VISUAL REPORTS
The Great-Grandmother Defying Lukashenka
Nina Bahinskaya has been a regular feature at various demonstrations since 1988, and despite unprecedented police brutality against protesters, has been seen telling off security forces on the streets of Minsk.
PHOTOGALLERY: Big Shots: Strongmen And Their Guns
Beleaguered Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka stunned the world by arming himself with an assault rifle during massive protests against his rule on August 23. Here are some other strong-armed leaders snapped with guns.
INFOGRAPHIC: A Timeline Of Russian Poisoning Cases
TOP NEWS
Russia Dismisses Navalny Poisoning Claims, Pushes Conspiracy Of Western Plot
Russian authorities are brushing off allegations that Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was deliberately poisoned, dismissing calls for a criminal probe and instead trying to point the finger at a purported foreign conspiracy. With Navalny’s poisoning confirmed, the focus turns to with, what, and by whom.
Belarus To Question Nobel Laureate Alexievich
Authorities in Belarus on August 26 were expected to question the country’s 72-year-old Nobel Prize-winning author, Svetlana Alexievich, as a witness in a criminal case alleging a “seizure of power” by the newly formed Coordinating Council, of which she is an executive member. In a phonecall before her questioning, Alexievich told RFE/RL that the Council was created “to overcome the political crisis in our country and to unite people.” More on what the Council is and what it wants here.
Belarus’s Hrodno Azot Plant Workers Detained
Twenty-eight workers from Belarus’s Azot chemical plant in the western city of Hrodno were detained on August 25 on their way downtown after work. Police herded them into a riot bus accusing them of participating in an unsanctioned mass rally even though none of the workers was carrying a sign or shouting slogans. (in Russian, Current Time TV)
We Are The Witnesses: Stories From Protesters In Belarus Of Police Torture And Abuse
RFE/RL's Belarus Service has collected the testimonies of people who say they were subject to state-sanctioned violence at the hands of Belarus’s security forces on the streets and in prison following the disputed August 9 presidential election.
Russian Orthodox Synod Appoints New Head Of Belarusian Church
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has granted a petition from Metropolitan Paval of Minsk and Zaslavl to dismiss him from his post as the patriarch's exarch of all Belarus.
Austria, Russia Expel Diplomats In 'Economic Spying' Case
Austria has announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat reported to be involved in economic espionage. Russia has hit back, announcing that a diplomat with the Austrian Embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata.
Prominent Bashkir Activist Sentenced To Nine Years In Russian Prison
A Russian military court has sentenced Airat Dilmukhametov, a prominent opposition activist from the Bashkortostan region, to nine years in a high-security prison on extremism charges. Dilmukhametov, who was arrested in March 2019, has called the charges politically motivated.
Russia To Supply Kazakhstan With Covide-19 Vaccine
The Kazakh prime minister has announced that Russia will supply the country with the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. The director of the Gamaleya Center, which produces the vaccine, said it will go into civilian circulation on January 1, 2021, after the third phase of trials. (in Russian, Current Time TV)
Head Of Russia's Tyva Was 'Reinfected' With COVID-19
The head of Russia's Tyva region in southern Siberia says he has been infected with coronavirus for a second time -- three months after he was first hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Ukraine Arrests Suspects In RFE/RL Arson Attack
Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior has announced that two suspects have been detained in connection with an August 17 arson attack on a car belonging to a member of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service investigative reporting team Schemes. (Ukrainian Service)
Mladic Due To Speak To Court In Appeal Against Genocide Sentence
Former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic was due to address a UN court on August 26 as part of a hearing on an appeal against his life sentence for genocide. On August 25, Mladic's lawyer told the court that his client was not mentally fit to take part in the appeal hearing, and that he feared a "miscarriage of justice."
PRESSROOM: RSF Calls Tajik Accreditation Refusal ‘Censorship’
Reporters Without Borders has condemned Tajikistan’s refusal to renew the press accreditation of Current Time journalist Anushervon Aripov, who suggested President Emomali Rahmon began his reelection campaign prematurely.