's financial monitoring service, Rosfinmonitoring, on April 30, a day after the network of Navalny's regional offices was disbanded.
Leonid Volkov, the head of the network, said that a crackdown on the group had made it "impossible" to continue operating.
This is a developing story.
More to follow.
Pretrial Detention Extended For Russian Journalist Charged With High Treason
A court in Moscow has extended the pretrial detention of former journalist Ivan Safronov, who is charged with high treason, an accusation he and his supporters have rejected.
The Lefortovo district court on April 30 ruled that Safronov can be held at least until July 7. The hearing was held behind closed doors as the case has been designated as classified.
The 30-year-old Safronov, who has worked since May 2020 as an adviser to Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency Roskosmos, was previously a prominent journalist who covered the military-industrial complex for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti.
He was arrested on July 7 2020 amid allegations that he had passed secret information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about Russian arms sales in the Middle East.
Safronov has repeatedly denied the accusations. Many of his supporters have held pickets in Moscow and other cities demanding his release.
Human rights organizations have issued statements demanding Safronov’s release and expressing concerns over an intensifying crackdown on dissent in Russia.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Embassy In Moscow Announces Reduction In Services After Russia Imposes Staff Limits
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow says it is reducing the number of consular services it will provide because of restrictions Russia has imposed over the hiring of local staff.
"Effective May 12, U.S. Embassy Moscow will reduce consular services offered to include only emergency U.S. citizen services and a very limited number of age-out and life or death emergency immigrant visas," the embassy said in a statement on April 30.
"These service reductions are necessary due to the Russian government’s April 23 notification of its intention to prohibit U.S. Mission Russia from employing foreign nationals in any capacity. Non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease."
President Vladimir Putin last week signed a law to limit the number of local staff working at foreign diplomatic missions and other agencies and ordered the Russian government to draw up a list of "unfriendly" states that will be subject to the restrictions.
Washington and Moscow have entered a new phase of heightened tensions, with the White House announcing punishing sanctions over cyberattacks, election interference, and threats against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
Further souring the mood has been the issue of the health and jailing of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, Russia's backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine and its forcible annexation of Crimea, and allegations of Russian involvement in a deadly explosion at a munitions depot in the Czech Republic in 2014.
"We regret that the actions of the Russian government have forced us to reduce our consular work force by 75 percent, and will endeavor to offer to U.S. citizens as many services as possible," the U.S. Embassy statement said, adding that the provision of emergency services in Russia may be "delayed or limited" because the ability of staff to travel outside Russia had been constrained.
It also urged U.S. citizens in Russia to heed a June 15 deadline set by the Russian government when a temporary extension to visas, residence permits, and immigration documents expires.
Hearing Starts On Forced 'Treatment' In Psychiatric Clinic Of Anti-Putin Shaman
YAKUTSK, Russia -- A court hearing has started in Russia's Siberian region of Yakutia to decide on the forced "treatment" in a closed psychiatric institution of a shaman who has been stopped by authorities several times in his attempts to march to Moscow by foot “to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin.”
Aleksandr Gabyshev's sister, Kyaiyylana Zakharova, told RFE/RL that the hearing started on April 30. Gabyshev’s lawyer, Olga Timofeyeva, said that the hearing may last several days.
Timofeyeva added that state experts said at the hearing that her client poses an "extreme danger" to society and "needs to be forcibly treated in a specialized hospital under permanent supervision."
About two dozen supporters of Gabyshev gathered in front of the courthouse in the regional capital, Yakutia. They were not allowed to attend the hearing as it is being held behind closed doors.
In March, the court found Gabyshev "mentally unfit" and said he should be placed in a psychiatric clinic. The ruling was challenged by Gabyshev's lawyers and supporters, who say it is an attempt to silence dissent.
In February, police launched a probe against Gabyshev, accusing him of a "violent act against a police officer" when he was forcibly taken from his home to a psychiatric clinic in late January.
Police said at the time that the incident between Gabyshev and a law enforcement officer took place on January 27, less than three weeks after the shaman had announced his plan to resume his trek to the Russian capital to drive Putin out of the Kremlin.
In April, Zakharova told RFE/RL that her brother’s health had dramatically deteriorated, most likely, she said, due to unspecified injections he had received while in the psychiatric clinic.
Gabyshev first made headlines in March 2019 when he called Putin "evil" and announced that he had started a march to Moscow to drive the Russian president out of office.
He then walked more than 2,000 kilometers, speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way.
As his notoriety rose, videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views.
In July 2019, when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita, he led a 700-strong rally under the slogan "Russia without Putin!"
At the time, Gabyshev said, "God told me that Putin is not human but a demon and has ordered me to drive him out."
His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia later in September 2019 and placed in psychiatric clinic in Yakutia for several months against his will.
His forced stay in a clinic was equated by many with a Soviet-era practice used to muzzle dissent.
Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, the mystics were harshly repressed, but in isolated parts of Siberia they are now regaining prominence.
Kazakh Journalist Sentenced To Forced Labor, Media Ban, 'Restricted Freedom'
A Kazakh court has sentenced a blogger and journalist to one year of “restricted freedom” -- a parole-like limitation -- and 100 hours of forced labor on what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called “trumped-up charges.”
The court in the capital, Nur-Sultan, also banned Aigul Otepova on April 29 from conducting “public and political activities” for three years, including working in the media, after convicting her of participating in banned political groups.
Otepova, who has denied the charges, said she plans to appeal the ruling.
She and her lawyer said they believe the case is an attempt to silence her reporting that is critical of state authorities.
The conviction “once again demonstrates how the country’s laws banning so-called extremist groups are routinely used to stifle political dissent,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.
Said urged the authorities to “overturn this baseless sentence on appeal” and ensure that Otepova’s “rights to conduct investigative journalism and express critical opinions are fully respected.”
Otepova was detained in mid-September and put under house arrest after she placed a post on Facebook criticizing official efforts to curb the coronavirus outbreak.
In November, she was placed in a psychiatric clinic for 18 days for a mandatory mental-health evaluation. The journalist was released on December 11 and remained under house arrest.
Human rights groups have criticized the Kazakh government for years for persecuting independent and opposition journalists.
Rights activists in Kazakhstan have criticized authorities for using Soviet-era methods of stifling dissent by placing opponents in psychiatric clinics.
Colleagues Say Lawyer For Navalny's Foundation Detained In Moscow
MOSCOW -- Ivan Pavlov, one of Russia’s top human rights lawyers who is representing jailed Kremlin-critic Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has been detained for allegedly disclosing classified information relating to an ongoing investigation.
The 50-year-old Pavlov told reporters that he was briefly detained early on April 30 by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents while his hotel room in Moscow was searched.
"I was interrogated as a suspect," he said before he was brought back in for further questioning with Russia's Investigative Committee.
According to the press service from a Moscow court, the authorities are seeking to bar Pavlov from using the Internet and communicating with witnesses in his criminal case.
Amnesty International called on Russian authorities to "immediately and unconditionally" release Pavlov.
"Lawyers are the last line of defense against the government's growing crackdown on human rights, and now the authorities are going after one of the country's most courageous lawyers. They accused him of disclosing information about cases they are arbitrarily treating as a state secret. This is a travesty of justice," said Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Moscow office director.
Pavlov has made a name for himself in Russia for taking on often politically sensitive cases ranging from treason to espionage.
The investigation comes amid mounting pressure from officials on Navalny and his organizations, which have produced a series of high-profile and sometimes embarrassing investigations into official corruption, especially in cases surrounding President Vladimir Putin.
The Team 29 lawyers' group that Pavlov leads said on Telegram that officers also searched the St. Petersburg home of the group's IT-specialist, Igor Dorfman, the group's offices, and Pavlov's wife's apartment.
While officials have yet to comment on Pavlov’s detention, he said he has been accused of disclosing classified information relating to an ongoing investigation against one of his clients, former journalist Ivan Safronov. He disclosed information in a media interview. The offence is punishable by up to three months in jail.
Safronov, who was charged with treason, and his supporters have rejected the allegations saying they are politically motivated.
Because of the detention, Pavlov was unable to attend a court hearing in Moscow on April 30 where a judge prolonged Safronov's pretrial detention until at least July 7, the one-year anniversary of his arrest.
The 30-year-old Safronov, who has worked since May 2020 as an adviser to Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency Roskosmos, was previously a prominent journalist who covered the military-industrial complex for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti.
He was arrested on July 7 2020 amid allegations that he had passed secret information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about Russian arms sales in the Middle East.
Safronov has repeatedly denied the accusations. Many of his supporters have held pickets in Moscow and other cities demanding his release.
Human rights organizations have issued statements demanding Safronov’s release and expressing concerns over an intensifying crackdown on dissent in Russia.
On April 29, Pavlov represented Navalny's FBK at a Moscow court hearing over a prosecutor's request to label the group an extremist organization.
On April 30, Russia's financial regulator, Rosfinmonitoring, added the network of Navalny's regional campaign offices to the register of organizations involved in "terrorism and extremism."
The previous day, Leonid Volkov, the head of the network, said that a crackdown on the group had made it "impossible" to continue operating and announced the closure of the network's operation.
Pavlov also defended physicist Viktor Kudryavtsev, who was charged with high treason. Kudryavtsev died of cancer on April 29 at the age of 78 as his trial was pending.
A day before his detainment, Pavlov accused the FSB of causing Kudryavtsev's death, saying that the 14 months spent by Kudryavtsev in pretrial detention "completely damaged his health." He added that Kudryavtsev's case is "an example of how secret services are literally killing Russian science in general."
Cease-Fire Between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan Holding After Deadly Border Clashes
A cease-fire appeared to be holding in the restive border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan after Kyrgyz officials said 31 of the country's citizens were killed in clashes with Tajiks, who appear to have recorded fewer casualties.
Kyrgyz Deputy Health Minister Aliza Soltonbekova told RFE/RL on April 30 that 154 of her country's citizens, including 23 law enforcement, security, and military personnel, were injured during April 28-29 clashes.
Kyrgyz authorities said earlier that some 20,000 people, mainly women and children, had been evacuated from villages near the border since April 29.
Tajikistan, an authoritarian state with tight control over the flow of information, has been more quiet on the extent of causalities, saying only that two Tajik citizens sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to the hospital on April 29 and that another seven locals were injured in clashes.
Correspondents for RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported from the area that at least 12 Tajik citizens, including four military personnel, were killed and dozens of others injured in the clashes, which broke out on April 28 after residents on both sides of the border started throwing stones at each other.
Officials in the southwestern region of Batken said earlier in the day that 13,500 Kyrgyz, mainly women and children, were evacuated from the area, while two individuals were missing.
The situation rapidly escalated, leading to Kyrgyz and Tajik forces exchanging gunfire in the Batken region's Leilek district.
Late on April 29, the two countries' foreign ministries announced they had agreed to a cease-fire and would pull back troops while resolving the conflict through diplomacy.
Tajikistan's Khovar state news agency said on April 30 that President Emomali Rahmon held talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Sadyr Japarov, to discuss the situation along the border.
According to the report, the two presidents agreed to continue joint efforts to stabilize the ongoing situation and resolve the demarcation of the border between the two Central Asian nations in the future.
Rahmon invited Japarov to Dushanbe to further discuss border-demarcation plans and Japarov accepted the invitation, the Khovar report said, adding that the visit's date was yet to be determined.
The agency also said that delegations from both nations will convene in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region on May 1 to discuss the demarcation and delimitation of the borders.
Later on April 30, delegations from both countries met on neutral territory, at the Kyzyl-Bel checkpoint, and agreed to withdraw all troops from the state border line, they said in a joint statement.
The statement said the delegations were headed by the two countries' national security committees -- Tajik Saimumin Yatimov and Kyrgyz Kamchybek Tashiev.
“The meeting was held in the spirit of mutual understanding and good neighborly relations. The parties expressed their desire and readiness to resolve all issues through negotiations,” the statement said.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev on April 30 hailed the cease-fire and expressed hope that Kyrgyz and Tajik authorities "will be able to settle all disputed issues exclusively through peaceful means."
"For my part, I am ready to make efforts to find mutually acceptable solutions and restore mutual trust," Toqaev's statement said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Bishkek and Dushanbe to reach further long-term agreements on normalizing the situation along the border.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on April 30 that Moscow was following "with concern" the abrupt escalation of tensions on the disputed segment of the border, adding that Russia "was ready to assist in resolving the situation by political and diplomatic means."
Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the European Union's Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to implement the cease-fire agreement "without delay for a lasting and peaceful solution."
"Both sides will need to undertake all the necessary steps to avoid any conflict in the future. The EU stands ready to provide, if needed, technical assistance through its regional programs dealing with border management and water management, as well as continued political support for a stability and prosperity in the region, which are key priorities of the EU Strategy on Central Asia," Stano said in the statement.
Kyrgyz police in the Batken region blamed Tajik citizens for the escalation, saying they started shooting at a military unit located in the village of Kok-Tash, while gunfire was also reported from the Tajik side near the Kyrgyz village of Ak-Sai.
Tajikistan's Border Guard Service rejected the Kyrgyz account, saying that Kyrgyz military personnel were the first to shoot when they opened fire at Tajik border units near the Golovnoi water distribution center, located in territory that Tajik authorities claim jurisdiction over.
Like many other border areas in Central Asia, almost half of the 970-kilometer Kyrgyz-Tajik border has not been demarcated since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.
- By RFE/RL
State Department Warns Of U.S. Response If Russia Shutters RFE/RL Under 'Foreign Agent' Law
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department says press freedom in Russia is under growing threat as authorities slap RFE/RL and other media organizations with restrictive “foreign agent” labels and fines.
Speaking at a press briefing on April 29, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the Russian government is increasingly “intolerant of outside perspectives” as it moves to quash any dissent in the country.
The comments come as Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor has hit RFE/RL’s Russian-language services with fines of nearly $1 million in recent months for hundreds of violations of the “foreign agent” law.
In its latest salvo against independent media, the Russian government designated the Latvia-based Meduza as a “foreign agent,” taking aim at a top Russian news source.
“We’ve made clear that Russia’s actions against RFE/RL and other media organizations labeled as so-called 'foreign agents' reflect significant intolerance and oppressive restrictions,” Price said.
First passed in 2012 and expanded several times since, the “foreign agent” law gives authorities the power to brand nongovernmental organizations, human rights groups, and news media deemed to receive foreign funding for political activity as “foreign agents.”
Among other things, the law requires news organizations that receive foreign funding to label content within Russia as being produced by a “foreign agent.” The mandatory 24-word announcement must be twice as large as the font size used for the headline of the article. For video materials, the text must occupy at least 20 percent of the screen and be shown for at least 15 seconds.
The targeting of RFE/RL has raised concerns the Russian government may be moving to shutter RFE/RL’s operations inside Russia and force its Russian-language services and Current Time, the network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, out of the country.
“Should the Russian government continue to move to forcibly shut down RFE/RL, we will respond,” Price said, without specifying what action could be taken.
An independent nonprofit corporation that receives funding from the U.S. Congress, RFE/RL refuses to comply with the "foreign agent" law.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said, “RFE/RL will not be put in a position of undermining freedom of speech and journalistic integrity. We will not allow Roskomnadzor and the Kremlin to make editorial decisions about how we engage our audiences in Russia.”
In recent weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has raised the issue of RFE/RL with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
“We’ve been very seized with the RFE/RL situation with Russia,” Blinken said on April 28 at a roundtable discussion on world press freedom.
“We’re doing everything we can to be supportive and to find a good way forward. Ultimately, Moscow is doing what Moscow will do, but we’re trying to make sure that at least in some ways we can be supportive and helpful, even if our advocacy falls on deaf ears in Moscow itself,” Blinken said.
Blinken To Visit Ukraine Amid Russia's 'Ongoing Aggression'
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit Ukraine next week to reiterate Washington’s support for the country amid Russia’s "aggression" and to push for further reforms in the former Soviet republic.
Blinken will visit Kyiv on May 5-6 after attending a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations in London, the State Department said in a statement on April 30.
During his trip, the U.S. top diplomat is to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, as well as representatives of Ukrainian civil society “to reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression."
He will also "encourage continued progress on Ukraine’s institutional reform agenda, particularly anti-corruption action, which is key to securing Ukraine’s democratic institutions, economic prosperity, and Euro-Atlantic future."
The announcement comes amid a surge in fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since the beginning of this year in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
Around 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed over the past four months despite a cease-fire that took hold in July 2020, compared with 50 in all of last year.
A Russian troop buildup in recent weeks near Ukraine's borders and in occupied Crimea has also raised concerns of an escalation of the conflict in Kyiv and in the West.
The United States and NATO have described the buildup as the largest since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and threw its military, political, and economic support behind separatists in parts of Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The United States does not know Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions, Blinken said in an excerpt of an interview to be aired on CBS News’s 60 Minutes program on May 2.
"There are any number of things that he could do or choose not to do. What we have seen in the last few days is apparently a decision to pull back some of those forces and we’ve seen some of them, in fact, start to pull back," he said.
The Russian military claimed on April 29 that almost all its troops had now returned to their permanent bases after participating in massive drills.
The Kremlin has dismissed Western concerns as involvement in a sovereign manner.
- By RFE/RL
Thousands Rally Against Czech President Over Russia Stance
PRAGUE -- Thousands of Czechs have rallied in Prague against President Milos Zeman, calling for his removal from office and condemning what opponents say are his pro-Russia views.
The rally in Wenceslas Square on April 29 came as the Czech government has accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence of being behind a fatal ammunition depot explosion in 2014.
In response, the Czech government announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats it considered to be spies, setting off a string of tit-for-tat moves that have brought relations between Prague and Moscow to a nadir.
Zeman, whose role is largely ceremonial, appeared to contradict the government in a televised address to the nation on April 25, saying that are two theories about what caused the explosion of a munitions depot near the eastern Czech town of Vrbetice in 2014.
He said that one version of events is that Russian intelligence was involved in the deadly explosion. The other version, he said, was that the blast was caused by the inexpert handling of ammunition.
Zeman is circulating "the same fairy tales as the Russian disinformation pages and Russian propaganda," said Benjamin Roll, head of the group A Million Moments for Democracy that organized the protest, which police estimated at 10,000 people.
The protesters demand the Senate bring treason charges against Zeman.
Slovakia, Romania, and the Baltic states have also ejected Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic, while Bulgaria leveled its own accusations at Russia over a series of blasts at its weapons and armament facilities over the past 10 years.
Sofia is also linking Russia to a murder attempt against an arms dealer and two other Bulgarian citizens.
Russia has denied any involvement in the blasts.
- By RFE/RL
International Judo Body Suspends Iran For Anti-Israeli 'Scheme'
Judo's governing body has suspended Iran as punishment for refusing to allow its athletes to compete against opponents from Israel.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) imposed a four-year ban on April 29 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport said a previous indefinite ban was not allowed.
The IJF disciplinary committee said the start of the suspension is backdated to September 18, 2019, and runs until September 17, 2023.
The case began when former world champion Saeid Mollaei left the Iranian team in August 2019, claiming he was ordered to throw matches rather than risk facing an Israeli opponent.
The IJF said the case was not an isolated event but a policy whereby Mollaei was ordered to lose before even getting to the point where he had to face an Israeli athlete.
It said the matter “clearly reveals an institutionalized scheme” involving Iran’s National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports, and National Judo Federation.
The IJF “continues to defend the fundamental human values and rights of all its members, with a special emphasis on the rights of athletes and reiterates its commitment to fight against any form of discrimination in the sport of judo,” the governing body said in a statement.
Until the Iranian policy toward Israeli athletes changes, its judokas cannot compete at IJF events, including world championships, and officials cannot take part in the world governing body’s work.
Iran was originally suspended in October 2019.
The IJF has said any action taken against Iran would not apply directly to the Tokyo Olympics, because athletes are technically entered by the Iranian Olympic Committee and not the national judo body.
Mollaei fled to Germany in 2019 and the International Olympic Committee last year approved his switch to compete for Mongolia.
The IOC said the change did not need permission from Iranian Olympic officials because he was technically a refugee.
With reporting by AP and dpa
Jailed Opposition Leader Navalny Delivers Scathing Criticism Of Putin
Aleksei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader who has been jailed since January, issued a scathing assessment of President Vladimir Putin on April 29. Navalny spoke at an appeal hearing for a case in which he was found guilty of defaming a World War II veteran. It was his first appearance since his three-week hunger strike, which he called off last week amid reports that his health was failing.
- By RFE/RL
Russian Man Gets Prison Sentence For Sharing Rammstein Video
A court in northwestern Russia has sentenced a former associate of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny to 2 1/2 years in prison for “distributing pornography” after he shared a video by the German rock band Rammstein in 2014, in a case Amnesty International described as “utterly absurd.”
The Lomonosovsky District Court in Arkhangelsk handed down its verdict against Andrei Borovikov, his lawyer told Russian independent media on April 29.
Amnesty International said Borovikov -- a former coordinator of Navalny's Arkhangelsk regional headquarters -- was being “punished solely for his activism, not his musical taste.”
Describing Borovikov’s prosecution as “a mockery of justice,” the London-based human rights group’s Moscow office director, Natalia Zviagina, called for all charges against him to be dropped.
“The Russian authorities should be focusing on turning around the spiraling human rights crisis they have created, not devising ludicrous new ways of prosecuting and silencing their critics,” Zviagina said in a statement ahead of the verdict.
“This is not the first time the Russian authorities have used an overbroad definition of ‘pornography’ as a pretext for locking up their critics,” Zviagina said, citing the case of Yulia Tsvetkova, an LGBT activist from Russia's Far East who stood trial earlier this month on pornography charges over her drawings of women’s bodies.
“It is astonishing that cases like this even make it to court,” Zviagina said.
The music video posted by Borovikov came to the authorities’ attention six months ago when a former volunteer at his office informed the police. Amnesty International said it suspected the volunteer was employed as an agent provocateur to help fabricate the case.
The prosecution said the video had been seen by “not fewer than two people” and ordered “a sexological and cultural examination” of the clip, before experts found it to be of “pornographic nature” and “not containing artistic value.”
Rammstein is no stranger to controversy.
In Belarus, the Council for Public Morals in 2010 protested against Rammstein's concerts in the country that year, saying the band's shows were "open propaganda of homosexuality, masochism, and other forms of perversions, violence, cruelty, and vulgarism."
In 2019, a man in Belarus was charged with producing and distributing pornographic materials for posting a clip in 2014 of the band's video Pussy, which showed graphic sex scenes.
That same year, a video for the group's song Deutschland showed band members dressed as concentration camp prisoners, sparking outrage, especially among Jewish groups.
With reporting by Dozhd and Mediazona
Iran Reportedly Imposes Travel Bans On Several People Over Zarif Leak
Iran has slapped travel bans on 15 people for alleged involvement in a leaked audio recording in which Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif complains about the influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Iranian diplomacy, semi-official news agency ISNA reported on April 29.
In the leaked interview, aired by the London-based Iran International Persian-language satellite news channel late on April 25, Zarif said he had "zero" influence over Iran’s foreign policy.
"According to a judiciary source, 15 people involved in the interview have been banned from leaving Iran," ISNA reported.
The recording has angered hard-liners in Iran, who called the leak "an espionage act," prompting some lawmakers to call for Zarif's resignation.
State news agency IRNA reported that President Hassan Rohani April 29 replaced the head of the state-run institute that was in charge of conducting the interview. Authorities have said the recording was part of a wider project with government officials and was produced for state records rather than for publication.
"Hessameddin Ashena, head of the Strategic Studies Center, has resigned.... President Rohani has appointed the cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei to replace him," IRNA reported.
Ashena, who Iranian media said was present during the seven-hour interview with Zarif, is also an adviser to the president.
Rohani said on April 28 that the leak was intended to disrupt talks between Tehran and six powers in Vienna aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal that Washington abandoned three years ago. He ordered an inquiry into the recording's release.
While on a regional tour, Zarif said in an Instagram post that he regretted the leak and his remarks were misinterpreted.
Based on reporting by AFP, IRNA, ISNA
Turkmen President Extends Penchant For White To Car Detailing
ASHGABAT -- Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's penchant for white is well known among drivers in the Central Asian nation.
For years exporters have been told to ship white automobiles only, while those who already had cars that weren't white were told to paint them in the color that has long been a feature of the carefully constructed personality cult of Berdymukhammedov.
Now, RFE/RL correspondents say, Berdymukhammedov wants all detailing on cars -- including radiator grilles and light frames -- in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation to be painted white as well.
The correspondents said that local authorities in the eastern Lebap region began demanding the new requirement a week ago, prompting locals to complain that the changes have given traffic police yet another reason to demand bribes.
Under Berdymukhammedov's rule, the isolated nation's capital, Ashgabat, has been draped in white marble. He is often seen in public or shown on television riding white stallions, dressed in white amid white carpets, holding white doves or white flowers.
The official explanation for the request, however, is that dark colors attract and absorb more sun and heat in Turkmenistan's subtropical desert climate.
Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the secretive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006.
Like his late predecessor, Berdymukhammedov has relied on subsidized prices for basic goods and utilities to help maintain his grip on power.
According to Human Rights Watch, Berdymukhammedov, "his relatives and their associates control all aspects of public life, and the authorities encroach on private life."
- By RFE/RL
Iranians Plead Not Guilty To Danish Terrorism Charge
Three members of an Iranian Arab opposition group have pleaded not guilty to Danish charges of financing and promoting terrorism in Iran with Saudi Arabia's backing.
The three, who are members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) and were arrested in February last year, risk 12 years in prison if found guilty in the trial that started in Copenhagen on April 29.
ASMLA is based in Denmark and the Netherlands and is considered a terrorist group by Iran.
The three, one of whom is a Danish citizen, are aged 39 to 50.
Gert Dyrn, a lawyer for the eldest of the three suspects, told the media that in his client's opinion "what they are charged with is legitimate resistance toward an oppressive regime."
"They are not denying receiving money from multiple sources, including Saudi Arabia, to help the movement and help them accomplish their political aim," Dyrn said.
He added that this was "the first case in Denmark within terror law where you have to consider who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter."
His client has lived as a refugee in Denmark since 2006.
The three were charged by the Danish public prosecutor on April 27.
"This is a very serious case where people in Denmark have carried out illegal intelligence activities and financed and promoted terrorism from Denmark in other countries. Of course, this cannot take place on Danish soil, and therefore I am satisfied that we can now bring charges in the case, " Lise-Lotte Nilas, a prosecutor for Copenhagen, said in a statement on April 15.
According to the charge sheet, the three received around $4.9 million for ASMLA and its armed branch, through bank accounts in Austria and the United Arab Emirates.
The trio is also accused of spying on people and organizations in Denmark between 2012 and 2020 for Saudi intelligence.
They are also accused of promoting terrorism.
The prosecutor has said the case dates back to 2018 when one of the three was the target of a foiled attack on Danish soil believed to be orchestrated by the Iranian regime in retaliation for the killing of 24 people in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran that year.
Iran has denied the attack plan in Denmark, but a Danish court last year sentenced a Norwegian-Iranian to seven years for his role in the plot.
That attack put Danish authorities on the trail of the actions of three ASMLA members.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and AFP
Bulgaria To Expel Russian Diplomat Over Arms Depot Blasts
SOFIA -- Bulgaria says it will expel another Russian diplomat after the country's authorities said they suspected six Russian citizens of involvement in a series of blasts that hit four weapons and armament facilities over the past 10 years.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry “declared one more Russian diplomat persona non grata and requested the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation to provide full assistance to the Bulgarian authorities” in their investigation into the blasts, the ministry said in a statement on April 29.
Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva held “an in-depth and serious conversation” with the Russian ambassador in Sofia, the statement read, adding that “Bulgaria wishes to maintain equal and mutually beneficial relations with Russia and in this regard insists on active and effective assistance from the Russian side to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incidents on our territory.”
Moscow, which has denied any involvement in the incidents, has vowed to respond to Bulgaria’s move.
Bulgarian prosecutors said on April 28 that that there is a “reasonable assumption” that the blasts that rocked the four warehouses and production facilities in Bulgaria between 2011 and 2020 are connected to the near-fatal poisoning of Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev in 2015 and an explosion at Czech ammunition depots in 2014.
Since October 2019, the EU and NATO member state has expelled seven other Russian diplomats and an employee of Russia’s Embassy over alleged spying and other accusations.
A spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Siika Mileva, told a press conference that three Russians who are being sought over the murder attempt against Gebrev and two other Bulgarian citizens “most likely” were agents of Russia’s GRU military intelligence.
Mileva also said that at least six Russians “identified as, or are believed to be GRU agents” were residing in Bulgaria around the dates of the blasts and the poisonings.
The Czech Republic earlier this month accused Russian GRU military intelligence of being behind an October 2014 explosion in the town of Vrbetice that set off 50 metric tons of stored ammunition and killed two people.
The Czech government later announced the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats it considered to be spies, setting off a string of tit-for-tat moves between Prague and Moscow.
In solidarity, several NATO and EU members have followed by expelling Russian diplomats for alleged spying as well.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on April 29 blasted the Czech and Bulgarian “unacceptable and inflammatory actions,” as well as “completely unacceptable and baseless” accusations against Russia.
Such actions “won’t go unanswered," he told journalists.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
Kyrgyz Powerbroker Matraimov Drops Lawsuit Against RFE/RL
BISHKEK -- Raimbek Matraimov, the controversial former deputy chief of the Kyrgyz Customs Service who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad, has withdrawn his libel lawsuit against RFE/RL, its former correspondent, and two other media outlets.
Lawyer Akmat Alagushev -- who represents RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, its former reporter Ali Toktakunov, and the Klopp and 24.kg news agencies -- told RFE/RL that a court in Bishkek ruled on April 27 that the case had been closed due to a move by Matraimov's lawyers to withdraw the lawsuit.
Matraimov and his family filed the libel lawsuit after the media outlets published a 2019 investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicating him in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan by Chinese-born Uyghur businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who was subsequently assassinated in Istanbul in November 2019.
"RFE/RL's award-winning investigative reporting into Mr. Matraimov's corrupt dealings has always spoken clearly for itself," the broadcaster's president, Jamie Fly, said in a statement.
"Our intrepid journalists reported this story despite months of serious threats, online harassment, and an organized pressure campaign. We continue to call on the Kyrgyz government to investigate those who threaten journalists and hold them accountable for their actions," he added.
The court decided to stop the libel suit less than two weeks after Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said that the corruption probe against Matraimov had been halted, as investigators failed to find any cash or property belonging to Matraimov or members of his family abroad.
When Matraimov was rearrested in February, the UKMK said he was being held as a suspect for laundering money through the purchase of real estate in China, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.
A Bishkek court in February ordered pretrial custody for Matraimov in connection with the corruption charges after hundreds of Kyrgyz protested a previous ruling mitigating a sentence after a guilty plea to no jail time and fines of just a few thousand dollars.
The court justified the mitigated sentence by saying that Matraimov had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through schemes that he oversaw.
That decision was based on an economic-amnesty law passed in December that allows individuals who obtained financial assets through illegal means to avoid prosecution by turning the assets over to the State Treasury.
The idea of economic amnesty was announced in October by Sadyr Japarov, then acting Kyrgyz president, just a day after Matraimov was detained and placed under house arrest.
Japarov has since been elected president on a pledge to stamp out graft and enact reforms. Japarov also championed a new constitution -- approved by voters earlier this month -- that expands the power of the president.
Critics say the amnesty legislation was proposed and hastily prepared by lawmakers to allow Matraimov and others to avoid a conviction for corruption, while the constitutional changes create an authoritarian system and concentrating too much power in the hands of the president.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the estimated $700 million scheme involved a company controlled by Matraimov bribing officials to skirt customs fees and regulations, as well as engaging in money laundering, "allowing for maximum profits."
A U.S. report on human rights around the world, released in March, spotlighted threats to freedom of expression and a free press in Kyrgyzstan.
In a section on respect for civil liberties, including freedom of the press, the State Department noted threats to journalists involved in that report, which implicated Matraimov.
In January, the 49-year-old Matraimov changed his last name to Ismailov, while his wife, Uulkan Turgunova, changed her family name to Sulaimanova. The moves, confirmed to RFE/RL by a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan's state registration service, were seen as an attempt to evade the U.S.- imposed sanctions.
There has been no official statement from Matraimov or his lawyers to explain the name change.
- By RFE/RL
No Agreement Reached On Easter Truce In Ukraine
Negotiators in the conflict in eastern Ukraine have failed to agree a truce ahead of Orthodox Easter later this week amid a surge in fighting since the start of the year.
A cease-fire that took hold in July has been unraveling, with deadly clashes sharply increasing between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-backed separatists in a war that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
A Russian troop buildup in recent weeks near Ukraine's borders and in Russian-occupied Crimea has raised concerns of a major escalation of the conflict in Kyiv and its Western backers, but Moscow claimed on April 29 that almost all its troops had now returned to their permanent bases after participating in massive drills.
Participants in a meeting of the trilateral contact group (TCG) comprising Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "reiterated their commitment" to the cease-fire, the special representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office in Ukraine, Ambassador Heidi Grau, said on April 29.
"However -- regrettably -- no agreement was reached upon a TCG statement on responding to cease-fire violations and their elimination in the future," she added.
Interfax-Ukraine quoted the spokesman of the Ukrainian delegation, Oleksiy Arestovych, as saying that the six hours of talks on an "Easter truce" had been "constructive" but that a final text could not be agreed.
Russian representative Boris Gryzlov blamed the Ukrainian side, telling Interfax that Kyiv had "blocked Russia's proposals on specific mechanisms to prevent violations" of a cease-fire.
The Orthodox Easter holiday falls on May 1.
More than 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been reported killed since the beginning of 2021, compared with 50 in all of last year. The separatists have reported at least 20 of their fighters killed.
Grau noted that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) "continues to record a high level" of cease-fire violations.
The "growing number of restrictions and impediments to the freedom of movement of the OSCE SMM is negatively affecting" the implementation of its mandate, the diplomat said, adding that unmanned aerial vehicles used by the international monitors "are targeted daily by small-arms fire as well as by jamming."
Meanwhile, the commander of Russia's Western Military District reported that most of his troops were now back at their garrisons after taking part in major maneuvers around the areas of eastern Ukraine.
Speaking during a meeting of top military brass, Colomel General Aleksandr Zhuravlev said that just one trainload of troops was still on its way to their home base.
General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, said that more than 300,000 troops, nearly one-third of Russia's 1 million-strong military, took part in the exercises earlier this month, along with about 35,000 combat vehicles, 900 aircraft, and 180 ships.
Western officials did not immediately comment on the Russian announcements.
The United States and NATO have said that the Russian military buildup was the largest since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and threw its military, political, and economic support behind separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine.
With reporting by AFP andAP
At Least Three Dead In Latest Clashes Along Kyrgyz-Tajik Border
BISHKEK -- Clashes between local residents along a disputed segment of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border left at least three people dead and scores wounded in the volatile region before a truce was announced by both sides.
During the April 28-29 clashes three people were killed, including a 13-year-old girl, in the Leylek district of the Batken region, the Kyrgyz Health Ministry said, adding that at least 84 people were wounded on the Kyrgyz side.
Police in Kyrgyzstan's southern region of Batken blamed Tajik citizens for the escalation, saying they started shooting at a military unit located in the village of Kok-Tash, while gunfire was also reported from the Tajik side near the Kyrgyz village of Ak-Sai.
Tajikistan's Border Guard Service rejected the Kyrgyz account, saying that Kyrgyz military personnel were the first to shoot when they opened fire at Tajik border units near the Golovnoi water distribution center, located in territory that Tajik authorities claim jurisdiction over.
Tajik authorities said earlier in the day that two Tajik citizens sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to the hospital on April 29.
But an RFE/RL correspondent on the ground said 23 people, including the mayor of the city of Isfara, were wounded by bullets, and one resident of Surkh village was killed.
Late on April 29, the two countries' foreign ministries announced they had agreed a cease-fire after hours of talks and would stick to it and pull back troops while resolving the conflict through diplomacy.
A day earlier, Tajik authorities said seven Tajik citizens were injured in a standoff started after local residents on both sides of the border clashed, throwing stones at each other.
The Tajik side also said the clashes had been instigated by Kyrgyz officials, which Bishkek rejected.
Many border areas in Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with numerous incidents involving deadly gunfire.
The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.
The latest outbreak of violence comes amid the installation by Tajik officials of surveillance equipment at the Golovnoi water distribution center that Kyrgyzstan says is located in an area where sovereignty has yet to be defined.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov issued a statement on Facebook calling for calm and for Kyrgyz citizens "to keep their patience and not to give in to provocations."
"With our Tajik brothers, we will always find common ground and solve all issues while preserving and taking into account neighborly interests on our ancient land. Those who try to ignite a conflict are dangerous. I call on all domestic political forces to be patient in such a complicated time for our nation," Japarov said in the statement.
The Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan expressed concerns over the rising tensions along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
"We call on the parties to immediately stop the clashes, undertake joint measures to stabilize the situation, and stay away from actions that could lead to a further escalation," the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Tashkent is ready to contribute to resolving the situation.
Earlier in April, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said during a visit to Tajikistan's Vorukh exclave within Kyrgyzstan that agreements on almost half of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border had been reached during more than 100 rounds of negotiations between Dushanbe and Bishkek since work on border delimitation started in 2002.
With reporting by AKIPress and Reuters
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