VISUAL REPORTS
Borderline Problem: Kaliningrad Flats Behind Barbed Wire
After Lithuania declared independence in 1990, new borders appeared between the country and the neighboring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Residents of one apartment block in the Kaliningrad town of Sovetsk found themselves living inside the border zone, cut off from their neighbors by customs and passport control.
Nude Portraits Spark Death Threats Against Tajik Artist
An artist in Tajikistan who has painted nude portraits to make a statement about women's bodies and sexual harassment has received numerous death threats.
Uzbek TV Channels Banned From Mentioning Islam Karimov
Editors of all TV channels operated by the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan were warned in August that the name of late President Islam Karimov should no longer be mentioned on air. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is the new object of adulation and praise. (Current Time TV)
OTHER NEWS
U.S. Fighters Escort Russian Bombers Over Bering Sea
Two U.S. Air Force jet fighters scrambled to escort a pair of Russia Tu-85 strategic bombers that were conducting a flight over the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk on September 6.
Uzbek Suspect Asks Exemption From Death Penalty, Citing Trump Tweets
Lawyers for an Uzbek-born man accused of killing eight people by driving a truck down a New York City bike path have asked a U.S. judge to rule out the death penalty, contending that U.S. President Donald Trump's statements against him have made a fair legal process impossible.
Rotenberg Brothers And Putin Relations Top List Of Russia’s Richest
The Gutseriev family, worth almost $6 billion, tops the list, but the Rotenberg family, which is on the U.S. sanctions list for constructing a bridge to the Crimea peninsula, is second, with combined wealth of $5 billion. The Shamalov family is ranked 7th, with assets increasing dramatically after 2013, when Kirill Shamalov married Katerina Tikhonova, whom international media believe is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughter. (in Russian, Current Time TV)
Is Russia Pulling Out Stops To Tamp Down Protest Vote?
A sour mood among voters in Russia threatens to boost various forms of protest voting, prompting concerns that local officials may be tempted to redouble efforts to get out the vote and secure the results the Kremlin demands on September 9.
Transport Of Russian Tanks Tracked To Ukrainian Border
RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service has collected social media posts containing images of Russian T-62 tanks gathering on the Russian border near Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions between August 29-31. The same tanks were seen 10 days earlier being loaded onto transport platforms in Buryatia in Siberia. The Soviet Army first deployed the tanks in 1962, (Ukrainian Service)
Ukraine Places Russian RTVI Under Temporary Ban
Ukraine's national broadcasting council has banned the Russian TV channel RTVI for a six-month period, writing on Facebook that RTVI violates Ukrainian legislation on “spreading the propaganda of an aggressor state.” RTVI’s chief editor has said the ban “goes against common sense and legal norms.” (Russian Service)
So-Called Donetsk People's Republic Appoints Interim Head
Denis Pushilin has been appointed by the self-declared republic’s people’s council as the DPR’s acting head following the death of previous leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko, who was killed in an explosion in a cafe in downtown Donetsk on August 31. (in Russian, Current Time TV)
Rights Groups Protest Moldova’s 'Unlawful' Expulsion Of Turkish Nationals
Moldovan and international human rights organizations have criticized a decision by the country’s authorities to detain and expel seven Turkish citizens. The detainees were staff members of a Turkish high school in Chisinau’s Durlesti neighborhood that is linked to U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
NATO 'Ready To Welcome' Macedonia After Name Deal with Greece
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the military alliance is "ready to welcome" Macedonia as its 30th member once Skopje finalizes an agreement with Athens to change the former Yugoslav republic's name. A national referendum on the name change is set for September 30.
CPJ: Uzbekistan ‘Not Serious’ About Improving Press Freedom Environment
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Uzbekistan to end its harassment of bloggers covering social and religious issues and to release at least four people reportedly arrested for their writings on religious matters.
Mother Of Tajikistan Cyclist-Attack Suspect Douses Self With Gasoline In Protest
The mother of a Tajik man who is suspected of carrying out a fatal attack against a group of foreign cyclists in the Central Asian country in July poured gasoline on herself outside the Dushanbe office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). She was taken into custody after the incident on September 7.
BLOGGING THE BALKANS:Serbian Abbot Likens Territory Swap To 'Ethnic Cleansing'