VISUAL REPORTS
Montenegrin Teen Punches Her Way To Gold
A Montenegrin teenager has become the country's first female international boxing medalist. Fifteen-year-old Bojana Gojkovic took gold at the European Junior Championships in Russia and hopes to go on to represent Montenegro at the Olympics.
ICYMI: Azov, Ukraine’s Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe
The far-right Ukrainian ultranationalist Azov group, formed in May 2014 in response to the Russia-backed separatist advance in eastern Ukraine, is moving to expand its movement abroad. An FBI complaint says Azov's military wing is "believed to have participated in training and radicalizing United States-based white supremacy organizations."
PHOTOGALLERY: Life Of Ukrainian Soldier 40 Meters Aways From The Frontline
RFE/RL captures the life of a Ukrainian soldier serving on the frontline near Luhansk, where enemy positions are 40-200 meters away. Despite a cease-fire, fighting between Ukrainian armed forces and Russia-backed separatists continues every day. (Ukrainian Service)
OTHER NEWS
Putin Says New Ukrainian President Needed To Negotiate Peace
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he doesn't expect any progress toward establishing peace in eastern Ukraine until after Ukrainian elections, which he said he hopes will produce a new president next year. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office blasted Putin’s statement, accusing the Russian president of "meddling" in the presidential contest even before it has started.
Jehovah's Witnesses' Homes Searched In Crimea
Russian media is reporting that more than 30 houses belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses were searched by Federal Security Service officers in the Moscow-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea.
Russia To Purchase 2 Billion Rubles Worth Of Equipment From Deripaska Factories
A November 16 government decree cites a “tight deadline” in its decision to allocate approximately $30.3 million to the National Guard to purchase vehicles from the Ural and Arzamas Machine-Building Plant factories, firms controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is under U.S. sanctions. (Russian Service)
EU Cuts Moldova Funding Amid Rule-Of-Law Concerns
The European Commission has said it is cutting financial assistance to Moldova by 20 million euros ($22.7 million) per year for both 2017 and 2018 amid concerns about the rule of law and the democratic backsliding of the country. The financial assistance earmarked by the European Union for the two years amounted initially to a total of 140 million euros ($158 million).
Germany Calls On Kyiv To Suspend Website Naming Schroeder As ‘Enemy’
Germany is calling on Ukraine to remove a controversial website that lists what it calls "enemies of the state" after Berlin's former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s name was included. The list is published on the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), which is run by an acquaintance of Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
Kyiv To Name Square After Nemtsov And, Maybe, Street After McCain
The Kyiv city council has voted to rename a square near the Russian embassy after Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition politician who was slain in Moscow in 2015. In addition, the council is considering renaming a Kyiv street after the late U.S. Senator John McCain, a proposal that the family reportedly supports. (Current Time TV/Ukrainian Service)
Czechs Protest Against PM Babis
Thousands of protesters have demanded Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's resignation, while his coalition partners discussed whether to quit the government. The pressure against Babis followed a media report in which Babis's son said his father had wanted him to go into hiding to thwart a criminal investigation into the misuse of EU funds.
Macedonian Ex-PM Fled In Hungarian Diplomatic Car
Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who has applied for political asylum in Hungary, escaped Macedonia through Albania in a Hungarian diplomatic car, police in Tirana have said, after Budapest formally denied any involvement.
Commentary: Macedonia And The One That (Maybe) Got Away
As the hunt escalates internationally for fugitive former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, questions have inevitably arisen in Skopje over who's to blame for allowing Gruevski to get away.
Armenia’s Russia-Owned Gas Operator Accused Of Tax Evasion
Tax authorities in Armenia have accused the South Caucasus country’s national gas distribution company, which is owned by Russia’s Gazprom, of evading millions of dollars’ worth of taxes.
Former Armenian President Kocharian Risks Being Rearrested
Armenia’s top court has overturned a lower court’s decision to release former President Robert Kocharian from custody following coup charges leveled against him. Kocharian was arrested in July on charges stemming from his government's deadly repression of opposition protests during the final weeks of his 1998-2008 rule.
Tajikistan To Launch Long-Contested Roghun Dam
Tajikistan is scheduled on November 16 to launch the Roghun power plant, a new hydroelectric station that Uzbekistan, under its previous president, had vehemently opposed for years.