Ukraine's government has purchased Sense Bank, which is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven, for 1 hryvnia (2 U.S. cents) after the central bank (NBU) ruled to remove the institution from the Ukrainian financial sector.

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Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said the move on July 21 will put the bank, formerly known as Afla-Bank Ukraine, under the management of the Ukrainian Finance Ministry.

The government move came a day after the NBU said that an interim administration will be set up for Sense Bank once the government approves its nationalization.

The move was taken because of the bank's association with Fridman and Aven, who are connected "with the government of the country-aggressor" and are currently under sanctions in Ukraine, the NBU said.

The government is expected to complete the nationalization of Sense Bank by the end of the weekend.

Last month, a nominal owner of the Sense Bank, Luxemburg-based ABH Holdings S.A., asked Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council to sell the bank to a European investor, promising that the money received from the buyer will not go to either Fridman or Aven.

Skhemy (Schemes), an investigative project run by RFE/RL, has reported that Russian companies linked to Fridman had been involved in supplying Russian troops invading Ukraine with clothes and food, and also provided insurance for technical equipment for the Russian National Guard that is being used in the war in Ukraine.

In September, the Financial Times and The Washington Post cited sources as saying that Fridman had held talks with a U.S. official, offering $1 billion for Ukraine's efforts to restore infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes in exchange for the lifting sanctions imposed on him by the West. Fridman denied the reports at the time.

In May 2022, Ukrainian authorities froze Fridman's assets -- estimated to be $416 million -- that were held by Alfa-Bank Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy subsequently signed a law allowing the nationalization of property and assets of individuals who support Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

Fridman, a 59-year-old Ukrainian-born Russian-Israeli businessman, was the founder of Alfa-Bank and grew to be one of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen. He has been sanctioned by the European Union as part of a series of moves against Russia for its war against Ukraine.

The EU described him as “as a top Russian financier and enabler of [President Vladimir] Putin’s inner circle.”

In 2013, Fridman and the 68-year-old Aven, one of his main Alfa partners, reorganized their holdings following the $14 billion sale of their stake in the Russian oil company TNK-BP.

They created a new London-based investment group called LetterOne, but both men stepped down from the new company after the EU imposed sanctions in March 2022.

A court in Moscow has sent Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov), the former leader of Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine who has criticized President Vladimir Putin and senior military officials for an ineffective war campaign, to pretrial detention on an extremism charge.

The Meshchansky district court ruled on July 21 that Girkin must stay in pretrial detention until at least September 18. Girkin entered a not guilty plea.

The court pronounced the decision hours after Girkin's wife, Miroslava Reginskaya, said on Telegram that her husband was detained on an extremism charge.

Girkin's lawyer also confirmed the detention to the RBK and AFP news agencies.

Girkin was a key commander of Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in 2014. He also helped Russia illegally annex Ukraine's Crimea that year.

But his detention appears to indicate he has fallen out of favor with the Kremlin despite previously being seen as untouchable given his background.

SEE ALSO:

A 'New Dimension': After Prigozhin's Mutiny, What Happens Next?

A former officer of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Girkin has sharply criticized Putin, recently referring to him as a "nonentity" and a "cowardly mediocrity," and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for "mistakes" in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. He also has accused them of "incompetence" and argued that a total mobilization is needed for Russia to achieve victory.

In one of his harshest rants, Girkin said in a July 18 post on his official Telegram channel that Putin should transfer power "to someone truly capable and responsible." The post has garnered almost 800,000 views.

In November last year, a court in the Netherlands sentenced Girkin and two other defendants to life in prison in absentia in the case of the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine.
All 298 people on board died in the crash.

In February, international investigators said there were "strong indications" that Putin was personally involved in the incident.

The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014, amid a conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian armed forces. The victims came from more than a dozen countries, although more than two-thirds of them were Dutch citizens.

Russia has denied any involvement in the shooting down of the plane.

With reporting by Meduza, TASS, Interfax, Mediazona, RBK, RFE/RL's Russian Service, and AFP

Up to 20,000 Russian convicts recruited by the Wagner mercenary group were killed in fighting in Bakhmut over the past few months, British intelligence said in its daily report on July 21. The last convicts recruited under a program called Project K are likely to be released in the coming days, but many will probably stay on as contract fighters, it said. Some 40,000 convicts were under contract with Wagner at the peak of Project K early this year, it said. A rare recent Russian military success, capturing Bakhmut also represented "one of the bloodiest episodes in modern military history," British intelligence added.

Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khylyuk, who went missing last year after he was detained by occupying Russian troops, is in a penal colony in Russia's Vladimir region, Reporters without Borders (RSF) said in a statement. Russian armed forces detained Khylyuk and his father near Kyiv in March 2022, weeks after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the father was eventually released, the journalist went missing. In September, Khylyuk's parents received a written message from their son saying he was in a Russian prison. RSF demanded that "state hostage" Khylyuk be released "immediately." To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

CIA head William Burns says he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to bide his time and wait before seeking retribution against Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, following his aborted mutiny against Russia's military leadership last month.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum on July 20, Burns also said Prigozhin’s mutiny was the biggest challenge to Putin in his 23 years as Russia’s preeminent official, and he asserted that Russia’s elites, some already doubting the conduct of the Ukraine war, had increasing doubts about Putin’s leadership.

"What we are seeing is a very complicated dance," Burns said in what was billed by the forum as a fireside chat.

"Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback,” he said.

“So I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this. So in that sense, the President (Joe) Biden is right. if I were Prigozhin, I wouldn't fire my food taster," Burns added, referring to a quip by Biden earlier this week that, if he were Prigozhin, "I'd be careful what I ate."

The stunning but short-lived mutiny by Prigozhin on June 24 saw Wagner fighters seize the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and march to within 200 kilometers of Moscow, shooting down Russian military aircraft and killing 13 air-force personnel along the way.

Putin immediately denounced the insurrection as a “stab in the back” and vowed to punish all "traitors" involved.

But Prigozhin does not appear to have been arrested or even detained, and the Kremlin said he met with Putin days after the mutiny.

Since then, the Wagner chief’s whereabouts have been shrouded in mystery, though he is believed to be moving between Russia and Belarus, where Wagner troops have been setting up camps to train Belarusian armed forces as part of a negotiated deal that helped end the mutiny.

The insurrection came on the heels of months of intense public infighting with Russia’s military leadership over the war strategy in Ukraine and ammunition supplies.

Burns claimed that U.S. intelligence had prior warning of the mutiny, and he said many of Russia’s elites were wondering about Putin’s response: `"whether the emperor had no clothes or at least why is it taking him so long to get dressed."

"I think what it resurrected was some deeper questions which again, you know, you've seen circulate within the Russian elite since the war in Ukraine began," said Burns, a longtime diplomat who also served as U.S. ambassador to Russia.

"I think Putin is already a little bit uneasy as he looks over his shoulder" he added.

On the battlefield, the CIA chief said it was not a surprise that gains from Ukraine's counteroffensive have been incremental.

Russian troops, he said, had months to prepare defenses before Kyiv's troops launched their campaign last month.

"I don't think it should come as a surprise to anyone that the counteroffensive is a hard slog. Offense is a lot harder than defense," Burns said.

"I am however, an optimist...Behind those considerable fixed defenses that the Russians have built in southern Ukraine...there still lie some pretty significant structural weaknesses, poor morale, uneven generalship to put it mildly on the Russian side...and the disarray... about the political and very senior military leadership," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed his country's ambassador to Britain without giving reasons for the move. Zelenskiy's decree on the removal of Vadym Prystayko from the post appeared on the presidential website on July 21. Last week, Prystayko publicly chided Zelenskiy for his "unhealthy sarcasm" when the Ukrainian leader criticized a statement by British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace about Kyiv's "insufficient gratitude" over military assistance being received during the war with Russia.

A Moscow court has opened an "incitement to terrorism" case against former soldier Timofei Rudenko, who spoke out against the war in Ukraine, his mother said on July 21. Before this, Rudenko was first detained in May last year and spent eight 15-day spells in administrative arrest after being found guilty of hooliganism for allegedly swearing in public. Rudenko had served as a military psychologist until several years ago. At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he condemned it in a post and comments on social networks. Rudenko said that in special detention centers he was beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and threatened with rape. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused NATO member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and said any aggression against Moscow's neighbor and close ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia. Moscow would react to any aggression against Belarus, which forms a loose "Union State" with Russia, "with all the means at our disposal," Putin told a meeting of his Security Council in televised remarks on July 21. Warsaw's Security Committee decided on July 19 to move military units to eastern Poland after members of the Russian Wagner mercenary force arrived in Belarus. Poland did not threaten Belarus when announcing the move. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

A fourth day of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian Black Sea port installations on July 21 set grain storage facilities in the Odesa region on fire and destroyed a huge amount of food stored for export, causing damage and injuries, regional officials and the military said, as fighting continued along the whole eastern front.

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Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said that Russia launched Kalibr-type cruise missiles from vessels in the Black Sea, destroying a grain terminal and wounding two people.

“Unfortunately, a grain terminal of one of the agricultural enterprises of the Odesa region was hit. The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley. Two people were wounded in the explosion," Kiper said.

Kiper said that, at first, two missiles hit the granary, causing a fire, then a third missile struck while firefighters were trying to extinguish the flames.

"Another missile hit the same enterprise, damaging agricultural and rescue equipment. A fire on an area of more than 200 square meters was quickly extinguished," Kiper said.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said that up to four P-800 Onyx cruise missiles hit infrastructure targets south of the city of Odesa.

"Unfortunately, our means of detection and destruction are not enough to cover the entire territory of Ukraine and destroy incoming missiles and drones," Ihnat said.

In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said its navy carried out a live fire "exercise" in the northwest Black Sea on July 21, just days after the Kremlin said that cargo ships en route to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea would be regarded as potential military targets.

The Black Sea Fleet "carried out live firing of anti-ship cruise missiles at the target ship in the combat training range in the northwestern part of the Black Sea," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

• RFE/RL

Moscow pounded Ukrainian food export facilities on July 21 in a fourth day of air strikes on Odesa.

On July 20, Russian missiles struck the Odesa and Mykolayiv regions, killing two people, wounding another 20, including five children, and causing extensive damage to port installations and stored grain.

The strikes also hit residential areas in the center of Odesa and Mykolayiv, setting large areas on fire.

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said that grain terminals and port infrastructure in the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk were targeted. In Chornomorsk, 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed over the past several days, the ministry said.

Russia's Defense Ministry has said the series of strikes on southern Ukraine targeted facilities where it claimed Ukraine was building seaborne drones of the type that Moscow says damaged a bridge in the annexed region of Crimea.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian strikes had "deliberately" targeted sites in the Odesa region that are used to export grain after Russia refused to extend the grain deal.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine's Counteroffensive Is Going Slowly. Is That A Problem?

Zelenskiy met on July 21 with military commanders to discuss the situation at the front and about the grain initiative.

Work continues to protect ports and the infrastructure of the grain initiative, he said, adding he had instructed the commanders to prepare an action plan for the continuation of the grain corridor and to work out the next diplomatic steps.

In New York the UN's political affairs chief told the Security Council on July 21 that Russia's attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports risk "having far-reaching impacts on global food security, in particular, in developing countries."

Rosemary DiCarlo also said threats about the potential targeting of civilian vessels in Black Sea waters -- made by both Russia and Ukraine -- are unacceptable.

"Any risk of conflict spillover as a result of a military incident in the Black Sea -- whether intentional or by accident -- must be avoided at all costs, as this could result in potentially catastrophic consequences to us all," she said.

• RFE/RL
• Reuters

At least two people were killed and 20 people were reportedly wounded as Moscow launched air strikes on July 20, targeting the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mykolayiv. It was the third consecutive round of air strikes that targeted Odesa.

The Black Sea escalation comes as Kyiv reports a new attempt by Russia to return to the offensive in the northeast.

"The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on Kupyansk [in the Kharkiv region], Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka [in the Donetsk region], where 32 close combat battles were fought over the past day," the General Staff of Ukraine's military said on July 21.

Ukrainian defenders in Kupyansk repelled attacks by Russian troops southwest of Masyutivka, the military added.

Germany meanwhile announced that it has handed over the first 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine. In a message, the German Defense Ministry said the new package of military aid also included 20 MG3 machine guns for tanks and armored vehicles, 1,035 155-millimeter shells and smoke ammunition, among other items.

On July 20, the United States said U.S.-supplied cluster munitions are being deployed in the field. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the munitions are having an impact on Russian defensive formations and maneuvering.

"We have gotten some initial feedback from the Ukrainians, and they're using them quite effectively," Kirby said at a news briefing.

In its daily intelligence update, Britain's Defense Ministry said that up to 20,000 Russian convicts recruited by the Wagner mercenary group were killed in fighting in Bakhmut over the past several months.

Russian forces spearheaded by Wagner mercenaries captured Bakhmut in May, following months of intense and bloody fighting.

British intelligence said that, while it was a rare recent Russian military success, the battle for Bakhmut was also "one of the bloodiest episodes in modern military history."

It estimated that at its peak, Wagner had some 40,000 convicts under contract early this year.

It said that the last convicts recruited under the so-called Project K program are likely to be released over the next several days, but it estimated that many will probably stay on as contract fighters.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced Anet Baitursynov, a National Security Committee (KNB) officer, to 10 years in prison for beating to death 42-year-old Almas Mukashev, a resident of Taldykorgan in the southeast of the country, during protests in January last year, lawyer Berden Kadyr told RFE/RL. Another KNB officer, Andrei Sorokin, received four years of imprisonment for his "failure to report the information he heard to the authorized body." The prosecutor requested 11 years in prison for Baitursynov, and three years for Sorokin. The anti-government protests that rocked Kazakhstan last year were violently dispersed, leaving at least 238 people dead. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

China's Foreign Ministry says it is closely following developments after its consulate in Odesa was damaged in a Russian missile strike. China “maintains contact with interested parties” and will “take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and citizens in Ukraine," said a representative of the ministry in response to a question as to whether Beijing has lodged a protest against Russia. The ministry confirmed that there was an explosion on July 20 near the Chinese consulate in Odesa and a wall of the building and windows were damaged by the blast’s shockwave. The employees of the consulate were not injured. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.

The Belarusian human rights group Vyasna (Spring) is one of the recipients of this year's prestigious UN human rights prize. The awards were announced at the United Nations in New York on July 20. The prize “sends a clear message to human rights defenders all over the world that the international community is grateful for, and supports, their efforts to promote all human rights for all," said UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi, the head of the laureate selection committee. Among the other winners was a Congolese women's rights activist and a global nature-protection coalition. To read the story by RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, click here.

The National Assembly in the Republika Srpska (RS) on July 20 adopted amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia-Herzegovina's majority Serb entity that journalists and rights activists say would criminalize defamation and stifle free speech.

The National Assembly adopted the amendments despite months of protests by domestic and international organizations as well as journalists who have called on the lawmakers to scrap the changes.

The amendments say that making malicious or untrue statements about a person amounts to defamation and make the offense punishable with fines.

The law was adopted despite criticism that it represents an attack on freedom of opinion and a step toward the introduction of censorship.

"By adopting this law, you will have a situation where a murderer and a man who told a joke about a politician in a bar are playing chess in prison," said Igor Crnadak, a representative of the opposition Party of Democratic Progress, on July 18.

At the same time, the Justice Minister of Republika Srpska, Milos Bukejlovic, said "insinuations" through headlines and texts created an "incorrect" image that the criminalization of defamation favors individuals and not citizens.

Hundreds of journalists and rights activists marched to the parliament in Banja Luka, the capital of Republika Srpska on July 18 to protest the amendments, which were introduced by Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, a divisive figure who is also the leader of the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).

Lawmakers adopted the changes in a draft amendment in March that was then subject to a two-month period to allow public debate.

Following turbulent discussions during which journalists and organizations representing civil society accused lawmakers of attempting to bring the media under state control, fines were reduced in the final draft of the law from an initial maximum of 60,000 euros to between 1,000 and 3,000 euros.

The bill foresees fines for public mockery for belonging to a certain race, religion, nationality, or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Higher fines are possible in situations where defamation appears in the media, on social networks, or at a public gathering.

With reporting by Marija Augustinovic-Stojak

Russia has still not provided UN nuclear experts at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine access to the rooftops of the occupied facilitie's reactors, the agency said on July 20.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that its team has carried out inspections at the power plant over the past week and has not observed any heavy military equipment or "visible indication of explosives or mines."

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But the statement added that the experts “are still awaiting access to the rooftops of the reactor buildings.”

The statement also said that the nuclear power plant is in a "volatile security situation in the region located on the frontline of the conflict."

Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of planning an incident at the plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since soon after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February last year.

Kyiv has accused Russia of placing explosives on the rooftops of the third and fourth power units at the plant, and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi noted earlier this month that he hoped his inspectors would gain access to these areas.

The IAEA said then that access to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 was "essential" as was access to parts of the turbine halls.

Grossi’s request to inspect the areas has now been pending for nearly two weeks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the international community to intervene and reiterated his warnings that Russia is planning provocations at the facility.

The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest, has been targeted by gunfire multiple times, severing it from the electrical grid and raising fears of a major nuclear accident.

Though the plant is not generating electricity, it requires electrical power to maintain the cooling of its reactors.

The statement added that the IAEA team did not report hearing any explosions over the past week, which was a contrast to the preceding week when it was almost a daily occurrence.

The IAEA experts are also continuing to closely monitor the situation regarding the availability of water for cooling the plant’s six reactors and other essential nuclear safety and security functions following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in early June and the subsequent depletion of a reservoir near the plant.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

The United States has imposed new sanctions targeting 18 individuals and more than 120 entities based in Russia and Kyrgyzstan in a move aimed at inhibiting Moscow’s access to products and technology that support its war efforts.

The entities include several based in Kyrgyzstan that the U.S. Treasury Department on July 20 said have operated as intermediaries to provide foreign-made electronics and technologies to Russia.

At least six of these companies were featured in a recent investigation by RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service into Kyrgyz and Kazakh companies that revealed how sanctioned Western electronics make their way to Russia via Central Asian firms.

SEE ALSO:

Kyrgyz, Kazakh Companies Send Western Tech To Firms Linked To Kremlin War Machine

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on July 20 that, in addition to curtailing Russia's ability to obtain technology, the sanctions aim to reduce its revenue from mining, degrade its access to the international financial system, and starve it of technology produced by the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, particularly items needed in the aerospace and defense sectors.

The latest sanctions build on a wave of global actions imposed on Moscow.

“Since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States, working with our allies and partners, has taken unprecedented steps to impose costs on Russia and promote accountability for the individuals and entities who support its illegal war,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“We will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the United States and the European Union, which on July 20 extended sanctions on Russia for another six months. He also thanked Canada for its recent moves to tighten sanctions against Russia.

"Hundreds of new sanctions objectives have been successfully implemented," Zelenskiy said in a video posted on Twitter. "Russia and everyone in this world who dares to help terrorists must feel the ever-increasing sanctions pressure -- whether they are individuals, companies, or countries."

The individuals designated for sanctions include former Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin, a longtime confidant of President Vladimir Putin. Kudrin headed the government’s official watchdog, the Audit Chamber, until late last year when he joined Russian tech giant Yandex.

Kudrin joined Yandex during a restructuring as the Kremlin cracked down on independent news and reporting on the Ukraine war. Yandex’s search engine and main news portal were among the leading sources for Russian-language content.

Yandex ultimately decided to sell its main news and entertainment portals and undertook an attempted restructuring that would essentially split the company into a wholly Russian unit and an overlapping, but independent, foreign unit.

But that deal, which Kudrin has been intimately involved in negotiating, has been contingent on finding deep-pocketed Russian buyers for the Russian unit. Until recently, a group of Kremlin-connected oligarchs, and state investment bank VTB, were reported to be in the running to take control of the new unit.

But, according to reports this week in Meduza and The Bell, Yandex’s board has been wary of falling afoul of existing U.S. sanctions that had previously targeted some of the main contenders, and the board has been casting about for other options.

It’s unclear how Kudrin’s sanctioning would affect his role at Yandex or the company’s restructuring efforts.

A Yandex spokeswoman declined to comment on the Treasury announcement.

The six companies designated for sanctions by OFAC that were featured in the RFE/RL investigation are LLC RM Design and Development, Basis Trade Prosoft LLC, Region-Prof LLC, ZAO GTME Tekhnologii, OOO Radiotekhsnab (RTS), and Technologies Systems and Complexes Limited (TSC).

ZAO GTME Tekhnologii (GTME Tekhnologii) is a Kyrgyz-based entity established in June 2022.

It has made dozens of shipments of goods to Russia, including high-priority items such as tantalum capacitors and electronic integrated circuits, the RFE/RL investigation found. GTME Tekhnologii’s primary customer has been Russia-based TSC, a vendor of electronic and digital equipment.

OFAC said LLC RM Design and Development, established in March last year, has been a "prolific shipper" of electronics such as semiconductors and integrated circuits to Russia, including to firms that have supplied electronics to Russian-based defense companies.

Earlier on July 20, Kyrgyzstan denied helping Moscow circumvent sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion, but did admit to "the "possible involvement of private companies" and said it was investigating the matter.

The other individuals targeted for helping to supply munitions to Russia include Russian and North Korean national Yong Hyok Rim, who is linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mutinous leader of the Wagner mercenary organization.

Also designated are two other private Russian military companies, including Okhrana, owned by Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom.

Sergei Korolev, first deputy director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), and Smolensk regional Governor Vasily Anokhin also were targeted, the State Department said.

The sanctions freeze any property in U.S. jurisdictions owned by the individuals and entities named. They also bar U.S. citizens from any dealings with the people and entities.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

NOTE: This article has been amended to clarify the circumstances surrounding Aleksei Kudrin's departure from the Russian Audit Chamber and his joining Yandex.

The United Kingdom has removed sanctions on Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov, who has called Moscow's war against Ukraine "crazy," and renounced his Russian citizenship in November last year. Tinkov's name disappeared from Britain’s' sanctions list on July 20 without explanation. The 55-year-old Tinkov, who has long resided outside of Russia to receive treatment for leukemia, has strongly criticized Moscow's aggression against Ukraine, launched in February 2022, after being targeted by British sanctions alongside other wealthy Russian businessmen over the war. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Residents of the village of Maraldy in the East Kazakhstan region said on July 20 that local activists have clashed with workers constructing a gold-producing facility in the area. According to the villagers, the activists demanded a halt to the construction work, citing environmental issues. A local resident, Nurzhaqyp Qabylbaev, told RFE/RL that the company's security brutally dispersed the villagers and journalists who were at the site before police arrived. Local residents have been protesting the construction of the gold-producing plant in the area for years. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

State prosecutors have requested that a Russian court sentence jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to another 20 years in a penal colony on charges that include extremism.

The state news agency TASS said that prosecutors also asked at a hearing on July 20 that Navalny’s co-defendant, Daniel Kholodny, be given a 10-year sentence. TASS cited a lawyer as saying a final verdict in the case will be announced on August 4.

The Kremlin critic and anti-corruption crusader is accused under six articles of the Russian Criminal Code, including creating and financing an extremist community, calling for extremism, rehabilitating Nazism, and involving minors in dangerous acts.

The case deals with Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which, at the request of the prosecutor's office, was declared extremist in 2021 -- banning all its activities in Russia.

Navalny has said on social media that he expects a sentence of 15 years to 20 years, despite what he claims to be “nonsensical” evidence presented during his closed-door trial, including lyrics from the rapper Morgenshtern and a cryptopayment that attempts to tie Navalny to American billionaire Warren Buffet.

The 47-year-old lawyer, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, has sarcastically referred to the "amazing trial" and said that the rap lyrics were “quite strong evidence that I, as the prosecution says, planned the overthrow of Vladimir Putin by force.”

In his most recent Telegram post, Navalny released a statement that fiercely criticized the Russian government, saying the country “is floundering in a pool of either mud or blood, with broken bones, with a poor, population that has been robbed, and [with] tens of thousands of those who died in the most stupid and senseless war of the 21st century.”

He continues to call the Russian state “intelligence without a conscience" but ended his statement, which he called “The last word of Aleksei Navalny,” with optimism.

“But sooner or later, of course, it will rise again. And it depends on us what it will rely on [intelligence or a conscience] in the future.”

The trial began June 6 after Navalny's legal team and Kholodny, who is the technical director of the Navalny LIVE YouTube channel, requested the recusal of the judge, Andrei Suvorov, saying the trial should be held in Moscow as they both are officially registered there, and the trial is about allegations related to Moscow.

Suvorov rejected the motion and decided on June 19 that the trial would be held behind closed doors in a makeshift courtroom at the penal colony where Navalny is being held 260 kilometers east of Moscow.

Navalny is currently serving a combined 11-and-1/2-year prison sentence for prior charges. He was arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he had been undergoing treatment for a near-fatal poisoning with a Novichok-type nerve agent that he says was ordered by Putin.

The European Union added the chief of the Russian prison camp where Navalny is incarcerated to its sanctions list on July 20.

With reporting by Shelby Rayer in Washington, D.C.

Russia's Foreign Ministry says it has introduced a notification procedure for employees of British diplomatic missions on Russian territory. According to the ministry, British diplomats, with the exception of the ambassador, his/her advisers, and general consuls, must notify Russian authorities at least five days in advance of any trips beyond a 120-kilometer free-movement zone. Two days earlier, London sanctioned 14 Russian officials for what it said was their role in Russia's forced relocation of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on July 20 called for the Black Sea grain initiative to be restored to meet the challenge of global food insecurity. Kuleba, who is on the first ministerial visit from Kyiv to Islamabad since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1993, said Russia had undermined world food security. His Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari endorsed his comments, saying he planned to take the issue up with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Officials in Iran's Gilan Province have shut down a yoga club and detained one male instructor and five female participants in the city of Rasht because they were practicing the exercise regime together.

The state-run news agency IRNA reported on July 19 that police launched an investigation after receiving a tip about the operation of a mixed-gender yoga club. The raid was initiated after "discreet" investigations confirmed the report, according to IRNA.

Those arrested have been referred to the judiciary and a case file has been formed against them, the agency reported.

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, men and women in Iran have been prohibited from participating in sports activities together, with no official mixed-gender sports clubs existing in the country. Yoga is a legal activity as long as classes are single-sex and the teacher is licensed.

Anger over the suppression of human rights, and women's rights in particular, has boiled over since last September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in police custody. She was being held for an alleged violation of the hijab law, which makes it compulsory for women and girls over the age of 9 to cover their heads when out in public.

While the protests appear to have waned slightly in recent months, resistance to the hijab is likely to increase, analysts say, as it is seen now as a symbol of the state's repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.

The wave of government intervention against those violating the law has been met with stiff resistance from women.

The campaign against the compulsory hijab has grown so widespread that Abdolhossein Khosropanah, the secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, conceded in June that while women defying the hijab law should technically be arrested, the large numbers of women involved made such a mass arrests unfeasible.

In recent weeks, authorities have broadened their crackdown on the issue, shutting down businesses, restaurants, cafes, and in some cases pharmacies due to the failure of owners or managers to enforce Islamic laws and hijab rules.

In the face of the unrest, some religious and government figures have repeatedly advocated for a tougher stance by the government against offenders.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

A court in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan on July 20 sent to pretrial detention for at least two months a suspected member of the Freedom of Russia legion that is fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against occupying Russian troops. Sergei Novikov was detained a day earlier on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist organization, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Investigators allege Novikov planned a massive arson attack at military equipment near a military school in Tatarstan's capital, Kazan. Russia recognized the Freedom of Russia legion a terrorist organization in March. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Idel.Realities, click here.

The European Union has prolonged the sanctions regime imposed on Russia for its actions in Ukraine by another half-year, the 27-member bloc's council said in a statement issued on July 20. "The Council today decided to prolong by six months, until 31 January 2024, the restrictive measures targeting specific sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation," the statement said. "These sanctions, first introduced in 2014 in response to Russia's actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, were significantly expanded since February 2022, in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine," it said.

Iranian retirees have renewed protests in several major cities across the country, reiterating calls for more social and economic freedoms, as well as regular adjustments to their pensions in line with inflation as the cost of living soars amid international sanctions.

According to reports on social media outlets, the protests took place on July 19 outside the pension fund offices and provincial buildings in cities including Kermanshah, Yazd, Shiraz, Hamedan, Ardabil, Karaj, Qazvin, and Sanandaj.

Images and videos shared online showed protesters holding placards calling for the release of imprisoned trade activists and other political prisoners.

Participants also voiced their frustrations over the failure of the country's leaders to improve living conditions with slogans such as "Incompetent government, shame, shame," "We won't rest until we secure our rights," and "Enough of promises, our tables are empty."

The demonstrations by retirees come after the government recently announced a decision to consolidate 18 different pension funds into one in an attempt to address a shortfall of 3,000,000 billion Iranian Rials ($6 billion) and rising debts.

For more than a decade, the Iranian government has been staving off the crisis in the pension funds through various measures such as allocating shares, transferring factories, and even gifting land to offset debts.

Despite these efforts, official reports indicate that out of the 18 pension funds in Iran, 17 were either bankrupt or teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Iran's economy has been ravaged by U.S. sanctions, leading to a surge of protests in several cities. A report from the Labor Ministry indicated a significant increase in Iran's poverty rate, growing 50 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year.

The protests on July 19 weren't limited to pensioners with a series of separate protests occurring across the country, showing the depth of anger following years of what demonstrators say is negligence and corruption in the public sector.

Disabled individuals demonstrated outside Tehran's city administration building, while teachers rallied in Shiraz, and workers from the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Complex held a protest outside the Development and Ancillary Industries Company in Ahvaz.

Unrest has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

Adding to the dissent, the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the demonstrations, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh measures.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Belarus says its soldiers have begun holding joint military maneuvers with fighters from Russia's Wagner mercenary group in the city of Brest, which lies on the border with NATO member Poland.

According to a July 20 statement from the Defense Ministry, "through the course of a week, special operations units, together with representatives of the [Wagner] company, will work out training and military goals on the Brest military training field."

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The ministry said more details would be made public later.

The statement comes a day after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the mercenary group's aborted mutiny last month, appeared in a video in Belarus welcoming his fighters and saying they would help to turn the country's army into the second-best in the world.

The fate of Wagner troops has been unclear since Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny on June 23-24, the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 23 years in power.

The authoritarian ruler of Belarus and Putin's close ally, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, was involved in talks ending the mutiny by agreeing with Prigozhin and Putin to host the Wagner troops, and their leader, in Belarus.

Days after Lukashenka’s statement, a tent camp began to appear in the eastern village of Tsel, a former garrison for members of a Belarusian missile brigade.

An analysis of satellite images by Skhemy (Schemes), an investigative project run by RFE/RL, estimates there are at least 485 vehicles near the tent camp in total.

The images from the Planet Labs service show almost all the equipment is located near warehouse-like buildings, as well as the parking lot of the military camp. No heavy military equipment can be seen.

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Belarus Is Reviving An Abandoned Garrison. For Whom?

The Belaruski Hayun Telegram channel, which monitors the movement of military equipment on the territory of Belarus, said it registered at least six columns of military vehicles and equipment with Wagner and Russian national flags in the country’s eastern region of Mahilyou since July 11.

On July 20, a former leader of Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, Igor Strelkov (aka Girkin), wrote on Telegram, citing a Wagner commander under the nom de guerre Marks, that the total number of Wagner fighters in Belarus may reach 10,000.

Wagner troops played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, helping take main parts of the town of Bakhmut after nearly 10 months of intense fighting. Prigozhin has said he lost 20,000 men during the Bakhmut operation.