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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Kyiv on October 19 on a two-day visit aimed at expressing his country's unflinching support for Ukraine. Barrot arrived in the capital when it was on alert for Russian drone strikes. He will spend the weekend in Kyiv and meet with counterpart Andriy Sybiha.
Barrot said on France Inter public radio late on October 18 that his visit was aimed at "reminding that France will not back away from any crisis, to say that what is at stake in Ukraine is the security of our continent, including food and energy." He had earlier said he would also discuss the issue of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia. Romania dispatched four of its fighter jets early on October 19 after an unidentified object breached its airspace in the southeast near the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry said.
According to the ministry, the military radar systems detected a small flying object -- likely a drone -- headed for Tulcea County before losing the signal at around 2.30 a.m.
local time, a second drone this week breaching Romania's national airspace. The army dispatched two F-16 fighter jets and two Spanish F-18s to monitor the object, the ministry said, adding that the pilots did not see the drone. The previous incident was reported on October 17, when a small flying object was detected by army radars above the southeastern county of Constanta at around 5 p.
m. local time. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on October 18 that his country was analyzing the possibility of a "cyber-challenge, because pilots did not have visual contact with the drone.
" In the past, Russian drones had entered Romania's airspace as Moscow's forces attacked Ukrainian targets along the Black Sea and Danube River. Romania, a member of the European Union and NATO, shares a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine. The board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on October 18 approved a $1.
1 billion payout for Ukraine to be used to provide budget support to the war-torn country. The loan disbursal is the latest tranche of funding the IMF has released to Ukraine as part of an ongoing four-year, $15.5 billion program approved in March 2023.
The approval of the fifth review of the expanded agreement under the Enhanced Financing Program (EFF) for Ukraine brings the total amount disbursed to Ukraine since then to $8.7 billion. "Russia's war in Ukraine continues to bring a devastating social and economic toll on Ukraine," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement .
"Despite the war, macroeconomic and financial stability is being preserved through skillful policymaking by the Ukrainian authorities, as well as substantial support,” Georgieva said. “"The economy has remained resilient, despite significant damage to the energy infrastructure, reflecting the continued adaptability of households and firms." The IMF statement said that Ukraine had met all of the relevant targets, including on structural reforms relating to tax privileges, public companies, and customs reform.
Ukraine's economy had been "more resilient than expected" in the first half of the year, with good domestic data "bolstered by continued sizable external support," the IMF said. But it warned that the economic outlook through the end of next year remained subject to "exceptionally high uncertainty," largely due to sustained Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and uncertainty about the war. Russia and Ukraine swapped 190 prisoners of war on October 18 under an agreement completed with the help of the United Arab Emirates.
The U.A.E.
mediated the exchange, the country’s state news agency said, in a report that referred to a total of 190 soldiers. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that the 95 returning Russian servicemen were undergoing medical checks in Belarus. There was no immediate word of the exchange from Ukrainian authorities.
Russia and Ukraine earlier on October 18 exchanged the bodies of fallen servicemen. Russian State Duma Deputy Shamsail Saraliev, who is the legislative body’s representative of the parliamentary coordination group on military operations, said the exchange involved the bodies of 501 servicemen returned to Ukraine and 89 to Russia. The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that the bodies of soldiers killed in battles near Avdiyivka, Maryinka, Bakhmut, and Zaporizhzhya as well as one body from a morgue in Russia have been returned to their homeland.
The bodies will be taken to Ukrainian morgues for identification, after which they will be handed over to relatives for burial. The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented on the exchange of bodies, which the two sides have regularly done since 2022. The International Committee of the Red Cross acts as an intermediary in the exchanges.
A court in Italy on October 18 ruled against the right-wing government's move to detain 12 migrants in newly opened immigration centers , or reception camps, in Albania. Sixteen migrants -- 10 Bangladeshis and six Egyptians -- were transferred on October 16 by an Italian Navy ship to Albania to undergo what are called expedited border procedures under an agreement between Italy and Albania. The staff of the immigration center, where migrants are to be housed, had decided prior to the court ruling to return four other migrants after medical and other examinations.
The decisions represent a stumbling block to the arrangement between Italy and Albania that the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed as a new "model" for dealing with illegal migration. The agreement states that while in the centers, an Italian judge would consider the migrants’ asylum claims and decide whether to grant them or send them back to their home countries. A court in Rome rejected the detention of 12 migrants with the explanation that they cannot be returned to their countries of origin because the court does not consider these countries to be safe enough.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Lebanon, Meloni called the decision "prejudiced" and said it was up to her government to determine which countries are safe and which are not, suggesting she would draft new rules to address the issue. "Perhaps the government needs to clarify better what is meant by 'safe country'," she said. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told a news conference he was confident the decision would be overturned, adding that the government would take its appeal up to the Supreme Court if necessary.
For now, the court ruling means they will all have to be transferred to Italy. The centers are set to cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. The facilities are managed by Italy and under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards provide external security.
Italy has agreed to accept those migrants who have been granted asylum, while those whose claims are rejected face deportation directly from Albania. Jailed activist Ramilya Saitova (aka Galim) of Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan has been placed under strict conditions in a Russian prison in the Perm region, where she is serving a five-year sentence for an online post she made protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The change in Saitova’s status came after a skirmish with two other women who took turns beating her, according to activists from Bashkortostan who spoke to RFE/RL on October 18 on the condition of anonymity.
A court in Samara on October 16 rejected Saitova’s complaint against the decision to place her under harsher conditions. The activists, who monitor Saitova’s case, said they found out about the fight with the two other women at the same time they heard that her complaint had been rejected. They don’t know why the fight occurred.
“As far as we know, she had quite normal relations with everyone in the colony. Ramilya complained to the duty officer, but in the end the disciplinary commission recognized her as a malicious violator of the order and expelled Ramilya to a punishment cell for 15 days,” one of the sources told RFE/RL. After leaving the punishment cell, she was assigned to a barracks with stricter conditions, including a prohibition on calls to relatives.
The activists said they consider this "a provocation by the administration and, possibly, the special services." The two women involved in the fight are considered inmates of "exemplary behavior" in the colony and have now been recognized as alleged victims of Saitova's actions, the activists told RFE/RL. Saitova plans to appeal the decisions of the colony administration and the refusal of the Court of Cassation in Samara to the Supreme Court of Russia.
Saitova, who has been recognized by the Memorial human rights group as a political prisoner, was arrested in May 2023 and charged with "public calls for actions aimed against the country's security." She rejected the charge, which stemmed from her online video address to men mobilized in Bashkortostan, calling on them "to be brave and openly say, 'I do not want to kill.'" The Kirovsky District Court of Ufa, which sentenced her in December 2023, also banned the activist from engaging in activities related to the administration of websites for a period of four years.
In April 2024, the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan upheld Saitova's sentence, which she began serving the following month at the women's penal colony No. 18 in the Perm region. Her lawyer, Garifulla Yaparov, said earlier that she had been well received there.
The attitude of the colony’s management toward her was normal, and she didn’t complain about the food, Yaparov said at the time. Apple has informed RFE/RL that it has removed Current Time's app from the Russian version of its App Store at the request of Roskomnadzor , Russia’s media regulatory agency. Apple told RFE/RL in a letter that the reason it removed the app is that it contained content that is illegal in Russia and materials from an organization deemed "undesirable" by the Russian authorities.
Current Time is the Russian-language TV and digital network run by RFE/RL. RFE/RL, an independent media organization funded by a grant from the U.S.
Congress through the United States Agency for Global Media, broadcasts in 27 languages across 23 countries, mainly targeting regions with limited media freedom. Its Russian-language projects have been the focus of increasing governmental pressure, particularly since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. RFE/RL had no immediate comment on Apple's decision.
After Moscow launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked RFE/RL websites, including those of the company's Russian Service, known locally as Radio Svoboda, and Current Time. On March 6, 2022, RFE/RL suspended operations in Russia, following escalating government actions, including a petition by the Russian Federal Tax Service to bankrupt the organization’s Russian division. These measures, according to RFE/RL, were the culmination of years of government efforts to hinder its work.
The Russian Justice Ministry officially declared RFE/RL’s activities “undesirable” in February 2024. Apple’s compliance with the Russian authorities is part of a broader trend. The U.
S. tech giant removed 25 VPN services from its App Store in July and another 98 in September. These removals sparked concerns from independent media, NGOs, and civil society activists, who have accused the company of aiding in the suppression of free speech in Russia.
They have urged Apple to resist actions that undermine international human rights standards and to reinstate the blocked VPN apps. A court in Astana on October 18 sentenced Kazakh journalist Daniyar Adilbekov to 4 1/2 years in prison on charges of making and disseminating false information through a Telegram post that accused an energy official of corruption. Co-defendant Erlan Saudegerov received a three-year suspended sentence and probation on related charges.
Both men rejected the charges. Their lawyers cited procedural violations and a lack of evidence. In May, over a dozen journalists appealed to President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev for Adilbekov’s release and a fair investigation.
Adilbekov also reported being tortured by National Security Committee officials, a claim denied by authorities. His case and the imprisonment of other Kazakh journalists in recent months have sparked concerns about press freedom and the treatment of journalists in Kazakhstan. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here .
U.S. Undersecretary of State Uzra Zeya has arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian officials, the U.
S. Embassy in Kyiv said on October 18 on X, adding that the visit is meant "to reaffirm the commitment of the U.S.
to support Ukraine against a full-scale invasion of Russia," the embassy said on X. Separately, the U.S.
State Department said in a statement that Zeya will emphasize continued partnership on anti-corruption and rule of law reforms, a strong civil society and independent media, and advancing victim- and survivor-centered justice and accountability for Ukrainians." From Ukraine, Zeya will depart for Poland and the United Kingdom, the statement added. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here .
South Korea claims Pyongyang began moving special forces to Russia earlier this month, days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a similar accusation that North Korea had sent soldiers and weapons to help support the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement on October 18 that it had tracked the movements of the North's military from October 8 to October 13 and had captured images of North Korea transporting special forces to Russian territory via a Russian transport ship, the first time a Russian Navy vessel had been detected entering North Korean waters since 1990, "confirming the start of the North Korean military's participation in the war." "The North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia are currently stationed at Russian military bases in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriisk, Khabarovsk, and Blagoveshchensk, and are expected to be deployed to the front lines as soon as they complete their adaptation training," the NIS statement said.
"The North Korean soldiers were issued Russian military uniforms and Russian-made weapons, and were also issued fake ID cards of residents of the Yakutia and Buryatia regions of Siberia who looked similar to North Koreans. It appears that they disguised themselves as Russian soldiers to hide the fact that they were deployed to the battlefield," it added. The statement included maps and photos purportedly backing up the claims, which have not been independently verified.
Speculation over North Korea's role in the conflict has grown amid signs of tightening relations between Moscow and countries such as North Korea and Iran almost 32 months after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based U.S.
military think tank, also recently reported that several thousand North Korean troops had arrived in Russia and were being prepared for deployment in Ukraine. The Kremlin has previously dismissed claims by South Korea that Pyongyang has supplied artillery shells and short-range missiles to Moscow, but has not commented on the latest assertions by either Seoul or Zelenskiy, who on October 14 said that "this is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces.
" The NIS statement said Ukrainian intelligence services had analyzed North Korean weapons it says Russia has used in the war and found they have "a high defect rate and low accuracy, so they are being used for mass offensives to maintain the front line rather than for precision strikes." NATO chief Mark Rutte, speaking in Brussels on October 18, said the military alliance could not confirm the reports that North Korean troops were "actively engaged" in the conflict in Ukraine. Defense ministers from NATO's 32 members are meeting to discuss developments in Ukraine, as well as other issues.
In Washington, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee cited the South Korean report in a letter to President Joe Biden calling for an immediate classified briefing on the issue.
"These [North Korean] troops movements, if true, are alarming and are an extreme escalation of the conflict in Ukraine," said Representative Mike Turner (Republican-Ohio). "They require an immediate response from the United States and our NATO allies to avoid a widening conflict." De facto authorities in Moldova's Transdniester have pledged not to obstruct the access of voters from the Russian-backed separatist region to polling stations amid concerns that Moscow will attempt to interfere with the two key votes scheduled for October 20.
Moldovans are going to the polls to have their say in a referendum on their impoverished country of 2.5 million people pursuing further integration into the European Union and at the same time decide whether to give Pro-Western President Maia Sandu a second term in office. Mostly Russian-speaking Transdniester, a narrow stretch of land on the left bank on the Dniester River that borders Ukraine, declared independence in 1990 when Moldova was still a Soviet republic.
Following Chisinau's proclaiming its own independence in 1991, the two sides fought a short but bloody war in 1992 that claimed the lives of some 1,000 people. The war was quelled by the intervention of Russian troops stationed in the region on the separatists' side. The conflict has remained frozen for the past three decades and Russia still maintains some 1,500 troops in the region despite pledging as far back as 1999 to withdraw them.
Although it does not officially recognize Transdniester's independence, Moscow has been the separatist entity's main political and economic backer. Central authorities in Chisinau said that separatists responded positively to their call not to "impede the smooth conduct of the elections." Moldovans from Transdniester who want to vote will have to cross the Dniester River into Moldova proper, where authorities have reserved 30 polling stations only for them.
Separatist authorities initially reacted with fury to Chisinau's refusal to open any polling stations in Transdniester, saying it was proof the Moldovan government was "ignoring" its citizens from the left bank of the Dniester. The Unified Control Commission -- a trilateral peacekeeping force and joint military command structure from Moldova, Transdniester, and Russia that monitors a demilitarized zone on the border between Moldova and Ukraine, told Chisinau on October 17 that it would ensure the free movement of Moldovan citizens between the two banks of the Dniester on the day of the vote. The commission statement came after Vadim Krasnoselsky, the de facto leader of Transdniester, said on October 14 that separatist authorities would not obstruct the October 20 election process.
"I assure you that we will allow the free passage of citizens," Krasnoselsky told local journalists. Under Sandu's government, Moldova secured EU candidate status in 2022 and opened accession talks with the bloc earlier this year after siding with Ukraine following Russia's unprovoked invasion, in a radical U-turn toward the West and away from Moscow's decades-long influence. The two polls are seen as crucial for the future of the former Soviet republic and come amid a hybrid campaign of disinformation employed by Russia to scare Moldovans away from the European Union and keep them in Moscow's orbit.
On October 17, Moldovan authorities said they uncovered a network of more than 100 people trained in Russia and the Balkans to provoke post-election unrest in the country and made several arrests. According to a poll by CBS Research published on October 17, Sandu would get nearly 36 percent of the vote. Out of the other 10 candidates, pro-Moscow Socialist candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo is credited in the poll with some 9 percent of the vote, followed by businessman Renato Usatii, the ex-mayor of Balti, Moldova's second-largest city, with 6.
4 percent. Some 28 percent of those polled said they have not yet made up their mind on who to vote for. The presidential election will take place simultaneously with a constitutional referendum on Moldova's accession to the EU.
Voters will have to answer with "yes" or "no" to the question, "Do you support amending the constitution in order for the Republic of Moldova to join the European Union?" Kyrgyzstan's Emergencies Ministry announced on October 18 the recovery of the bodies of three victims from an avalanche site in the southwestern district of Chatkal, while the search continues for others still missing in the district's Ak-Sai mountains. On October 9, a group of 14 people, including a foreign national, went missing while searching for medicinal plants. Eight members of the group were found safely on October 16.
Rescuers continue to search the area. Rescuers suspended search operations in the area late on October 18 for one day due to weather conditions, including rain and snow, after the region experienced heavy snowfall on October 13-16. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here .
The caretaker prime minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, has rejected any move by Iran to hold talks on implementing a UN resolution concerning southern Lebanon, calling it " blatant interference " in his country's internal affairs.Responding to comments a day earlier by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Qalibaf that Tehran was ready to negotiate on the UN resolution that calls for the border area of southern Lebanon to be free of international weapons or troops, Mikati said on October 18 that the Lebanese government was "surprised by this position." This "constitutes a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish a rejected guardianship over Lebanon," he said in a statement.
Qalibaf made the comments in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro. "The issue of negotiating the implementation of Resolution 1701 is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, and everyone is required to support it in this direction, rather than seeking to impose new guardianships that are rejected on all national and sovereign grounds." The UN resolution authorizes a peacekeeping mission, called UNIFIL, to help Lebanon keep the border area secure.
The Israeli army launched a ground incursion into the southern border area earlier this month, saying it was pushing out militants from Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, and that UNIFIL has failed in its mission. Several UN peacekeeping positions in southern Lebanon have since come under fire, but a UNIFIL spokesperson on October 18 said the mission would remain in Lebanon despite the attacks. "We need to stay, they asked us to move," said UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti by video link from Beirut.
"The devastation and destruction of many villages along the Blue Line, and even beyond, is shocking," he said. The Blue Line refers to a demarcation created by the UN to separate Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party.
Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament. U.S.
President Joe Biden met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin ahead of joint talks on Ukraine with the leaders of Germany, France, and Britain as Russia continued its daily strikes on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, launching on October 18 "one of the most massive" drone attacks on the country. Biden's visit to Germany comes a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented EU leaders and NATO top officials with a set of measures that he said would help his embattled country put an end to Russia's 31-month invasion. Biden called on Ukraine's allies to maintain their determination and back the embattled country as it heads into a difficult third winter of war He praised Scholz for backing Kyiv and saying Berlin "rose to meet the moment" in the wake of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, welcoming Germany's raising its defense spending to a NATO target of 2 percent of its gross domestic product.
"You showed the wisdom to recognize that this war marked a turning point in history," Biden told Scholz before the two headed into their meeting, adding that "America and Germany are the two largest supporters of Ukraine in its fight for survival as a free and independent nation." Biden started his visit with a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who presented him with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, Germany's highest award. "When you were elected president, you restored Europe's hope in the transatlantic alliance literally overnight," Steinmeier told Biden -- in reference to the cooling of relations between Washington and Berlin during President Donald Trump's time in office.
After separate talks, Biden and Scholz will hold a joint meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the U.S. leader's compressed 24-hour visit as he nears the final months of his presidential term.
Biden, who arrived in Germany late on October 17, was originally due to visit the country last week on four-day visit that would have included him attending a meeting of the Ramstein group of some 50 allies of Ukraine to discuss and coordinate further military aid for the Ukraine as it faces a difficult winter ahead. However, Biden canceled the trip in order to coordinate the U.S.
response to Hurricane Milton. National-security adviser Jake Sullivan has said Biden was seeking "to make our commitment to Ukraine sustainable and institutionalized for the long term." Zelenskiy on October 17 outlined details of his "victory plan" to Ukraine's EU and NATO allies as he sought to convince them to give Ukraine an invitation to joint the military alliance -- a move that he argued would tamper down Moscow's will to continue the war and force it to negotiate in good faith.
However, while declaring that Ukraine will eventually become a member, NATO has so far not given a clear deadline, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Kyiv's intention to join the alliance was one of the reasons for Russia's invasion. NATO chief Mark Rutte, while reaffirming that NATO is working to get Ukraine ever closer to the alliance, stopped short of endorsing Zelenskiy's call for an invitation to join the alliance. "Ukraine will be member of NATO, there is no doubt about it, and until that happens we will make sure that Ukraine has everything it needs to prevail," Rutte said, adding it was essential NATO continued to provide the country with military aid.
Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told reporters that while Kyiv's path toward eventual NATO membership was irreversible, "we are not at the point right now where the alliance is talking about issuing an invitation in the short term.
" Kyiv has been hard-pressed to rally its Western allies as its outmanned and outgunned forces have faced a slow but continuous advance of Russian troops in the east. Furthermore, the upcoming U.S.
presidential election raises concerns about how the two candidates, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, would deal with the war in Ukraine. Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Zelenskiy during his presidential campaign, on October 17 blamed the Ukrainian leader for allegedly helping start the conflict, even though the war began with Russia's unprovoked invasion. "That doesn't mean I don't want to help him [Zelenskiy] because I feel very badly for those people.
But he should never have let that war start. The war's a loser," Trump said on the podcast of Patrick Bet-David. In Ukraine, meanwhile, Russia launched one of its largest waves of drone strikes early on October 18 , the head on Kyiv's military administration, Serhiy Popko, reported.
"Russian troops carried out one of the most massive drone attacks on the civilian population and infrastructure of Ukraine. Enemy drones also threatened Kyiv. But thanks to the coordinated work of the defense forces, all drones moving toward the capital were neutralized," Popko wrote on Telegram.
There were no immediate reports of casualties during the attack on Kyiv, which lasted for more than 4 1/2 hours, Popko said. Ukraine's air force said attacks targeted the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsya, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Poltava regions and air-raid alerts were still active in some regions. Ukrainian air defenses downed 80 out of the 135 drones launched by Russia, it said on Telegram.
Iran-backed Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has confirmed the death of leader Yahya Sinwar, considered to be the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people in Israel and triggered the war in Gaza between Israel and the militant group. Deputy Gaza Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya, who is also the group's chief negotiator, confirmed on October 18 Israeli reports that Sinwar was killed in Gaza in a televised address where he called on Israel to end its war in the coastal strip of land and withdraw its forces. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) first confirmed Sinwar's death on October 17, saying soldiers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) identified and eliminated three "terrorists," and "after completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated.
" "People are shocked and saddened. A Palestinian leader has been killed," 37-year-old Ramzi Sahlout, a former teacher who now helps as a volunteer at a local hospital, told Radio Farda via WhatsApp from northern Gaza. "The situation remains unchanged, and nothing new has happened.
The war continues, and the only important issue for people now is the end of the war." Sinwar's death leaves Iran-backed Hamas without a leader for the second time in less than three months and, according to senior officials from the United States and other Israeli allies, creates the possibility of a new scenario for the region. "We believe, continue to believe, that finding an end to the war is critical, and we also believe that Mr.
Sinwar's death...
can provide an inflection point to getting there," said White House spokesperson John Kirby, who is in Berlin with U.S. President Joe Biden as he meets European officials on a variety of topics.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted the removal of Sinwar from the scene opens a path for "a change of direction.
" "We'll see how things evolve," Austin said on October 18 during a visit to Brussels for a meeting of NATO defense ministers. "But clearly there are opportunities for a change in direction, and we would hope that, you know, parties would would take advantage of that, both in Lebanon, in Gaza and in Lebanon." Added NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte: "I personally will not miss him.
" Sinwar's death represents a major victory for the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been under pressure from many allies, including the United States, for the rising number of civilian casualties in Gaza as a result of the war, and accusations that Israel has been hindering aid supplies to the territory, where hundreds of thousands are living in a growing humanitarian crisis. But neither side appears prepared, at least publicly, to seize on the opportunity Austin and other diplomats around the world have spoken about in the wake of Sinwar's death. Hamas said on October 18 it would launch a new phase of fighting in the conflict, while Netanyahu said in a speech late the previous evening that "our war has not ended.
" The current war between the two sides broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack, that also saw the militants take some 240 people back to Gaza as hostages. Israel has since launched a withering offensive that, according to the Hamas-led Heath Ministry in Gaza, has seen more than 42,000 people killed while displacing virtually all of Gaza's 2.3 million people.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sinwar had rebuffed efforts by the United States and its partners to bring the war to a close through an agreement that would free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.
The fighting has also spilled over into Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., while the EU blacklists its armed wing but not its political party, has fired rockets and missiles into Israel on almost a daily basis in support of Hamas.
Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament and the militants control the southern part of the country that borders Israel. The IDF launched a ground incursion into the southern border area earlier this month, saying it was pushing out Hezbollah militants. Russia's State Duma on October 17 passed a bill in its first reading that would ban " childfree propaganda ," marking the latest expansion of the government's efforts to regulate social discourse.
The bill introduces penalties for promoting the voluntary refusal to have children, with fines reaching up to 5 million rubles ($51,440) for organizations and 400,000 rubles ($4,115) for individuals. This move builds on existing legislation that targets "LGBT propaganda" and is part of a broader campaign by Russian authorities to defend what they view as traditional values. The push to ban the so-called childfree movement has gained momentum in recent months, with Russian officials, including Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, linking the trend to the "radicalization of feminism in the West.
" Matviyenko and other officials argue that this movement, which encourages voluntary childlessness, undermines family values and contributes to Russia's deepening demographic crisis. Russia is facing a significant population decline, which President Vladimir Putin has frequently described as one of the country's most pressing issues. In response, the government has implemented various measures, including financial incentives for families, efforts to curb abortions, and increasing restrictions on content deemed contrary to family values , such as LGBT-related materials.
Putin has framed these policies as necessary to boost Russia's birth rate and secure its future. Critics of the childfree ban argue it is part of a broader state agenda to ensure a supply of "future soldiers for the Kremlin," reflecting concerns that the government is using demographic policies to fuel its long-term military needs. Meanwhile, a recent study by Russia's Higher School of Economics highlights the complexities surrounding the demographic crisis.
And according to recent polls, many Russians are postponing or abandoning plans to have children due to the war in Ukraine, political instability, financial difficulties, and rising social anxiety. These challenges have complicated the government's efforts to reverse the declining birth rate, as the economic and emotional toll of ongoing situation caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine weighs heavily on Russian society. The United States on October 17 imposed sanctions on two Chinese companies and an affiliated Russian company involved in making and shipping drones that Russia has used in its full-scale war in Ukraine.
The two Chinese companies designated by the U.S. Treasury Department are Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Company and the Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen.
Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Company makes an engine that powers Russia's Garpiya series long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen is involved in shipping the attack drones, the department said in a statement . A Russian national and a Russian company affiliated with the two Chinese companies also were designated in the sanctions announced on October 17. They are Artem Yamshchikov, general director and beneficial owner of TSK Vektor, which serves as an intermediary between a previously designated Russian company and the China-based suppliers for Russia's Garpiya project.
Yamshikov also directs and owns Limited Liability Company Trading House Vector, the Russian affiliate that was designated for sanctions in the October 17 announcement. The Treasury Department said the new sanctions are the first U.S.
sanctions imposed on Chinese entities that produce complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms. Previously imposed sanctions on Chinese entities have targeted those that provided components critical to Russia's military-industrial base. "Russia increasingly relies on the expertise of foreign professionals and the import of sophisticated technologies to sustain its weapons program and advance its military campaign against Ukraine," said Acting Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T.
Smith. "We will continue to disrupt the networks that enable Russia's acquisition and use of these advanced weapons." The Garpiya has been deployed by Russia in its brutal war against Ukraine, destroying critical infrastructure and causing mass casualties, the Treasury Department said.
The drone was designed and developed by China-based experts and is produced at factories within China in collaboration with Russian defense firms before they are transferred to Russia for use against Ukraine, according to the department. The sanctions freeze any assets held by the individuals and companies in U.S.
jurisdiction and bar U.S. persons from conducting business with them.
Yahya Sinwar, considered to be the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas, has been killed in southern Gaza in a major victory for the Israeli military. Sinwar's death also prompted calls for the return of the hostages still held by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, and an end to the war in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) initially confirmed Sinwar's death in a post on X on October 17 that said simply, "Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar.
" It released a longer statement later in the evening saying soldiers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) identified and eliminated three terrorists, and "after completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated." Sinwar's death leaves Iran-backed Hamas without a leader for the second time in less than three months. It also represents a major boost to the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been under pressure from many allies, including the United States, for the rising number of civilian casualties in Gaza as a result of the war, and accusations that Israel has been hindering aid supplies to the territory, where hundreds of thousands are living in a growing humanitarian crisis.
"Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar," the IDF said in its post , giving no further details. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also confirmed Sinwar had been killed, calling it a "victory for the entire free world" and "an opportunity for the immediate release of the hostages and paves the way for a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza." Hamas has not officially commented on the reports.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters after landing in Germany following a phone conversation with Netanyahu that it is time to move toward a cease-fire in Gaza and "make sure that we are moving in a direction that we're going to be able to make things better for the whole world," he said.
"It's time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. So that's what we're ready to do." Biden added that U.
S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East in the coming days to discuss ways to push for a Gaza hostage and cease-fire deal. Netanyahu said earlier in a televised address that Israel will keep control over Gaza long enough to ensure Hamas does not rearm.
"Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the start of the day after Hamas," he said, adding that Israel will keep fighting until all the hostages are free. “Our war is not yet ended," he said.
Biden said earlier in a statement said it was on Sinwar's orders that Hamas militants invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and committed "massacres, rapes, and kidnappings." Vice President Kamala Harris also commented on the death of Sinwar, saying Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7 and "gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza." Blinken recalled the victims of "Sinwar’s unspeakable crimes" in a statement and said the "world is a better place with him gone.
" He said Sinwar had rebuffed efforts by the United States and its partners to bring the war to a close through an agreement that would free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. "In the days ahead, the United States will redouble its efforts with partners to end this conflict, secure the release all hostages, and chart a new path forward that will enable the people of Gaza to rebuild their lives and realize their aspirations free from war and free from the brutal grip of Hamas," Blinken said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Foreign Minister Baerbock issued statement calling on Hamas to release all hostages.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he hoped Sinwar's death will lead to a cease-fire in Gaza. The speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives, Mike Johnson (Republican-Louisiana), said Sinwar's death should bring "relief" to Israel. A violent confrontation broke out between believers of rival Orthodox churches after the handover of a cathedral in the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy. St.
Michael's Cathedral, which has been designated a garrison church for Ukraine's armed forces, was the site of a night liturgy when about 100 people in camouflage and balaclavas forcefully broke into the grounds early on October 17. The tensions surrounding St. Michael's Cathedral follow Ukraine's broader efforts to curb the influence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which has historically been linked to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Despite declaring independence from Moscow in 2022, the UOC is still viewed with suspicion by Ukrainian authorities due to its alleged pro-Russian stance. Video from the incident escalating into a physical clash between believers of the rival churches. Several people were injured in the clashes and were being treated by doctors, according to Zoya Vovk, a spokeswoman for the National Police in the Cherkasy region.
UOC representatives reportedly broke through the entrance gates and lobbed tear gas into a crowd of Orthodox Church of Ukraine believers. Witnesses said the church's UOC priests and parishioners barricaded themselves inside the cathedral and refused entry to others. An RFE/RL correspondent reported from the site that the confrontation ended only after police and activists arrived.
The senior military chaplain of the Cherkasy region, Father Nazariy, told RFE/RL that local worshipers had initially occupied the church at night, but were later ejected by what he described as "Russian activists" loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate. "Prayers for our soldiers should be heard here," Father Nazariy said, adding that UOC members shunned Ukrainian soldiers, viewing them as enemies. A service in Ukrainian was eventually held in the church.
Vovk confirmed that an investigation for "hooliganism" had been opened. A court in Dushanbe has sentenced the leader of an opposition group that has been sharply critical of the government and another group member to lengthy prison sentences for "extremism." Suhrob Zafar, the leader of Group 24, and Nasimjon Sharifov were sentenced to 30 years and 20 years in prison, respectively.
The sentences were handed down a week earlier, sources told RFE/RL on October 17. Group 24 was founded by businessman Umarali Quvatov, who was assassinated in Turkey in 2015. The group has been a vocal critic of the Tajik government and advocates for democratic reforms.
Tajik authorities have labeled it "extremist," though Zafar and other members deny any involvement in terrorism, insisting their cause is peaceful. During their final statements, both Zafar and Sharifov expressed no regret, with Zafar maintaining that he had neither harmed anyone nor betrayed his people. Sources suggest the two men are unlikely to appeal, with Zafar indicating he was prepared for prison and even death.
To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here . City authorities in Minsk have put the home of Valer Tsapkala up for auction as part of a broader crackdown on government critics in exile. Tsapkala’s 418.
3-square-meter house, listed at 2.1 million Belarusian rubles ($641,500), follows the earlier sale of his apartment in April. Tsapkala, a businessman and former ambassador to the United States, fled the country fearing arrest after his attempt to run for president in 2020 was denied.
His assets were seized after he was sentenced in absentia to 17 years in prison for charges including violating national security and financing terrorism. The seizures were enabled by a 2023 law allowing the confiscation of property from individuals deemed to have committed "unfriendly actions" toward the Belarusian state. Last week, authorities seized the family home of journalist Alyaksey Dzikavitski, the acting director of independent news outlet Belsat TV.
Other opposition figures targeted under the law include political prisoner Viktar Babarika and opposition leader in exile Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, as authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime continues its repression of dissidents. To read the original story by Current Time, click here . Moldovan authorities say they have exposed a network of more than 100 people trained in Russia and the Balkans to provoke post-election unrest in the southeastern European country and have arrested several suspects.
Pro-Western President Maia Sandu is running for a second term on October 20 in an election that takes place simultaneously with a referendum to decide whether Moldovans want their impoverished country of 2.5 million people to pursue integration into the European Union. Moldovan police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told a news conference in Chisinau on October 17 that the network was financed by Russia-friendly fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who is wanted in Moldova for his involvement in the theft of some $1 billion from the impoverished ex-Soviet republic's banking system about a decade ago.
Cernauteanu said four people were arrested and placed in pretrial custody for 30 days following extensive searches by police and Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS). Authorities have released hidden-camera videos purporting to depict training sessions in Russia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In one video, young people standing on a stage in what appears to be a training hall mock a protest and chant slogans such as "Our language is Russian," "No dual citizenship," and "We don't want to be in Europe.
" Another video purportedly shows a training camp said to be in the Balkans where young men are appear to be learning how to make explosives and pilot drones. The investigators said the approximately 100 young people who took part in the alleged training were around 20 years old. They started traveling to Russia in June and some of them underwent additional training at camps in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina belonging to Russian mercenary groups Ferma and Wagner, authorities said.
Among the coordinators of the action is Konstantin Potyomkin, who has ties with the notorious Wagner group. SIS chief Alexandru Musteata said Moldovan authorities "have the situation under control," and the degree of risk regarding possible destabilization is now "low." Under Sandu's government, Moldova secured EU candidate status in 2022 and opened accession talks with the bloc earlier this year after siding with Ukraine following Russia's unprovoked invasion, in a radical U-turn toward the West and away from Moscow's decades-long influence.
The two polls are seen as crucial for the future of the former Soviet republic and come amid a hybrid campaign of disinformation employed by Russia to scare Moldovans away from the European Union and keep them in Moscow's orbit. Moldovan and several Western governments have warned that Russia and Shor plan to organize mass unrest if the elections and the referendum will have results contrary to the Kremlin's liking. Most recently, the United States has warned about Moscow's campaign to derail Moldova's path toward integration in the Euro-Atlantic community.
"Russia is working actively to undermine Moldova's election and its European integration," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists on October 15. "In the last several months, Moscow has dedicated millions of dollars to influencing Moldova's presidential election. We assess that this money has gone toward financing its preferred parties and spreading disinformation on social media in favor of their campaigns," Kirby said.
Kirby has previously said Russia's eventual goal was to bring in a pro-Moscow government in Chisinau. The revelations came a day after Moldova's Foreign Ministry said it had "taken note" of reported attempts to organize the "illegal" transportation of voters to polling stations opened in Russia for the elections. The ministry said in a statement on October 16 that the alleged plans would aim to "question the legitimacy of the poll" and artificially induce "the impression of crowds" at the two polling stations due to be opened at the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow -- the only ones available on Russia's territory.
The statement does not indicate the source of the information or say who would make such plans. The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) did not immediately comment on such concerns. Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi has separately said he had signals that Moscow "would try to organize the transport of voters" and warned that Moldovan electoral authorities would take "necessary measures," without elaborating.
Moldova will open 228 polling stations in 37 countries for the October 20 elections -- nearly 100 more than for the 2020 presidential election. During parliamentary elections in July 2021, 17 polling stations were opened in Russia. Reports from the field found few people came to such stations.
Britain has imposed sanctions on 18 more Russian oil tankers and four liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers in what the government said amounted to the largest move against Moscow's "shadow fleet" circumventing restrictive measures by the West following Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. "18 more shadow fleet ships will be barred from U.K.
ports and unable to access world-leading British maritime services, bringing the total number of oil tankers sanctioned to 43," the government said in a statement. It said the oil tankers targeted by the latest sanctions are estimated to have hauled $4.9 billion-worth of oil over the past year.
Russian gas company Rusgazdobycha JSC was also placed under sanctions, the statement said. "I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal," the statement quoted Foreign Secretary David Lammy as saying. Kazakh national soccer team coach Stanislav Cherchesov, a Russian national, has been fined by the national federation for making an insensitive comment regarding the Kazakh language.
Federation President Adliet Barmenqulov on October 16 announced the disciplinary action over an incident that occurred last weekend, when Cherchesov responded to a reporter's question in Kazakh with a joke comparing the language to French, sparking public outrage. Cherchesov was fined 738,400 tenges ($1,500) and underwent counseling about the importance of respecting the state language. Despite defending Cherchesov's humor as a misunderstanding tied to the reporter's French soccer jersey, critics argue the comment was inappropriate.
This marks the latest in a series of language-related controversies surrounding the Russian coach, highlighting the sensitivity of linguistic issues in Kazakhstan, especially in the context of broader geopolitical tensions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here . The Bishkek City Court on October 17 rejected an appeal by Kyrgyz government critic Askat Zhetigen and upheld his three-year prison sentence.
Zhetigen was convicted in July of calling for an attempt to seize power, a case he and rights organizations have strongly contested. He was, however, acquitted of a separate charge related to inciting mass unrest. Zhetigen, a poet, composer, and activist, gained attention in 2021 for speaking out on social media on cultural and political issues, including government reforms and the treatment of critics under President Sadyr Japarov.
The charges stemmed from a video in which he criticized Japarov's administration. Zhetigen has claimed that he was tortured while in custody, allegations that the New York-based Human Rights Foundation has called for an independent investigation into. It has also condemned the charges as fabricated and demanded Zhetigen's immediate release.
To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here ..
