rferl--2020-05-28--Germany Threatens Sanctions Against Russian National Over Hacking Attacks On Bundestag

Germany 's Foreign Ministry has threatened EU sanctions against `` those responsible '' for a 2015 hacking attack on the German parliament , including a Russian national as a diplomatic dispute between the two countries intensifies .
The ministry said in a statement on May 28 that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin to deliver the message , saying evidence showed that Dmitry Badin was working for the Russian intelligence agency at the time of the attack .
German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Badin , who was already being sought by U.S. authorities and is believed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known as APT28 , or Fancy Bear , on May 5 .
`` The Russian ambassador was informed that on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the [ German ] federal prosecutor 's office on May 5 against Russian national Dmitry Badin , that the German government will seek in Brussels to use the EU cybersanctions regime against those responsible for the attack on the German Bundestag , including Mr. Badin , '' the ministry said in a statement .
`` There is reliable evidence that [ Badin ] was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military secret service at the time of the attack . ''
the statement added .
Earlier this month , German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that there was “ hard evidence ” of the involvement of `` Russian forces '' in a 2015 cyberattack against the German parliament in which documents from her own parliamentary office were reportedly stolen .
On May 27 , the Russian Embassy in Berlin denied any involvement in the cyberattacks on the Bundestag , saying that the issue is being used by Berlin to divert attention away from problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on the German move .
Germany ’ s Foreign Ministry also said its assessment was influenced by an ongoing investigation into the killing of a former Chechen separatist fighter , Georgian native Zelimkhan Khangoshvili , in Berlin in August 2019 .
The apparent assassination led to an exchange of diplomatic expulsions between Berlin and Moscow .
The German government “ expressly reserves the right to take further measures , '' the ministry said .

Germany's Foreign Ministry has threatened EU sanctions against "those responsible" for a 2015 hacking attack on the German parliament, including a Russian national as a diplomatic dispute between the two countries intensifies.
The ministry said in a statement on May 28 that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin to deliver the message, saying evidence showed that Dmitry Badin was working for the Russian intelligence agency at the time of the attack.
German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Badin, who was already being sought by U.S. authorities and is believed to be part of the hacker group known as APT28, or Fancy Bear, on May 5.
"The Russian ambassador was informed that on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the [German] federal prosecutor's office on May 5 against Russian national Dmitry Badin, that the German government will seek in Brussels to use the EU cybersanctions regime against those responsible for the attack on the German Bundestag, including Mr. Badin," the ministry said in a statement.
"There is reliable evidence that [Badin] was a member of [Russia's] GRU military secret service at the time of the attack." the statement added.
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that there was “hard evidence” of the involvement of "Russian forces" in a 2015 cyberattack against the German parliament in which documents from her own parliamentary office were reportedly stolen.
On May 27, the Russian Embassy in Berlin denied any involvement in the cyberattacks on the Bundestag, saying that the issue is being used by Berlin to divert attention away from problems over the coronavirus pandemic.
Russia's Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on the German move.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry also said its assessment was influenced by an ongoing investigation into the killing of a former Chechen separatist fighter, Georgian native Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, in Berlin in August 2019.
The apparent assassination led to an exchange of diplomatic expulsions between Berlin and Moscow.
The German government “expressly reserves the right to take further measures," the ministry said.


rferl--2020-05-28--Former Tehran Mayor Becomes Speaker Of Parliament

Iran ’ s new hard-line-controlled parliament has elected former Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf , who served as air force commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) , as its speaker for one year .
Qalibaf , who ’ s had three unsuccessful presidential bids , received the most votes from the capital Tehran in February 's parliamentary elections , which had the lowest turnout in decades .
His loyalty to Iran ’ s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed to have boosted his path to becoming speaker .
State-controlled television said 230 lawmakers out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police chief who was among those challenging President Hassan Rohani in the 2017 presidential elections .
Qalibaf , 58 , a hard-liner who has presented himself as a moderate in the past , will replace Ali Larijani who held the influential post since 2008 and did not run in the February elections that resulted in the consolidation of the power of conservatives ahead of next year ’ s presidential vote .
Ahead of the February vote , the powerful Guardians Council disqualified thousands of reformists and moderate candidates from running , leaving voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loyal to Khamenei .
Qalibaf has faced corruption accusations over his mayoral tenure from 2005 to 2017 .
The new parliament was inaugurated on May 27 .
With reporting by RFE/RL ’ s Radio Farda , IRNA , ISNA , Reuters , and AP

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-05-28--Taliban Delegation In Kabul For Talks As Officials Blame Militants For Deadly Attacks

A Taliban delegation has arrived in Kabul for talks over a prisoner swap , just hours after Afghan officials blamed the militant group for two deadly attacks in the country ’ s north and west .
The prisoner exchange is part of a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February that called on the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the militants to free around 1,000 government captives as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks .
“ A technical delegation of the Taliban is in Kabul to work with a technical team of the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the release of prisoners of both sides , ” said National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal on May 28 .
Later in the day , Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that the group had released 80 Afghan soldiers and government officials from their jails in northern Baghlan and Kunduz provinces .
It brings to more than 300 the number of captives freed by the Taliban since April .
Last month , Afghan government representatives met with a three-member Taliban team in Kabul to discuss a prisoner swap , the first time an official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the group was driven from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001 .
But the militant group broke off the talks days later , saying they had made no progress .
Since then the militants have intensified attacks on government forces , leaving the U.S.-Taliban peace deal on the verge of collapse .
But the Taliban ’ s announcement of a May 24-26 cease-fire to coincide with the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday has created new momentum .
In the first two major incidents since the three-day truce ended , officials said the Taliban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forces .
Waheeda Shahkar , spokeswoman for the northern Parwan Province 's governor , said on May 28 that seven Afghan soldiers were killed when the militants attacked a checkpoint .
`` The Taliban has also suffered casualties , '' Shahkar added .
District police chief Hussain Shah said militants set fire to the checkpoint , killing five security force personnel .
Two more were shot dead .
On the outskirts of the western city of Farah , Taliban gunmen mounted an attack on a police post , killing seven officers , provincial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eight Taliban fighters were also killed in the clash , which lasted for half an hour , '' Mohib said .
Some reports said at least three police officers were taken hostage .
The Taliban has not immediately claimed the attacks .
The government has called on the militants to extend the cease-fire so long-delayed peace talks could begin .
During the cease-fire , Afghan authorities released some 1,000 Taliban prisoners -- part of a pledge by the government to free up to 2,000 militants in response to the Taliban 's cease-fire move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on May 27 told AFP that militants were planning to free about 50 to 100 Afghan security-force members as early as May 28 .
Earlier , a senior Taliban figure was quoted as saying the group is considering an extension of the cease-fire “ if these developments , like the announcement of prisoner releases , continues . ''
The prisoner exchange is part of a February 29 U.S.-Taliban agreement that did not include the Afghan government .
Under a key point of the deal , Washington agreed to reduce its military presence in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mid-July in a first stage , before a complete withdrawal by May next year .
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 26 said he has not set a target date for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan , amid speculation he may make ending America ’ s longest war a campaign issue ahead of November ’ s presidential election .
But U.S. and NATO officials speaking on condition of anonymity said U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan is down to nearly 8,600 , well ahead of schedule , in part because of concerns about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there were `` 7,000-some-odd '' U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan , but officials clarified that number was slightly over 8,600 troops .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , AP , and dpa

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-05-27--U.S. Ending Sanctions Waivers On Iran's Civilian Nuclear Program

The United States has announced it will end sanctions waivers that allow Russian , Chinese , and European firms to carry out civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran , effectively scrapping the last remnants of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal , a move dismissed by Tehran as `` desperate . ''
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on May 27 that Iran ’ s continued “ nuclear brinkmanship ” by breaching some of its nuclear commitments did not justify renewing the waivers .
“ The regime ’ s nuclear extortion will lead to increased pressure on Iran and further isolate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
Nonproliferation experts say that the waivers give international experts a valuable eye into Tehran ’ s nuclear activities and that its scientific research is for legitimate civilian purposes , such as medicine .
In response , the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on May 28 that the United States had made the move in a bid `` to distract public opinion from its continued defeats at the hands of Iran . ''
The U.S. move may also further ratchet up tensions with other signatories to the Iran nuclear deal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia , China , France , Germany , and Britain -- at a time when Washington is seeking their cooperation to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran .
`` Ending waivers for nuclear cooperation with Iran ... has effectively no impact on Iran 's continued work '' on what the Islamic republic insists is a purely civilian nuclear energy program , the spokesman of Iran 's Atomic Energy Organization , Behruz Kamalvandi , added in a statement published on the agency 's website .
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA ) , in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran .
In response , Iran has breached several provisions of the JCPOA at the fringes , saying that it can reverse them if other parties to the deal come back into compliance .
“ Ending the waivers puts the remaining parties to the deal in a tough spot -- proceeding with the projects risks U.S. sanctions , but halting work puts them in violation of their obligations under the nuclear deal and gives Iran further justification to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all together , ” Kelsey Davenport , the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association , told RFE/RL .
The end of the “ civilian-nuclear cooperation ” waivers applies to international work at Iran 's Arak heavy-water research reactor , the provision of enriched uranium for the Tehran Research Reactor , and the transfer abroad of spent and scrap reactor fuel .
Companies involved at these facilities now have a 60-day wind-down period to cease operations or face sanctions .
However , Kamalvandi said ending the waivers would not impact Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and `` other equipment '' by Iranian experts .
The Trump administration also provided a 90-day extension for the waiver covering international activity at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant to ensure safety of operations .
The international civilian cooperation parts of the JCPOA were designed to make Iran ’ s nuclear program more transparent and less capable of producing weapons .
Iran hawks in Congress and the Trump administration say the civilian nuclear waivers allow Iran access to technology that could be used for nuclear weapons .
But in extending the waivers in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognized the nonproliferation benefits of the civilian projects .
Brian Hook , the U.S. special representative for Iran , told reporters the Trump administration 's `` maximum pressure '' policy has constrained Iran .
`` Iran ’ s leaders are facing a decision : either negotiate with us or manage economic collapse , '' he said .
But critics of the Trump administration say that its policy of `` maximum pressure '' has failed to convince Iran to negotiate a `` better deal . ''
Instead , the strategy is to completely eliminate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for other signatories or a future president to save the JCPOA .
“ It is clear that this is a political decision by an administration bent on killing the nuclear deal , irrespective of the consequences , ” Davenport said .
“ Trump 's action shows a blatant disregard for the security concerns of U.S. allies and partners and further undermines U.S. credibility.
” In Moscow , Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that “ Washington 's actions are becoming more and more dangerous and unpredictable . ''
She cited the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries that remain in the Iran nuclear accord , as well as its decision to walk away from a key military treaty with Moscow .
The United States announced last week it was withdrawing from the Open Skies agreement , which permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over dozens of participating countries , because of violations by Russia – an accusation Moscow denies .


rferl--2020-05-29--Second Shipment Of U.S. Ventilators Heading To Russia Amid Continuing Questions

A second shipment of U.S.-built ventilators will head to Moscow to help Russia in its fight against the coronavirus , a goodwill gesture by U.S. President Donald Trump ’ s administration that has been trailed by questions and criticism .
A spokesman for Vyaire Medical , a Chicago-based company , told RFE/RL that 150 ventilators will be sent to Moscow on May 30 , adding to the 50 that were shipped there earlier this month by USAID , the U.S. aid agency .
Patrick O ’ Connor gave no further details and did not immediately respond to a follow-up query @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the shipment .
An earlier shipment of 50 ventilators arrived in Moscow on a U.S. military cargo plane on May 21 , a delivery described by the U.S. Embassy as a “ humanitarian donation.
” U.S. officials said the entire cost of the 200 ventilators was around $ 5.6 million and that the United States was paying “ 100 percent of the cost , delivery , and start-up supplies.
” “ The United States and Russia have helped each other in times of crisis in the past and will no doubt do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. Embassy said at the time .
There was no immediate comment from Russia on the new shipment .
Russia ranks third in the world for confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of May 29 , though its death toll has been unusually low , prompting questions from critics who say officials are purposely undercounting fatalities .
The shipments followed an earlier gesture by Russia to send Russian-built ventilators and other medical supplies to the United States after a conversation between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in late April .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was initially dogged by questions and confusion over who exactly paid for it , and then later over the involvement of two Russian companies who appeared to fall under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions .
Weeks after their arrival , news emerged that the ventilators , which had been earmarked for New York City regional hospitals , had never been used and returned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency “ out of an abundance of caution.
” In Russia , meanwhile , regulators ordered a national suspension on use of the ventilators after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ St. Petersburg and the Moscow region were blamed on the devices .
The U.S. shipment of ventilators prompted criticism from a group of congressional Democrats , who asserted that the United States was still suffering from a shortage of ventilators .
The United States has the world ’ s most confirmed cases of coronavirus and the world ’ s highest death toll .
The lawmakers also alleged the shipment was more intended by the Trump administration to curry favor with the Kremlin .
The shipment of ventilators is part of what U.S. officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to help countries fight the coronavirus .
South Africa , for example , is reportedly receiving 1,000 U.S.-built ventilators .
According to Vyaire ’ s website , the company in April received a $ 407 million U.S. government contract to produce 22,000 similar ventilator models .

A second shipment of U.S.-built ventilators will head to Moscow to help Russia in its fight against the coronavirus, a goodwill gesture by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration that has been trailed by questions and criticism.
The shipment is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on May 30, two days after congressional Democrats released a second letter demanding more information about an earlier shipment of Russian-built ventilators that were sent to the United States.
That shipment has been clouded by questions over who exactly paid for it, whether the Trump administration knew that Russian companies sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department might have been involved, and whether the Russian ventilators were even safe to use at all.
A spokesman for Vyaire Medical, a Chicago-based medical-supply company, told RFE/RL that 150 of the company’s ventilators were scheduled to arrive in Russia on May 30, adding to the 50 that were shipped there earlier this month by the U.S. aid agency, USAID.
Patrick O’Connor gave no further details and did not immediately respond to a follow-up query on the overall costs or other logistics of the shipment.
An earlier shipment of 50 ventilators arrived in Moscow on a U.S. military cargo plane on May 21, a delivery described by the U.S. Embassy as a “humanitarian donation.”
U.S. officials said the entire cost of the 200 ventilators was around $5.6 million and that the United States was paying “100 percent of the cost, delivery, and start-up supplies.”
“The United States and Russia have helped each other in times of crisis in the past and will no doubt do so again in the future,” the U.S. Embassy said at the time.
There was no immediate comment from Russia on the new shipment.
Russia ranks third in the world for confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of May 29, though its death toll has been unusually low, prompting questions from critics who say officials are purposely undercounting fatalities.
The two U.S. shipments came weeks after Russia sent Russian-built ventilators and other medical supplies to the United States, following a conversation between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in late March.
The Russian shipment, which included 45 ventilators, was initially dogged by questions and confusion over who exactly paid for it, and then later over the involvement of two Russian companies who appeared to fall under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions.
The State Department later announced the ventilators had been purchased, not donated, and that Russia had billed the United States nearly $660,000 for the goods. The Treasury Department told RFE/RL the exporter did not appear to fall under U.S. sanctions.
Weeks after their arrival, news emerged that the ventilators, which had been earmarked for New York City regional hospitals, had never been used and returned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency “out of an abundance of caution.”
In Russia, meanwhile, regulators ordered a nationwide suspension on use of the ventilators after two deadly fires at medical facilities in St. Petersburg and the Moscow region were blamed on the devices.
The U.S. shipment of ventilators prompted criticism from a group of congressional Democrats, who asserted that the United States was still suffering from a shortage of ventilators. The United States has the world’s most confirmed cases of coronavirus and the world’s highest death toll.
The lawmakers also alleged the shipment was more intended by the Trump administration to curry favor with the Kremlin.
In a second letter dated May 28, congressional Democrats demanded more information about the Russian shipment to the United States, asserting that “misguided decisions” had wasted “millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars, undermine[d] our foreign policy and national security interests, and impair[ed] our nation’s ability to combat the coronavirus crisis.”
The U.S. shipment is part of what U.S. officials have trumpeted as a $10 billion effort to help countries fight the coronavirus. South Africa, for example, is reportedly receiving 1,000 U.S.-built ventilators.
According to Vyaire’s website, the company in April received a $407 million U.S. government contract to produce 22,000 similar ventilator models.


rferl--2020-05-29--Tajik Journalist Attacked, Beaten For Second Time In Less Than A Month

DUSHANBE -- A journalist of Tajikistan 's independent Asia Plus new agency has been attacked for the second time in less than a month as he covered the aftermath of a recent landslide that killed two men .
Abdulloh Ghurbati told RFE/RL that three men attacked him on May 29 in the southern region of Khatlon after one of the assailants introduced himself as a village chief and accused the journalist of being `` provocateur . ''
`` When I tried to explain that I am a reporter working on material about people affected by the landslide , one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be down , punching me in the face , and then continued beating me after I fell down , '' Ghurbati said , adding that the attackers then left by car , the model and the license plate of which he remembered .
Ghurbati says he is confident the attack was premeditated and might be linked to his professional activities .
He said he has filed a complaint with local police .
Less than three weeks ago , the 23-year-old reporter was attacked by two masked men in Dushanbe , the Central Asian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he had received numerous threats during several phone calls from unknown individuals who threatened him for his articles questioning some of the government ’ s activities , including efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country .
The OSCE and rights watchdogs condemned the attack and urged Tajik authorities to thoroughly investigate it .
Last month , Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) ranked Tajikistan 161st out of 180 countries for press freedom .
According to RSF , conditions for independent media working in Tajikistan have dramatically worsened in @ @ @ @ @

DUSHANBE -- A journalist of Tajikistan's independent Asia Plus new agency has been attacked for the second time in less than a month as he covered the aftermath of a recent landslide that killed two men.
Abdulloh Ghurbati told RFE/RL that three men attacked him on May 29 in the southern region of Khatlon after one of the assailants introduced himself as a village chief and accused the journalist of being "provocateur."
"When I tried to explain that I am a reporter working on material about people affected by the landslide, one of the three [men] unexpectedly knocked be down, punching me in the face, and then continued beating me after I fell down," Ghurbati said, adding that the attackers then left by car, the model and the license plate of which he remembered.
Ghurbati said that he is confident the attack was premeditated and might be linked to his professional activities. He said he had filed a complaint with local police.
The OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, said he was “alarmed” by the attack and called for “a quick and thorough investigation to bring culprits to justice.”
“Journalists must be safe to report on matters of public interest,” Desir wrote on Twitter.
Less than three weeks ago, the 23-year-old reporter was attacked by two masked men in Dushanbe, the Central Asian nation's capital.
Ghurbati said then that he had received numerous threats during several phone calls from unknown individuals who threatened him for his articles questioning some of the government’s activities, including efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Desir, the OSCE representative, and rights watchdogs condemned the attack and urged Tajik authorities to thoroughly investigate it.
Last month, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Tajikistan 161st out of 180 countries for press freedom.
According to RSF, conditions for independent media working in Tajikistan have dramatically worsened in the last two years.


rferl--2020-05-29--U.S. Warns Of Russian Hacking Group's Attempts To Gain 'Dream Access' To Computer Systems

The U.S. National Security Agency ( NSA ) on May 28 warned government partners and private companies about a Russian hacking operation that it says uses a special intrusion technique to target operating systems often used to manage computer infrastructure .
“ This is a vulnerability that is being actively exploited .
That ’ s why we ’ re bringing this notification out , ” said Doug Cress , chief of the cybersecurity collaboration center and directorate at NSA , in an advisory .
“ We really want…the broader cybersecurity community to take this seriously.
” The notice is part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. agency to share actionable cyberdefense information .
The NSA said the hacking activity was tied to “ Russian military cyberactors , publicly known as Sandworm Team '' and are part of Russia ’ s Main Intelligence Directorate ’ s ( GRU ) Main Center for Special Technologies .
The NSA said the hackers have used the special intrusion technique to add privileged users , disable network security settings , and execute code that enables further network exploitation – “ pretty much any attacker ’ s dream access – as long as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Exim [ mail transfer agent ] .
” Exim mail transfer agent is software widely used on Unix-based operating systems such as Linux but is far less known than commercial alternatives such as Microsoft Exchange .
The vulnerability was patched last year , but some users have not updated their systems .
The NSA did not say who the Russian military hackers have targeted , what business sectors had been most affected , or how many organizations were compromised .
But senior U.S. intelligence officials have warned in recent months that Kremlin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threaten the integrity of the November presidential election .
The Sandworm group is the same one that interfered in the 2016 presidential election , stealing and exposing Democratic National Committee e-mails and breaking into voter registration databases .
It also has been blamed for disruptive cyberattacks against Ukrainian electricity production facilities .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out the same GRU unit in February for conducting a cyberattack against the country of Georgia .
With reporting by Reuters and AP

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) on May 28 warned government partners and private companies about a Russian hacking operation that it says uses a special intrusion technique to target operating systems often used to manage computer infrastructure.
“This is a vulnerability that is being actively exploited. That’s why we’re bringing this notification out,” said Doug Cress, chief of the cybersecurity collaboration center and directorate at NSA, in an advisory. “We really want…the broader cybersecurity community to take this seriously.”
The notice is part of a series of public reports by the U.S. agency to share actionable cyberdefense information.
The NSA said the hacking activity was tied to “Russian military cyberactors, publicly known as Sandworm Team" and are part of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate’s (GRU) Main Center for Special Technologies.
The NSA said the hackers have used the special intrusion technique to add privileged users, disable network security settings, and execute code that enables further network exploitation – “pretty much any attacker’s dream access – as long as that network is using an unpatched version of Exim [mail transfer agent].”
Exim mail transfer agent is software widely used on Unix-based operating systems such as Linux but is far less known than commercial alternatives such as Microsoft Exchange. The vulnerability was patched last year, but some users have not updated their systems.
The NSA did not say who the Russian military hackers have targeted, what business sectors had been most affected, or how many organizations were compromised. But senior U.S. intelligence officials have warned in recent months that Kremlin agents are engaged in activities that could threaten the integrity of the November presidential election.
The Sandworm group is the same one that interfered in the 2016 presidential election, stealing and exposing Democratic National Committee e-mails and breaking into voter registration databases.
It also has been blamed for disruptive cyberattacks against Ukrainian electricity production facilities.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out the same GRU unit in February for conducting a cyberattack against the country of Georgia.
With reporting by Reuters and AP


rferl--2020-05-29--Dozens Held In Moscow, St. Petersburg For Protesting Journalist's Arrest

MOSCOW -- Police in Moscow detained 32 people , including a State Duma member , several municipal lawmakers , and journalists who came out to protest against the jailing of prominent Russian journalist Ilya Azar , an independent political watchdog says .
OVD-Info said eight activists were also detained on May 29 in Russia ’ s second-largest city , St. Petersburg .
Most were later released from police custody , OVD-Info said .
Azar , a 35-year-old local legislator and journalist for the independent Novaya gazeta newspaper , was sentenced to 15 days in jail the previous day for repeatedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He and his supporters were detained while or before holding single-person protests amid the lockdown imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus .
Activists vowed to continue protesting in Azar 's support , arguing such single pickets ca n't be classified as “ mass public events ” and should therefore be allowed .
In Moscow , many Azar supporters were detained near the Interior Ministry 's main directorate before starting their single-person pickets .
Those detained included Moscow City Duma member Mikhail Timonov and seven municipal councilors , including Yulia Galyamina , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to OVD-Info and Interfax .
Two journalists for Ekho Moskvy radio station , Aleksandr Plyushchev and Tatyana Felgengauer , were also detained .
Meanwhile , the city ’ s police said in a statement that `` holding any public events in Moscow is banned '' due to the stay-at-home quarantine rules imposed over the coronavirus epidemic .
Azar was detained outside Moscow ’ s police headquarters on May 26 while protesting against the jailing on extortion charges of an activist who has worked to expose violations within Russia 's law enforcement agencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and opposition activists .
Thirteen of them were detained while picketing the police headquarters on May 28 .
Amnesty International accused the authorities of “ crushing activism and impinging on human rights to silence critics.
” The Russian authorities should not use the coronavirus epidemic as “ an excuse to restrict freedom of assembly any more than is strictly necessary to protect public health , ” according Human Rights Watch .
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe representative on freedom of the media , Harlem Desir , said he was `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detained journalists and called for their immediate release .
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow tweeted that `` the right to # freedomofexpression should not be a casualty of # COVID-19 . ''

MOSCOW -- Police in Moscow have detained 32 people, including a State Duma member, several municipal lawmakers, and journalists who came out to protest against the jailing of prominent Russian journalist Ilya Azar, an independent political watchdog says.
OVD-Info said eight activists were also detained on May 29 in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg.
Most were later released from police custody, OVD-Info said.
Azar, a 35-year-old local legislator and journalist for the independent Novaya gazeta newspaper, was sentenced to 15 days in jail the previous day for repeatedly violating Russia's strict protest laws.
He and his supporters were detained while or before holding single-person protests amid the lockdown imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Activists vowed to continue protesting in Azar's support, arguing such single pickets can't be classified as "mass public events" and should therefore be allowed.
In Moscow, many Azar supporters were detained near the Interior Ministry's main directorate before starting their single-person pickets.
Those detained included Moscow City Duma member Mikhail Timonov and seven municipal councilors, including Yulia Galyamina, Elena Rusakova, and Denis Petrov, according to OVD-Info and Interfax.
Two journalists for Ekho Moskvy radio station, Aleksandr Plyushchev and Tatyana Felgengauer, were also detained.
Meanwhile, the city police said in a statement that "holding any public events in Moscow is banned" due to the stay-at-home quarantine rules imposed over the coronavirus epidemic.
Azar was detained outside Moscow’s police headquarters on May 26 while protesting against the jailing on extortion charges of an activist who has worked to expose violations within Russia's law enforcement agencies.
His jailing triggered outrage among journalists and opposition activists. Thirteen of them were detained while picketing the police headquarters on May 28.
Amnesty International accused the authorities of "crushing activism and impinging on human rights to silence critics."
The Russian authorities should not use the coronavirus epidemic as "an excuse to restrict freedom of assembly any more than is strictly necessary to protect public health," according Human Rights Watch.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, said he was "alarmed" by the detention of the detained journalists and called for their immediate release.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow tweeted that "the right to #freedomofexpression should not be a casualty of #COVID-19."
With reporting by Interfax


rferl--2020-05-29--Ukraine, Hungary Seek To Overcome Impasse Over Language Law Impeding NATO Initiatives

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto have discussed Kyiv-Budapest bilateral ties at a time Hungary is blocking NATO initiatives because of a restrictive language law in Ukraine .
The May 29 trip to Budapest is Kuleba 's first non-virtual visit as foreign minister since the introduction of restrictive measures to slow down the coronavirus pandemic .
He assumed the post of foreign minister in early March .
The two ministers discussed investment and trade cooperation , joint efforts to implement infrastructure projects in Ukraine 's western region of Zakarpattya where there is a sizeable Hungarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic .
At a press conference after the talks , Kuleba said that `` the time has come to open a new chapter in bilateral relations , find mutually beneficial solutions , double our efforts for the benefit of our people , countries , and the continent in general . ''
Szijjarto said that his country is also looking forward to developing closer ties with Ukraine , expressing hope that the issue of Ukraine 's laws on education and languages will be resolved , paving the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blocking NATO initiatives aimed at building closer ties with Ukraine since September 2017 in response to a new language law that overturned legislation allowing minorities in Ukraine to introduce their languages in regions where they represent more than 10 percent of the population .
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ( PACE ) criticized the new law , saying it `` does not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities . ''
`` We do not want to keep blocking [ NATO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reach agreements .
We want to close all discussions related to [ Ukraine 's ] law on education and language , and we want to reach a solution that will be acceptable for Hungarians [ in Ukraine 's western Zakarpattya region ] , '' Szijjarto said .
Kuleba also passed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy 's invitation to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to visit Ukraine .
With reporting by Ukrinform , Hungary Today , and Ukrayinska Pravda

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto have discussed Kyiv-Budapest bilateral ties at a time Hungary is blocking NATO initiatives because of a restrictive language law in Ukraine.
The May 29 trip to Budapest is Kuleba's first non-virtual visit as foreign minister since the introduction of restrictive measures to slow down the coronavirus pandemic. He assumed the post of foreign minister in early March.
The two ministers discussed investment and trade cooperation, joint efforts to implement infrastructure projects in Ukraine's western region of Zakarpattya where there is a sizeable Hungarian minority, and ways to further coordinate against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a press conference after the talks, Kuleba said that "the time has come to open a new chapter in bilateral relations, find mutually beneficial solutions, double our efforts for the benefit of our people, countries, and the continent in general."
Szijjarto said that his country is also looking forward to developing closer ties with Ukraine, expressing hope that the issue of Ukraine's laws on education and languages will be resolved, paving the way for better understanding.
Hungary has been blocking NATO initiatives aimed at building closer ties with Ukraine since September 2017 in response to a new language law that overturned legislation allowing minorities in Ukraine to introduce their languages in regions where they represent more than 10 percent of the population.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) criticized the new law, saying it "does not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities."
"We do not want to keep blocking [NATO initiatives], our goal is to reach agreements. We want to close all discussions related to [Ukraine's] law on education and language, and we want to reach a solution that will be acceptable for Hungarians [in Ukraine's western Zakarpattya region]," Szijjarto said.
Kuleba also passed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's invitation to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to visit Ukraine.
With reporting by Ukrinform, Hungary Today, and Ukrayinska Pravda


rferl--2020-05-29--U.S.-Funded Health Website 'Spreading Misinformation' About Coronavirus

The U.S. government is funding a health website in Armenia that has published misinformation about COVID-19 , according to the British investigative online publication openDemocracy .
In its May 28 report , openDemocracy said the most-read article on the website medmedia.am in May is a piece taken from a local Facebook page calling on people not to receive any potential COVID-19 vaccination .
The article -- which has 131,000 views and 28,000 social-media likes , a large number for a country of less than 3 million people -- claimed such vaccination is part of a conspiracy by Microsoft cofounder Bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second-most read article falsely claims that relatives of an Armenian man who died of a heart attack were offered money to sign a document saying he succumbed to COVID-19 , openDemocracy reported .
It said other content describes COVID-19 as a “ fake pandemic.
” A disclaimer on medmedia.am website says that it has been “ funded through a Department of State Public Affairs Section grant ” but that its articles “ do not necessarily reflect ” the views of the U.S. government .
The website was launched in 2019 by the local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The association , led by urologist Gevorg Grigorian , received a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan through a State Department program designed to promote transparency and public education .
The grants are worth up to $ 24,000 , according to the U.S. Embassy ’ s website .
According to openDemocracy , Grigorian has openly expressed anti-LGBT views and has connections with the far-right VETO party .
Few of the articles on medmedia.am have bylines and the most popular are opinion pieces , most of which are republished Facebook posts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Armenia and around the world .
Armenian health authorities have warned that misinformation surrounding the coronavirus and a future vaccine is dangerous and could impede the country ’ s response to the pandemic .

The U.S. government is funding a health website in Armenia that has published misinformation about COVID-19, according to the British investigative online publication openDemocracy.
In its May 28 report, openDemocracy said the most-read article on the website medmedia.am in May is a piece taken from a local Facebook page calling on people not to receive any potential COVID-19 vaccination.
The article -- which has 131,000 views and 28,000 social-media likes, a large number for a country of less than 3 million people -- claimed such vaccination is part of a conspiracy by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and his health foundation.
The second-most read article falsely claims that relatives of an Armenian man who died of a heart attack were offered money to sign a document saying he succumbed to COVID-19, openDemocracy reported.
It said other content describes COVID-19 as a “fake pandemic.”
A disclaimer on medmedia.am website says that it has been “funded through a Department of State Public Affairs Section grant” but that its articles “do not necessarily reflect” the views of the U.S. government.
The website was launched in 2019 by the local nongovernmental organization Armenian Association of Young Doctors.
The association, led by urologist Gevorg Grigorian, received a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan through a State Department program designed to promote transparency and public education.
The grants are worth up to $24,000, according to the U.S. Embassy’s website.
According to openDemocracy, Grigorian has openly expressed anti-LGBT views and has connections with the far-right VETO party.
Few of the articles on medmedia.am have bylines and the most popular are opinion pieces, most of which are republished Facebook posts.
The website also contains factual coronavirus updates from Armenia and around the world.
Armenian health authorities have warned that misinformation surrounding the coronavirus and a future vaccine is dangerous and could impede the country’s response to the pandemic.
With reporting by Open Democracy


rferl--2020-05-29--EU Releases 500 Million Euro Final Loan Tranche To Ukraine

The European Commission ( EC ) has approved the disbursement of the second and final 500 million euro ( $ 555 million ) tranche of its macro-financial assistance to Ukraine .
The EC , the executive arm of the European Union , said on May 29 that the money will be paid out in the coming fortnight after Brussels noted its satisfaction with Ukrainian reforms in several sectors , including banking , energy , and health care .
The first tranche , also worth 500 million euros , was released in December 2018 .
With the latest installment , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ euros of macro-financial assistance loans since 2014 , when Russia illegally annexed Ukraine ’ s Crimean Peninsula and started backing separatists in a war in the eastern part of the country that has killed more than 13,000 people .
This summer , the bloc is also expecting to disburse a separate loan worth 1.2 billion euros to Ukraine to help the country with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic .
Earlier on May 29 , Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said that he expects the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the country next week .

The European Commission (EC) has approved the disbursement of the second and final 500 million euro ($555 million) tranche of its macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.
The EC, the executive arm of the European Union, said on May 29 that the money will be paid out in the coming fortnight after Brussels noted its satisfaction with Ukrainian reforms in several sectors, including banking, energy, and health care.
The first tranche, also worth 500 million euros, was released in December 2018.
With the latest installment, the EU has provided Kyiv with 3.8 billion euros of macro-financial assistance loans since 2014, when Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and started backing separatists in a war in the eastern part of the country that has killed more than 13,000 people.
This summer, the bloc is also expecting to disburse a separate loan worth 1.2 billion euros to Ukraine to help the country with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier on May 29, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said that he expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a $5 billion loan package for the country next week.


rferl--2020-05-29--Rights Watchdog Calls On Turkmenistan To Release Popular Entertainer Imprisoned For Being Gay

Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) says a popular entertainer and his associates in Turkmenistan have been handed prison terms for being gay and called on authorities to `` immediately dismiss '' all charges against the men .
HRW said the showman was sentenced to 2 years in prison on May 7 after a court found him guilty of sodomy .
In April , an independent media outlet quoted several sources in Ashgabat as saying that an actor and showman , whose identity was not disclosed , was arrested along with about a dozen other people , including his partner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that report , some of those arrested were later released after they paid bribes .
A source in Ashgabat confirmed to RFE/RL at the time that the man was under arrest , but it was impossible to obtain any clarification of the situation from the authorities .
The former Soviet republic 's criminal code envisions up to 2 years in prison for homosexual relations .
The Turkmen government -- which controls all media , most of the economy , and enforces many social rules on its citizens -- is considered among the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tolerate public criticism or free speech .
The issue is a social taboo and antigay sentiment among many Turkmens is very strong .
HRW said that it `` documented a 2013 case in Turkmenistan , where medical staff collaborated with law enforcement officials to conduct an anal exam on an 18-year-old man accused of homosexual conduct , '' adding that `` the case raises the possibility that forced anal examinations have been or are being used against others charged with sodomy in Turkmenistan . ''
`` Such examinations have no medical justification , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treatment and may amount to torture .
They violate the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , both ratified by Turkmenistan , '' the statement says .
Last year , a young cardiologist in Ashgabat , Kasymberdy Garayev , and members of his family faced pressure after he came out as gay and spoke about problems faced by gays in Turkmenistan to RFE/RL .
In 2017 , the United Nations Human Rights Committee flagged criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct as “ unjustifiable ” and urged the Turkmen @ @ @ @ @

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says a popular entertainer and his associates in Turkmenistan have been handed prison terms for being gay and called on authorities to "immediately dismiss" all charges against the men.
HRW said the showman was sentenced to 2 years in prison on May 7 after a court found him guilty of sodomy.
In April, an independent media outlet quoted several sources in Ashgabat as saying that an actor and showman, whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested along with about a dozen other people, including his partner, in late March.
According to that report, some of those arrested were later released after they paid bribes.
A source in Ashgabat confirmed to RFE/RL at the time that the man was under arrest, but it was impossible to obtain any clarification of the situation from the authorities.
The former Soviet republic's criminal code envisions up to 2 years in prison for homosexual relations.
The Turkmen government -- which controls all media, most of the economy, and enforces many social rules on its citizens -- is considered among the most repressive in the world and doesn't tolerate public criticism or free speech.
The issue is a social taboo and antigay sentiment among many Turkmens is very strong.
HRW said that it "documented a 2013 case in Turkmenistan, where medical staff collaborated with law enforcement officials to conduct an anal exam on an 18-year-old man accused of homosexual conduct," adding that "the case raises the possibility that forced anal examinations have been or are being used against others charged with sodomy in Turkmenistan."
"Such examinations have no medical justification, are cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and may amount to torture. They violate the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both ratified by Turkmenistan," the statement says.
Last year, a young cardiologist in Ashgabat, Kasymberdy Garayev, and members of his family faced pressure after he came out as gay and spoke about problems faced by gays in Turkmenistan to RFE/RL.
In 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Committee flagged criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct as “unjustifiable” and urged the Turkmen government to repeal it.


rferl--2020-05-29--Ukrainian Interior Minister Says Shooting In Kyiv Region Linked To Corruption

KYIV -- Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said that a mass shooting incident in the town of Brovary near the capital is linked to corruption among Kyiv city and regional authorities .
Avakov wrote on Twitter that 10 people were arrested and more are expected to be apprehended for their involvement in the shooting incident on May 29 .
`` The shoot-out in Brovary this morning is an echo of corruption with regard to the definition of quotas for transportation services and the involvement of gangs in the war for passenger routes ... .
Executive authorities of Kyiv and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Avakov tweeted .
Earlier in the day , Avakov 's deputy , Anton Herashchenko , wrote on Facebook that three people were wounded in the shoot-out , which he called `` a criminal settling of scores '' between businesses providing transportation services with the involvement of local officials .
`` The [ transportation ] routes must be distributed legally and in a fair way , not under the table or for bribes , '' Herashchenko wrote , adding that `` a significant number of firearms was confiscated '' from people involved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Brovary as saying that some 100 people , many from other regions of the country , were involved in the incident and that a probe into `` hooliganism '' had been launched .

KYIV -- Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said that a mass shooting incident in the town of Brovary near the capital is linked to corruption among Kyiv city and regional authorities.
Avakov wrote on Twitter that 10 people were arrested and more are expected to be apprehended for their involvement in the shooting incident on May 29.
"The shoot-out in Brovary this morning is an echo of corruption with regard to the definition of quotas for transportation services and the involvement of gangs in the war for passenger routes.... Executive authorities of Kyiv and the region...something is rotting," Avakov tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Avakov's deputy, Anton Herashchenko, wrote on Facebook that three people were wounded in the shoot-out, which he called "a criminal settling of scores" between businesses providing transportation services with the involvement of local officials.
"The [transportation] routes must be distributed legally and in a fair way, not under the table or for bribes," Herashchenko wrote, adding that "a significant number of firearms was confiscated" from people involved in the shoot-out.
Media reports quoted police in Brovary as saying that some 100 people, many from other regions of the country, were involved in the incident and that a probe into "hooliganism" had been launched.


rferl--2020-05-29--Three Border Guards Reported Killed In Clash In Northwestern Iran

Three Iranian border guards have been killed in a clash with `` armed insurgents '' in the northwestern province of @ @ @ @ @ report .
Citing a police statement , news agencies said the clash broke out near @ @ @ @ @ May 29 .
The border guards were on patrol when they clashed with the “ @ @ @ @ @ reports said , adding that “ some of the insurgents ” were also killed in @ @ @ @ @ not name the group involved .
In recent years there have been multiple clashes in @ @ @ @ @ and Kermanshah Provinces close to the Iraqi and Turkish borders between Iranian security forces and @ @ @ @ @ cases the groups are Kurdish insurgents with bases in Iraq .
Some demand independence for @ @ @ @ @ others say they are fighting for the Kurds ’ rights .
With reporting by AFP @ @


rferl--2020-05-29--U.S. Citizen Whelan, Accused Of Spying In Russia, Undergoes Hernia Surgery

U.S. citizen Paul Whelan , who is on trial in Russia on an espionage charge , has undergone an “ emergency ” hernia surgery after experiencing “ severe abdominal pain , ” and was subsequently remanded to a Moscow detention facility , his family and the U.S. Embassy say .
“ We were informed today that # PaulWhelan underwent emergency surgery yesterday .
Ambassador [ John ] Sullivan spoke to Paul this afternoon after Paul was transferred back to Lefortovo prison , ” embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross tweeted on May 29 , without giving details .
Whelan 's family said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ informed them that he had been taken for surgery at Moscow ’ s Sklifosovsky Emergency Medical Center after his health took `` a turn for the worse . ''
It said the surgery was “ successful ” but added that the Russian Foreign Ministry “ refused to answer any questions from the U.S. Embassy about Paul ’ s condition without a diplomatic note.
” Whelan 's lawyer , Olga Karlova , told Interfax he was “ feeling quite well.
” On May 25 , a prosecutor at Whelan 's trial asked a Moscow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- a charge Whelan and U.S. officials vehemently deny -- and sentence him to 18 years in prison .
The 50-year-old Whelan , who also holds British , Canadian , and Irish citizenships , was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and in March this year went on trial , which was held in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and diplomatic protests .
Whelan says he was framed when he took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday photos and that the allegations of spying against him are politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison guards of mistreatment .
The trial is being held behind closed doors because the evidence includes classified materials , as well as because of measures taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Whelan was head of global security at a U.S. auto-parts supplier at the time of his arrest .
He and his relatives insist he visited Russia to attend a wedding .
U.S. officials have urged Moscow to release Whelan and have criticized Russian authorities for their `` shameful treatment '' of him .
Ross on May 29 said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17 months “ without any evidence of a crime , ” adding that he has been denied “ necessary medical attention ” despite what she said were repeated requests to allow him to be seen by an outside English-speaking doctor .
Russian authorities have waited until Whelan ’ s condition was “ life-threatening to provide him medical attention .
That is unacceptable and dangerous , ” Ross also wrote .
Russia ’ s Foreign Ministry said Whelan had undergone a `` simple operation '' that he had previously refused .
It said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the facility where he is being held .
However , his family voiced concern that `` the coronavirus is spreading through Lefortovo ” and he could be `` more susceptible '' to illness as he recovers .

U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who is on trial in Russia on an espionage charge, has undergone an “emergency” hernia surgery after experiencing “severe abdominal pain,” and was subsequently remanded to a Moscow detention facility, his family and the U.S. Embassy say.
“We were informed today that #PaulWhelan underwent emergency surgery yesterday. Ambassador [John] Sullivan spoke to Paul this afternoon after Paul was transferred back to Lefortovo prison,” embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross tweeted on May 29, without giving details.
Whelan's family said in a statement that the embassy had informed them that he had been taken for surgery at Moscow’s Sklifosovsky Emergency Medical Center after his health took "a turn for the worse."
It said the surgery was “successful” but added that the Russian Foreign Ministry “refused to answer any questions from the U.S. Embassy about Paul’s condition without a diplomatic note.”
Whelan's lawyer, Olga Karlova, told Interfax he was “feeling quite well.”
On May 25, a prosecutor at Whelan's trial asked a Moscow court to find him guilty of espionage -- a charge Whelan and U.S. officials vehemently deny -- and sentence him to 18 years in prison.
The 50-year-old Whelan, who also holds British, Canadian, and Irish citizenships, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and in March this year went on trial, which was held in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and diplomatic protests.
Prosecutors claim that a flash disc found in Whelan's possession contained classified information.
Whelan says he was framed when he took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday photos and that the allegations of spying against him are politically motivated. He has also accused his prison guards of mistreatment.
The trial is being held behind closed doors because the evidence includes classified materials, as well as because of measures taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Whelan was head of global security at a U.S. auto-parts supplier at the time of his arrest. He and his relatives insist he visited Russia to attend a wedding.
U.S. officials have urged Moscow to release Whelan and have criticized Russian authorities for their "shameful treatment" of him.
Ross on May 29 said that Whelan has been behind bars for 17 months “without any evidence of a crime,” adding that he has been denied “necessary medical attention” despite what she said were repeated requests to allow him to be seen by an outside English-speaking doctor.
Russian authorities have waited until Whelan’s condition was “life-threatening to provide him medical attention. That is unacceptable and dangerous,” Ross also wrote.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Whelan had undergone a "simple operation" that he had previously refused.
It said the detainee was receiving all necessary health care in the facility where he is being held.
However, his family voiced concern that "the coronavirus is spreading through Lefortovo” and he could be "more susceptible" to illness as he recovers.
With reporting by Interfax


rferl--2020-05-29--Taliban Attack On Checkpoint Kills At Least 14 Afghan Troops Amid Talks On Prisoner Release

Taliban militants have attacked an army checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan , killing at least 14 soldiers in the latest in a series of incidents since a three-day cease-fire that was in effect during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr ended on May 26 .
The Defense Ministry said on May 29 that the overnight attacked killed 14 soldiers in the Dande Patan district , while local Governor Eid Mohammad Ahmadzai put the number of the security forces killed at 15 , adding that 20 Taliban fighters were also killed in the fighting .
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ defensive action . ''
`` Last night , the mujahedin carried out attacks against the newly established posts of the enemy in Dande Patan district of Paktia Province , '' Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter .
Afghan officials accused the Taliban of carrying out two other raids on separate checkpoints on May 28 in Farah and Parwan provinces , killing another 14 Afghan security force members , but the Taliban has not commented on those attacks .
National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said that despite sporadic clashes the cease-fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started during Eid al-Fitr continues despite reports of scattered incidents to the contrary , ” Faisal said .
The latest Taliban attack came as a five-member Taliban `` technical '' delegation was in Kabul discussing the release of militants and Afghan government prisoners .
The prisoner exchange is part of a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February that called on the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the militants to free around 1,000 government captives as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks .
The February 29 deal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ A technical delegation of the Taliban is in Kabul to work with a technical team of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the release of prisoners of both sides , ” Faisal tweeted on May 28 .
Later on May 28 , Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that the group had released 80 Afghan soldiers and government officials from their jails in northern Baghlan and Kunduz provinces .
It brings to more than 300 the number of captives freed by the Taliban since April .
During the cease-fire , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- part of a pledge by the government to free up to 2,000 militants in response to the Taliban 's cease-fire move .
Under a key point of the February deal , Washington agreed to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 troops by mid-July in a first stage , before a complete withdrawal by May 2021 .
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 26 said he has not set a target date for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan , amid speculation he may make ending America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ November ’ s presidential election .
Trump said there were around 7,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan .
But U.S. and NATO officials speaking on condition of anonymity clarified that U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan is down to nearly 8,600 , well ahead of schedule , in part because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus .
The U.S.-Taliban deal also calls for the Afghan government and the militants to start negotiations to decide the future of Afghanistan .
Expectations that those negotiations could finally begin were raised after President Ashraf Ghani and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ polls , Adullah Abdullah , reached an agreement after months of political feuding following contested presidential polls in September .
With reporting by AP and AFP

Taliban militants have attacked an army checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 14 soldiers in the latest in a series of incidents since a three-day cease-fire that was in effect during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr ended on May 26.
The Defense Ministry said on May 29 that the overnight attacked killed 14 soldiers in the Dande Patan district, while local Governor Eid Mohammad Ahmadzai put the number of the security forces killed at 15, adding that 20 Taliban fighters were also killed in the fighting.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack in Paktia Province, calling it a “defensive action."
"Last night, the mujahedin carried out attacks against the newly established posts of the enemy in Dande Patan district of Paktia Province," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.
Afghan officials accused the Taliban of carrying out two other raids on separate checkpoints on May 28 in Farah and Parwan provinces, killing another 14 Afghan security force members, but the Taliban has not commented on those attacks.
National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said that despite sporadic clashes the cease-fire would continue.
“The detente that started during Eid al-Fitr continues despite reports of scattered incidents to the contrary,” Faisal said.
The latest Taliban attack came as a five-member Taliban "technical" delegation was in Kabul discussing the release of militants and Afghan government prisoners.
The prisoner exchange is part of a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February that called on the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the militants to free around 1,000 government captives as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks. The February 29 deal did not include the Afghan government.
“A technical delegation of the Taliban is in Kabul to work with a technical team of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the release of prisoners of both sides,” Faisal tweeted on May 28.
Later on May 28, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that the group had released 80 Afghan soldiers and government officials from their jails in northern Baghlan and Kunduz provinces. It brings to more than 300 the number of captives freed by the Taliban since April.
During the cease-fire, Afghan authorities released some 1,000 Taliban prisoners -- part of a pledge by the government to free up to 2,000 militants in response to the Taliban's cease-fire move.
Under a key point of the February deal, Washington agreed to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 troops by mid-July in a first stage, before a complete withdrawal by May 2021.
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 26 said he has not set a target date for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, amid speculation he may make ending America’s longest war a campaign issue ahead of November’s presidential election.
Trump said there were around 7,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. But U.S. and NATO officials speaking on condition of anonymity clarified that U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan is down to nearly 8,600, well ahead of schedule, in part because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
The U.S.-Taliban deal also calls for the Afghan government and the militants to start negotiations to decide the future of Afghanistan.
Expectations that those negotiations could finally begin were raised after President Ashraf Ghani and his rival in last year's presidential polls, Adullah Abdullah, reached an agreement after months of political feuding following contested presidential polls in September.
With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-05-29--Poroshenko Again Fails To Show For Questioning At Ukraine's State Bureau Of Investigations

KYIV -- Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has failed for the second time this week to show up at the State Bureau of Investigations ( DBR ) for questioning .
The DBR planned to question Poroshenko on May 29 as a witness in two cases -- the alleged illegal transfer of cultural objects across the border and in connection with audio recording of individuals with voices thought to possibly be of Poroshenko and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden .
Last week , lawmaker Andriy Derkach said the audio records prove `` high treason '' by Poroshenko .
Poroshenko 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said on May 28 that their client would n't show up at the DBR because the summons for questioning had been made via the DBR 's website , which is `` illegal '' since their client should have been served the subpoena personally .
Poroshenko used the same explanation for ignoring a DBR summons on May 26 , where investigators wanted to question him as a witness in a case about `` the circumstances of moving across the Ukrainian border , without presenting to customs services , a collection of cultural objects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ artists . ''
Instead of going to the DBR for questioning on May 26 , Poroshenko took part in the opening of an arts exhibition in the Kyiv-based Ivan Honchar Museum , at which the paintings mentioned in the case were on display .
Museum officials said on May 29 that DBR officers had impounded the paintings a day earlier .
Poroshenko , who is currently a deputy in parliament , has been questioned as a witness several times in recent months in cases looking into several investigations launched after he failed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The DBR said in January that it was looking into 13 possible cases in which Poroshenko or his associates were implicated .
A billionaire confectioner , Poroshenko and his party ran on a pro-European , anti-Russian ticket in July parliamentary elections , winning 25 seats .

KYIV -- Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has failed for the second time this week to show up at the State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) for questioning.
The DBR planned to question Poroshenko on May 29 as a witness in two cases -- the alleged illegal transfer of cultural objects across the border and in connection with audio recording of individuals with voices thought to possibly be of Poroshenko and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
Last week, lawmaker Andriy Derkach said the audio records prove "high treason" by Poroshenko.
Poroshenko's lawyers, Ilya Novikov and Ihor Holovan, said on May 28 that their client wouldn't show up at the DBR because the summons for questioning had been made via the DBR's website, which is "illegal" since their client should have been served the subpoena personally.
Poroshenko used the same explanation for ignoring a DBR summons on May 26, where investigators wanted to question him as a witness in a case about "the circumstances of moving across the Ukrainian border, without presenting to customs services, a collection of cultural objects, consisting of 43 paintings by world-famous artists."
Instead of going to the DBR for questioning on May 26, Poroshenko took part in the opening of an arts exhibition in the Kyiv-based Ivan Honchar Museum, at which the paintings mentioned in the case were on display.
Museum officials said on May 29 that DBR officers had impounded the paintings a day earlier.
Poroshenko, who is currently a deputy in parliament, has been questioned as a witness several times in recent months in cases looking into several investigations launched after he failed to win a second term as president.
The DBR said in January that it was looking into 13 possible cases in which Poroshenko or his associates were implicated.
A billionaire confectioner, Poroshenko and his party ran on a pro-European, anti-Russian ticket in July parliamentary elections, winning 25 seats.


rferl--2020-05-30--U.S. Republican Senators Release Transcripts Of Flynn's Calls With Russian Diplomat

Transcripts of phone calls that were pivotal to the U.S. investigation of Russia 's 2016 election interference have been declassified and released by Republican senators .
One transcript shows that Michael Flynn , as an adviser to then-President-elect Donald Trump , urged Russia 's ambassador to be `` even-keeled '' in response to punitive measures imposed by President Barack Obama 's administration .
That transcript is dated December 29 , 2016 -- the day the Obama administration announced it was expelling 35 alleged Russian intelligence operatives from the United States .
The transcript shows that Flynn told the Russian ambassador @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conversation '' about U.S.-Russian relations after Trump became president .
Democrats say the transcripts show Flynn lied to the FBI when he denied details of the conversation , and that he was undercutting a sitting president while communicating about sanctions with a country that had just interfered in the 2016 election .
But allies of President Trump maintain the FBI had no reason to investigate Flynn in the first place .
They insist the transcripts show he did n't do anything wrong .
The transcripts were released on May 29 after being provided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national intelligence director , John Ratcliffe .
They are unlikely to significantly reshape public understanding of the contact between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak .
Partisan divisions over the case have intensified during the past month with the U.S. Justice Department 's motion to dismiss the prosecution .
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Transcripts of phone calls that were pivotal to the U.S. investigation of Russia's 2016 election interference have been declassified and released by Republican senators.
One transcript shows that Michael Flynn, as an adviser to then-President-elect Donald Trump, urged Russia's ambassador to be "even-keeled" in response to punitive measures imposed by President Barack Obama's administration.
That transcript is dated December 29, 2016 -- the day the Obama administration announced it was expelling 35 alleged Russian intelligence operatives from the United States.
The transcript shows that Flynn told the Russian ambassador thst "we can have a better conversation" about U.S.-Russian relations after Trump became president.
Democrats say the transcripts show Flynn lied to the FBI when he denied details of the conversation, and that he was undercutting a sitting president while communicating about sanctions with a country that had just interfered in the 2016 election.
But allies of President Trump maintain the FBI had no reason to investigate Flynn in the first place. They insist the transcripts show he didn't do anything wrong.
The transcripts were released on May 29 after being provided to the Senate by Trump's new national intelligence director, John Ratcliffe.
They are unlikely to significantly reshape public understanding of the contact between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
Partisan divisions over the case have intensified during the past month with the U.S. Justice Department's motion to dismiss the prosecution.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters