rferl--2020-09-23--Lukashenka Abruptly Sworn In For New Term As Belarusian President

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has been sworn in for a sixth term following an unexpected inauguration ceremony that was moved up amid mass protests over his disputed reelection last month .
Lukashenka 's secretive inauguration on September 23 was met immediately with criticism at home by members of the opposition to his continued rule .
Following the ceremony , spontaneous demonstrations broke out in Minsk , the heart of more than six weeks of nationwide opposition to the results of the August 9 election that Lukashenka claims to have won with more than 80 percent of the vote .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hundred '' senior officials had been invited to the inauguration ceremony , though it did not say who or how many actually attended .
BelTA said Lukashenka put his right hand on the constitution and took the oath of office , before signing it .
The chairman of the Central Election Commission then presented him with the certificate of the president of the Republic of Belarus , it added .
`` Our statehood had to face an unprecedented challenge based on well-developed technologies that are aimed at destroying independent states , '' Lukashenka @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his previous claims that Western states were fomenting a pro-democracy revolution against him .
`` However , we turned out to be one of those few countries where a color revolution failed , or perhaps , we were the only such country .
It was a choice made by the Belarusian people who don ’ t want to lose their country . ''
The strength of the Belarusian government , Lukashenka added , `` lies in the fact that even in the most difficult times we have not abandoned our policy of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inauguration drew harsh criticism from supporters of the opposition , who have called on the 66-year-old authoritarian leader to step down and hold free and fair elections , claiming the vote was rigged in his favor .
Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony , the opposition , led by his main challenger , Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , said it would never accept Lukashenka 's `` falsified '' victory and called for an immediate campaign of civil disobedience .
`` Anyone can be president , '' Tikhanovskaya 's team said in a statement .
`` Take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it , say a couple times , ' I swear , ' sign a paper saying , ' I am president ' and put it in your pocket . ''
Tsikhanouskaya had previously warned that any attempt to hold an inauguration would be `` illegal . ''
Paval Latushka -- who served as Belarusian ambassador to Poland , France , UNESCO , and Spain between 2002-19 and was part of the opposition 's Coordination Council set up to pave a smooth transition to a new president -- wrote on his Telegram channel that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation . ''
`` The outgoing president , who claims to have won more than 80 percent of the vote in the election , has carried out a special operation to be sworn in , '' Latushka wrote .
`` Under the protection of riot police , in an atmosphere of secrecy , in a narrow circle of officials who were hastily brought in .
Where are the jubilant citizens ?
Where is the diplomatic corps ? ''
`` To be honest , '' Latushka added , `` it looks more like a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another thief-in-law . ''
Lukashenka faces the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule amid the unprecedented nationwide protests and has answered peaceful protests and demands for him to leave office with violent arrests and the alleged torture of detainees .
RFE/RL 's Belarus Service reported that Minsk residents had noticed unusual activity near Independence Palace , a government building in the center of the capital that often hosts major events , and traffic in some places in the city was blocked .
Images posted on social media showed people holding placards reading `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Victory belongs to the people , '' and holding up the banned red-and-white flags and banners associated with the opposition movement .
Protesters were reportedly blocking some streets in the city center .
Lukashenka said in his inauguration speech that `` we will deal with our issues on our own , without any external participation , will come to an agreement , will ensure the cooperation of all social classes while observing the law and mutual respect . ''
The United States , the European Union , and other Western allies have denounced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the ensuing violence used against demonstrators .
On September 23 , Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok gave a blunt assessment of the situation saying Lukashenka `` has no legitimacy to lead his country . ''
Former Estonian President Toomas Ilves , a frequent critic of Lukashenka , responded to Lukashenka 's swearing-in ceremony by tweeting that `` inaugurating oneself as president is 'literally ' autocracy . ''
In Moscow , Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Lukashenka 's inauguration , saying that `` if they made such a decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be reasonable . ''
Russia has given lukewarm support to Lukashenka amid the protests , offering military support if necessary and providing Belarus with a $ 1.5 billion loan after the embattled Belarusian leader flew to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin earlier this month .
Peskov added that Putin has no plans to visit Belarus following Lukashenka 's inauguration .
With reporting from BelTA , Reuters , dpa , Tut.by , and TASS

Riot troops used truncheons and a water cannon and detained dozens of protesters as clashes escalated in Minsk and other cities following Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's surprise swearing-in for a sixth term despite weeks of unprecedented public calls for his exit.
Lukashenka's secretive inauguration earlier on September 23 immediately met with criticism from members of the opposition, who refused to accept the results of an August 9 vote following jailings and other intimidation tactics to mute dissent and limit would-be challengers in the former Soviet state of more than 9 million.
As scenes of the latest crackdown on Belarusian demonstrators emerged, the United States added its name to growing list of Western countries that responded to the swearing-in by saying they won't recognize Lukashenka's presidency.
"The elections August 9 were neither free nor fair. The announced results were fraudulent and did not convey legitimacy," a State Department spokesperson told RFE/RL. "The United States cannot consider Alyaksandr Lukashenka the legitimately elected leader of Belarus."
The State Department called for a "national dialogue" culminating in "a free and fair election under independent observation."
The spokesperson added, "Release of those unjustly detained and an end of repression against peacefully protesting citizens is a first step toward genuine national dialogue."
Following the inauguration ceremony, spontaneous demonstrations broke out in Minsk, the heart of more than six weeks of nationwide opposition to a vote that Lukashenka claims to have won with more than 80 percent support.
By late afternoon, thousands had gathered near the Stela Minsk Hero City World War II memorial in downtown Minsk before Interior Ministry troops moved in.
The black-and-green-clad riot troops descended on the crowd, followed by a truck with a water cannon, sending many Belarusians fleeing into nearby grassy areas and shops.
After nightfall, groups of protesters and anti-Lukashenka drivers blocked some streets in the capital.
The Vyasna rights group issued a list of more than 140 people it said had been detained in Minsk, the southwestern city of Brest, and other places.
The official news agency BelTA reported "several hundred" senior officials had been invited to the inauguration ceremony, though it did not say who or how many actually attended.
BelTA said Lukashenka put his right hand on the constitution and took the oath office, before signing it. The chairman of the Central Election Commission then presented him with the certificate of the president of the Republic of Belarus, it added.
"Our statehood had to face an unprecedented challenge based on well-developed technologies that are aimed at destroying independent states," Lukashenka said during his inauguration speech, alluding to his previous claims that Western states were fomenting a pro-democracy revolution against him.
"However, we turned out to be one of those few countries where a color revolution failed, or perhaps, we were the only such country. It was a choice made by the Belarusian people who don't want to lose their country."
The strength of the Belarusian government, Lukashenka added, "lies in the fact that even in the most difficult times we have not abandoned our policy of a socially oriented state."
The inauguration drew harsh criticism from supporters of the opposition, who have called on the 66-year-old authoritarian leader to step down and hold free and fair elections, claiming the vote was rigged in his favor.
After the swearing-in ceremony, the opposition, led by his exiled main challenger, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said it would never accept Lukashenka's "falsified" victory and called for an immediate campaign of civil disobedience and open-ended protests.
"This so-called inauguration is certainly a farce. In fact, today Lukashenka just retired," Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her Telegram channel. "This means that his orders for security agencies are not legitimate anymore and must not be fulfilled.
Tsikhanouskaya, who officially finished second to Lukashenka but claims to have won, added that "I, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, am the only leader recognized by the Belarusian people."
Earlier, while addressing the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius, Tsikhanouskaya called Lukashenka's inauguration "an attempt to seize power."
In a statement, her team said: "Anyone can be president.... Take the constitution, put your hand on it, say a couple of times 'I swear,' sign a paper saying 'I am president,' and put it in your pocket."
Paval Latushka -- who served as Belarusian ambassador to Poland, France, UNESCO, and Spain between 2002-19 and was part of the opposition's Coordination Council set up to pave a transition to a new president -- wrote on his Telegram channel that the country was "witnessing an unprecedented situation."
"The outgoing president, who claims to have won more than 80 percent of the vote in the election, has carried out a special operation to be sworn in," Latushka wrote. "Under the protection of riot police, in an atmosphere of secrecy, in a narrow circle of officials who were hastily brought in. Where are the jubilant citizens? Where is the diplomatic corps?"
"To be honest," Latushka added, "it looks more like a thieves' meeting for the coronation of another thief-in-law."
Lukashenka faces the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule amid the unprecedented nationwide protests and has answered peaceful protests and demands for him to leave office with violent arrests and the alleged torture of detainees.
Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
Ales Byalyatski, the head of Vyasna, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that the secret inauguration was a sign of Lukashenka's "weakness."
"People don't perceive this as a real inauguration. But he probably couldn't have done it any other way," Byalyatski said. "If the inauguration had been announced in advance, 200,000 demonstrators would have been standing under his palace."
He added that most Belarusians consider Lukashenka "to be a man who stole power" and that "such an inauguration will provoke even greater mass protests against such actions."
Images posted on social media showed people holding placards reading "the king is naked" and "victory belongs to the people," and holding up the banned red-and-white flags and banners associated with the opposition movement. Protesters were reportedly blocking some streets in the city center.
Lukashenka said in his inauguration speech that "we will deal with our issues on our own, without any external participation, will come to an agreement, will ensure the cooperation of all social classes while observing the law and mutual respect."
On September 23, before the U.S. announcement, a growing list of European countries said they would not recognize Lukashenka's presidency.
Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Estonia all said they did not consider Lukashenka the legitimate president of Belarus.
"The minimum requirements for democratic elections were by no means met. They were neither fair nor free," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said after Lukashenka was sworn in. "Even after today's ceremony, Mr. Lukashenka cannot evoke the democratic legitimacy that would have been the condition for him to be recognized as a legitimate president."
The Polish Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said in a statement that "a president elected in an undemocratic election cannot be considered to be legally exercising power, whether the oath was secret or official."
Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said Lukashenka "has no legitimacy to lead his country."
Former Estonian President Toomas Ilves, a frequent critic of Lukashenka, responded to Lukashenka's swearing-in ceremony by tweeting that "inaugurating oneself as president is 'literally' autocracy."
The United States, the European Union, and other Western allies have also denounced the violence used against demonstrators.
Following Lukashenka's ceremony, the Belarusian military pledged allegiance to the long-serving authoritarian president and willingness to "defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Motherland," according to the state agency BelTA.
In Moscow, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Lukashenka's inauguration, saying that "if they made such a decision, it means they considered it to be reasonable."
Russia has given lukewarm support to Lukashenka amid the protests, offering military support if necessary and providing Belarus with a $1.5 billion loan after the embattled Belarusian leader flew to Sochi to meet with President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.
Peskov added that Putin had no plans to visit Belarus following Lukashenka's inauguration.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov on September 23 became the first leader from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States to congratulate Lukashenka on taking office for the sixth time.
With reporting from Current Time, RFE/RL's Belarus Service, BelTA, Reuters, dpa, Tut.by, and TASS


rferl--2020-09-23--Freed Taliban Fighters Returning To Battlefield, Top Afghan Negotiator Says

A number of Taliban prisoners who were released by the Afghan government as a condition for peace talks have returned to the battlefield , lead Kabul negotiator Abdullah Abdullah has said .
Abdullah , the head of Afghanistan 's High Council for National Reconciliation , said negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar have been positive since they opened in Doha on September 12 , although the two sides reportedly remain far from agreement on virtually every issue .
But Abdullah said that some -- though not the majority -- of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners released by the Afghan authorities as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight against the government .
`` I do know that some have returned to the battlefield , which is a violation of the agreement that they had made , '' Abdullah told an online conference with the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations on September 22 .
Despite the ongoing negotiations , the level of violence inside Afghanistan has not fallen , and Abdullah called on Washington , which launched the peace process as part of a February deal with the Taliban , and Pakistan , which allegedly maintains ties to the militants , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cease-fire .
`` Unfortunately , so far , the level of violence is very high and to a level that is not acceptable for the people , '' Abdullah said .
`` I repeat my call to the Taliban themselves and also to all partners who have any leverage over the Taliban to press on that point . ''
Abdullah said he planned to travel to Pakistan soon for the first time since 2008 .
The persistent violence , and the Taliban 's failure to completely cut relations with the Islamic State and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ barrier to success by U.S. officials testifying in Congress on September 22 .
U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad warned that violence remains unacceptably high and Washington expects more setbacks in ongoing peace talks between Taliban militants and the Afghan government .
`` By any measure , current levels of violence are too high , '' Khalilzad said .
`` We know that reductions are possible . ''
`` While we have reasons to be hopeful , we are under no illusions about the challenges ahead ... .
We expect that there will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He added that Washington and its allies were looking at an agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan so that neither side 's territory would be used to attack the other .
`` We 're hoping that by the time that these other negotiations are over , we could also achieve success in that regard , '' said Khalilzad , who recently returned from Doha .
With reporting by AFP , AP , and Reuters

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--2020-09-23--French Leader Urges UN-Backed Mission To China's Xinjiang Over Concerns At Uyghurs' Treatment

France 's president has called for an international mission under UN supervision to travel to China 's northwestern Xinjiang region to address global concerns at the treatment of the Uyghur minority there , highlighting what critics charge is among the most acute human rights crises in the world today .
`` France has requested that an international mission under the aegis of the United Nations go to Xinjiang in order to take into account the concerns that we collectively have on the situation of the Muslim Uyghur minority , '' President Emmanuel Macron told the UN General Assembly on September @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the region 's Uyghur population and other Muslims are believed to have been forced into detention centers that Beijing describes as training centers to curb extremism and promote new skills .
`` Fundamental rights are not a Western idea that one could oppose as an interference , '' Macron said .
`` [ T ] hese are the principles of our organization , enshrined in texts that the member states of the United Nations have freely consented to sign and to respect . ''
Uyghurs are the largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and members of other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang have been subjected to Chinese roundups and placed in concentration camps since 2017 .
Accounts have emerged of torture , rape , and other abuse in the camps .
Dozens of rights groups have demanded that the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) “ reverse its mistake ” in awarding Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics because of China ’ s human rights record , including its treatment of Uyghurs .
Washington has recently ratcheted up pressure on China over its treatment of Uyghur @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imports that are made with the help of labor by detained Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 22 .
If enacted after a vote in the Senate , the bill would ban goods thought to have been made in Xinjiang with forced labor by such detainees .
It could force companies to steer clear of a region that produces around 80 percent of China 's cotton , as well as avoiding other manufactured goods .
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ becoming aware ” of human rights abuses in the Chinese province as he reiterated his call for them to reconsider doing business there .
The U.S. Commerce Department has blacklisted Chinese companies allegedly involved in using forced labor by Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang , including ethnic Kazakhs , Kyrgyz , Tajiks , and Hui , also known as Dungans .

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France's president has called for an international mission under UN supervision to travel to China's northwestern Xinjiang region to address global concerns at the treatment of the Uyghur minority there, highlighting what critics charge is among the most acute human rights crises in the world today.
"France has requested that an international mission under the aegis of the United Nations go to Xinjiang in order to take into account the concerns that we collectively have on the situation of the Muslim Uyghur minority," President Emmanuel Macron told the UN General Assembly on September 22.
More than 1 million members of the region's Uyghur population and other Muslims are believed to have been forced into detention centers that Beijing describes as training centers to curb extremism and promote new skills.
"Fundamental rights are not a Western idea that one could oppose as an interference," Macron said. "[T]hese are the principles of our organization, enshrined in texts that the member states of the United Nations have freely consented to sign and to respect."
Uyghurs are the largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang, followed by Kazakhs.
Uyghurs and members of other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang have been subjected to Chinese roundups and placed in concentration camps since 2017.
Accounts have emerged of torture, rape, and other abuse in the camps.
Dozens of rights groups have demanded that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) “reverse its mistake” in awarding Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics because of China’s human rights record, including its treatment of Uyghurs.
Washington has recently ratcheted up pressure on China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims.
A bipartisan U.S. bill targeting imports that are made with the help of labor by detained Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 22.
If enacted after a vote in the Senate, the bill would ban goods thought to have been made in Xinjiang with forced labor by such detainees.
It could force companies to steer clear of a region that produces around 80 percent of China's cotton, as well as avoiding other manufactured goods.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this month that American companies are “becoming aware” of human rights abuses in the Chinese province as he reiterated his call for them to reconsider doing business there.
The U.S. Commerce Department has blacklisted Chinese companies allegedly involved in using forced labor by Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, including ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-09-23--Navalny Discharged From Berlin Hospital; Doctors Say 'Complete Recovery' Possible

Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny has been discharged from the Berlin hospital where he was being treated for what Germany has said is a case of poisoning with a nerve agent from the Soviet-era Novichok group .
The 44-year-old posted on social media a picture of himself sitting on a park bench in the German capital after being released , adding that while he still doesn ’ t have full use of his left hand , he has started learning how to regain his balance by standing on one leg .
Navalny fell violently ill aboard a Moscow-bound flight on August @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tomsk , where he was carrying out his latest investigation into state corruption .
Days later , he was airlifted to Berlin for treatment .
“ The first time they put me in front of a mirror after 24 days in intensive care ( of which 16 were in a coma ) , a character from the movie 'The Lord of the Rings ' looked back at me and I can tell you , it was not an elf at all , ” Navalny said in the post .
“ I was terribly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never be discharged .
But the doctors continued to do their miracle , ” he added .
Navalny said he will continue to do physiotherapy , while doctors from the Charite hospital in Berlin said in a statement on September 23 that based on his “ progress and current condition , ” physicians believe that a “ complete recovery is possible.
” '' However , it remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning , '' the statement cautioned .
German authorities have said tests in Germany , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was poisoned with a chemical agent from the Novichok group .
French President Emmanuel Macron on September 22 demanded a `` swift and flawless '' explanation from Moscow for the poisoning during his speech to the 75th-annual United Nations General Assembly .
Several other countries in the West have also demanded an explanation from Russia , but Moscow has declined to open an investigation so far , saying it has yet to see evidence of a crime .
The Kremlin , which also has denied any involvement in the attack , said on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is free ” to return to Russia whenever he pleases .
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also addressed a recent article in the French newspaper Le Monde , saying the report that President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart , Emmanuel Macron , in a recent conversation that perhaps Navalny had poisoned himself had many inaccuracies .
He did , however , confirm that the Navalny case was discussed between the two leaders .
Navalny was medically airlifted to Germany at the request of his wife following a medical tussle with Russian doctors who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He emerged earlier this month from a medically induced coma as his condition slowly improved .
German doctors say the military-grade nerve agent Novichok was found both inside his body and on his skin .
Navalny said in a post on his website on September 21 that the 30-day deadline for Russian police to conduct their “ pre-investigative check ” into what he called his attempted murder by poisoning has expired .
He demanded that the Russian side return articles of clothing taken when he was hospitalized there .
Experts say the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation into the poisoning .
Russian officials have questioned German officials ' findings and their statements since Navalny arrived there for treatment .
Russian police must either launch an investigation or close a case within 30 days of a pre-investigative check .
However , police in Omsk have said they are continuing their investigation .
Navalny 's team has said a water bottle removed from his hotel room in the city of Tomsk after he fell ill had been taken to Germany and found to contain traces of the nerve agent .
Peskov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nerve agent via a water bottle in Siberia are `` absurd . ''
In a statement issued via his Instagram account on September 19 , Navalny called his road to recovery `` a clear path now , albeit long . ''
Navalny was attacked with a green dye by unknown assailants in Russia in 2017 , leaving him with permanent damage to his vision .
Two years later , he suddenly fell ill while in Russian detention with what Russian doctors said was a severe allergic reaction but which he and his team @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case still has not been solved .

Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny has been discharged from the Berlin hospital where he was being treated for what Germany has said is a case of poisoning with a Soviet-style nerve agent.
The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner posted on social media a picture of himself sitting on a park bench in the German capital after being released, adding that while he still doesn’t have full use of his left hand, he has started learning how to regain his balance by standing on one leg.
Hours later, Moscow denied that Russia or the Soviet Union had ever developed or made the family of nerve agents at the center of the international findings, Novichok, despite decades of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Navalny fell violently ill aboard a Moscow-bound flight on August 20 originating in the Siberian city of Tomsk, where he was carrying out his latest investigation into state corruption. Days later, he was airlifted to Berlin for treatment.
“The first time they put me in front of a mirror after 24 days in intensive care (of which 16 were in a coma), a character from the movie 'The Lord of the Rings' looked back at me and I can tell you, it was not an elf at all,” Navalny said in the post.
“I was terribly upset: I thought that I would never be discharged. But the doctors continued to do their miracle,” he added.
Navalny said he will continue to do physiotherapy, while doctors from the Charite hospital in Berlin said in a statement on September 23 that based on his “progress and current condition,” physicians believe that a “complete recovery is possible.”
"However, it remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning," the statement cautioned.
German authorities have said tests in Germany, France, and Sweden have determined Navalny was poisoned by a chemical agent from the Novichok group of bioweapons.
Infographic: A Timeline Of Russian Poisoning Cases
German authorities have said tests in Germany, France, and Sweden have determined Navalny was poisoned with a chemical agent from the Novichok group.
French President Emmanuel Macron on September 22 demanded a "swift and flawless" explanation from Moscow for the poisoning during his speech to the 75th-annual United Nations General Assembly.
Several other countries in the West have also demanded an explanation from Russia, but Moscow has declined to open an investigation so far, saying it has yet to see evidence of a crime.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, which has accused the West of a "disinformation" campaign in the case, said on September 23 that its pre-investigative probe of the case cannot be completed without data from Berlin.
It also said there cannot be any "Russian trace" of evidence.
It also claimed -- improbably -- that the Novichok nerve agent was never developed or produced in either Russia or the Soviet Union.
They are banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997 and have never been shown to have been used on the battlefield.
But they were used in the 2018 poisoning of a former Soviet intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter by suspected Russian agents in Salisbury, England.
Their development has been attributed to the Soviet State Scientific Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, which was jointly run by the Soviet military and the KGB, during the 1970s and 1980s.
In addition to foreign intelligence agencies, Russian scientists in the past have come forward to discuss Novichok's development.
Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated its demand to see evidence collected by the Germans.
"We aren't inclined to reject anything, we only want to be certain and understand what's going on, so as to compare. In order to compare, be
convinced, and understand, we need to have information, which we, unfortunately, are currently being denied," Peskov said.
Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Aleksandr Shulgin, said on September 23 that Moscow had sent a note to Germany's mission to the OPCW demanding information on the Navalny case.
The Kremlin, which also has denied any involvement in the attack, said the anti-corruption crusader “is free” to return to Russia whenever he pleases.
Peskov also addressed a recent article in the French newspaper Le Monde, saying the report that President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in a recent conversation that perhaps Navalny had poisoned himself had many inaccuracies.
He did, however, confirm that the Navalny case was discussed between the two leaders.
Navalny was medically airlifted to Germany at the request of his wife following a medical tussle with Russian doctors who said he was too sick to travel.
He emerged earlier this month from a medically induced coma as his condition slowly improved.
German doctors say the military-grade nerve agent Novichok was found both inside his body and on his skin.
Navalny said in a post on his website on September 21 that the 30-day deadline for Russian police to conduct their “pre-investigative check” into what he called his attempted murder by poisoning has expired. He demanded that the Russian side return articles of clothing taken when he was hospitalized there.
Experts say the clothes he had on could help any investigation into the poisoning.
Navalny's team has said a water bottle removed from his hotel room in the city of Tomsk after he fell ill had been taken to Germany and found to contain traces of the nerve agent.
Peskov has said that is "absurd."
Navalny was attacked with a green dye by unknown assailants in Russia in 2017, leaving him with permanent damage to his vision.
Two years later, he suddenly fell ill while in Russian detention with what Russian doctors said was a severe allergic reaction but which he and his team insisted was an intentional poisoning. That case still has not been solved.
With reporting by Interfax and TASS


rferl--2020-09-22--Russian Security Agents Detain 'Vissarion,' Leader Of Isolated Siberian Religious Sect

MOSCOW – Federal Security Agency ( FSB ) agents in Siberia ’ s Krasnoyarsk region have arrested the head of an isolated messianic sect in a massive raid on the group ’ s remote settlement .
Dozens of law enforcement vans , buses , ambulances , and helicopters participated in the September 22 raid at the City of the Sun settlement , in which Church of the Last Testament leader Sergei Torop , known as Vissarion , and his assistants , Vadim Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov , were taken into custody and whisked away by helicopter .
The Interfax news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out by agents of the FSB and the Investigative Committee .
“ Sergei Torop , Vadim Redkin , and Vladimir Vedernikov -- leaders of the local religious organization the Church of the Last Testament , have been detained , ” an unidentified law enforcement source told the state TASS news agency .
“ Since very early this morning , investigative activities have been under way in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.
” Some 200 church members reportedly live at the City of the Sun settlement , which is one of about 40 such church communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detained at the nearby church compound of Petropavlovka .
Church of the Last Testament member Aleksandr Staroverov posted to social media a video showing masked agents with automatic weapons searching the City of the Sun settlement in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai .
Russian state media said the men were detained on suspicion of “ inflicting grievous bodily harm ” and “ creating a nonprofit organization that infringes on the rights of citizens.
” No details about the charges were reported .
Agents were reportedly searching the settlement for weapons , ammunition , and banned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a criminal investigation into the group was opened after members reportedly attacked a correspondent for REN-TV .
Torop , a 59-year-old former traffic-police officer , founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 , and it was officially registered as a legal religious organization in 1995 .
The group claims some 10,000 followers , mostly living in southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk region .
The group bars members from eating meat , using tobacco or alcohol , or using money .
Torop also has followers abroad , particularly in Germany .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ teachings -- which combine elements of Russian Orthodoxy and Buddhism with strong elements of collectivism and environmentalism -- have been translated into German .
The church claims a large swath of southern Krasnoyarsk Krai , which it calls the Tiberkul religious settlement .
With reporting by Kommersant , REN-TV , TASS , and Interfax

MOSCOW – Federal Security Agency (FSB) agents in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region have arrested the head of an isolated messianic sect in a massive raid on the group’s remote settlement.
Dozens of law enforcement vans, buses, ambulances, and helicopters participated in the September 22 raid at the City of the Sun settlement, in which Church of the Last Testament leader Sergei Torop, known as Vissarion, and his assistants, Vadim Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov, were taken into custody and whisked away by helicopter.
The Interfax news agency reported that the raid was carried out by agents of the FSB and the Investigative Committee.
“Sergei Torop, Vadim Redkin, and Vladimir Vedernikov -- leaders of the local religious organization the Church of the Last Testament, have been detained,” an unidentified law enforcement source told the state TASS news agency. “Since very early this morning, investigative activities have been under way in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.”
Some 200 church members reportedly live at the City of the Sun settlement, which is one of about 40 such church communities in the region. Vedernikov was reportedly detained at the nearby church compound of Petropavlovka.
Church of the Last Testament member Aleksandr Staroverov posted to social media a video showing masked agents with automatic weapons searching the City of the Sun settlement in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Russian state media said the men were detained on suspicion of “inflicting grievous bodily harm” and “creating a nonprofit organization that infringes on the rights of citizens.” No details about the charges were reported.
Agents were reportedly searching the settlement for weapons, ammunition, and banned “extremist” literature.
Last month, a criminal investigation into the group was opened after members reportedly attacked a correspondent for REN-TV.
Torop, a 59-year-old former traffic-police officer, founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991, and it was officially registered as a legal religious organization in 1995. The group claims some 10,000 followers, mostly living in southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk region.
The group bars members from eating meat, using tobacco or alcohol, or using money.
Torop also has followers abroad, particularly in Germany. Seven volumes of the church’s teachings -- which combine elements of Russian Orthodoxy and Buddhism with strong elements of collectivism and environmentalism -- have been translated into German.
The church claims a large swath of southern Krasnoyarsk Krai, which it calls the Tiberkul religious settlement.
With reporting by Kommersant, REN-TV, TASS, and Interfax


rferl--2020-09-23--Republican Senate Report Finds Biden Son's Work 'Problematic' But Impact 'Unclear'

Two Senate Republican committees have released a report claiming that work done by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden 's son in Ukraine created a “ potential conflict of interest ” that undermined U.S. policy .
The controversial report comes just weeks before November 's presidential election and with the elder Biden leading incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in most polls .
Released on September 23 by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley , the report also alleges that Hunter Biden had dealings with Ukrainian , Russian , Kazakh , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” including the wife of a former Moscow mayor .
But it also said it was `` unclear '' whether the former vice president altered U.S. policy or took any other actions to assist his son .
Democrats say that the Republican exercise is a politically motivated attack on Biden to boost President Donald Trump ’ s chances in the election and they warn it could spread Russian misinformation .
In response to the release , Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates slammed Johnson for diverting his committee ’ s attention away from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attack against the sovereignty of our elections with taxpayer dollars . ''
Those allegations stem in part from the U.S. Treasury blacklisting of Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach , described as “ an active Russian agent , ” who has been helping Trump ’ s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani find compromising information on the Bidens .
The chairmen have dismissed the Democrats ’ criticism , describing their investigation as necessary government oversight .
The Republican senators acknowledge in their 87-page report that it is “ not clear ” to what extent Hunter Biden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s board affected the Obama administration ’ s policy on Ukraine .
However , the report said the millions of dollars Hunter Biden received for his role with Burisma “ negatively impacted ” U.S. diplomatic efforts to battle corruption in Ukraine at a time when then-Vice President Biden was leading Ukraine policy .
The senators described Burisma as having a “ long-standing reputation for corruption.
” “ Hunter Biden ’ s position on the board created an immediate potential conflict of interest that would prove to be problematic for both U.S. and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Ukraine policy , ” the report said .
The report references the concerns of two officials -- George Kent , the former acting deputy chief of mission at the Kyiv embassy , and another State Department official , Amos Hochstein -- about Hunter Biden ’ s work and potential conflicts of interest that could undermine U.S. Ukraine policy .
Trump has repeatedly drawn attention to Hunter Biden 's work in Ukraine , including an allegation that the former vice president pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor , Viktor Shokin , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Burisma 's owner .
The Ukraine allegations were thought to be among activities that Trump asked Ukraine 's president to ask his attorney general to investigate as part of a conversation that led to Trump 's impeachment trial earlier this year .
Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached after a whistle-blower complaint and accusations that he had improperly withheld congressionally allocated spending and improperly pressured new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy into trying to dig up dirt on the Bidens .
The report does not expose new information about Shokin 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor as a way to protect his son .
Democrats have pointed out there was no active investigation into Burisma at the time of Shokin 's ouster in 2016 , and European governments also supported the policy .
In addition to examining the Obama administration ’ s Ukraine policy , the Republican report made stinging allegations that Hunter Biden and his associates received millions of dollars from foreign nationals with “ questionable backgrounds.
” “ The Treasury records acquired by the Chairmen show potential criminal activity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden , his family , and his associates with Ukrainian , Russian , Kazakh and Chinese nationals , ” the report states .
“ These foreign nationals have questionable backgrounds that have been identified as being consistent with a range of criminal activities , including but not limited to organized prostitution and/or human trafficking , money laundering , fraud , and embezzlement.
” Additionally , the report states these financial transactions pose “ serious counterintelligence and extortion concerns.
” The report used financial records to find that Hunter Biden and business partner , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of $ 3.5 million in 2014 from Russian businesswoman Elena Baturina , the wife of late Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov .
It also stated that Archer received $ 142,300 for a car from Kenges Rakishev , the son-in-law of former Kazakh politician Imangali Tasmagambetov .
The payment occurred around the time when former Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Ukraine in April 2014 .

Two Senate Republican committees have released a report claiming that work done by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son in Ukraine created a “potential conflict of interest” that undermined U.S. policy.
The controversial report comes just weeks before November's presidential election and with the elder Biden leading incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in most polls.
Released on September 23 by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, the report also alleges that Hunter Biden had dealings with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh, and Chinese nationals of “questionable backgrounds,” including the wife of a former Moscow mayor.
But it also said it was "unclear" whether the former vice president altered U.S. policy or took any other actions to assist his son.
Democrats say that the Republican exercise is a politically motivated attack on Biden to boost President Donald Trump’s chances in the election and they warn it could spread Russian misinformation.
In response to the release, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates slammed Johnson for diverting his committee’s attention away from the coronavirus “to subsidize a foreign attack against the sovereignty of our elections with taxpayer dollars."
Those allegations stem in part from the U.S. Treasury blacklisting of Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach, described as “an active Russian agent,” who has been helping Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani find compromising information on the Bidens.
The chairmen have dismissed the Democrats’ criticism, describing their investigation as necessary government oversight.
The Republican senators acknowledge in their 87-page report that it is “not clear” to what extent Hunter Biden’s position on Ukrainian gas company Burisma’s board affected the Obama administration’s policy on Ukraine.
However, the report said the millions of dollars Hunter Biden received for his role with Burisma “negatively impacted” U.S. diplomatic efforts to battle corruption in Ukraine at a time when then-Vice President Biden was leading Ukraine policy. The senators described Burisma as having a “long-standing reputation for corruption.”
“Hunter Biden’s position on the board created an immediate potential conflict of interest that would prove to be problematic for both U.S. and Ukrainian officials and would affect the implementation of Ukraine policy,” the report said.
Potential Conflicts Of Interest
The report references the concerns of two officials -- George Kent, the former acting deputy chief of mission at the Kyiv embassy, and another State Department official, Amos Hochstein -- about Hunter Biden’s work and potential conflicts of interest that could undermine U.S. Ukraine policy.
Trump has repeatedly drawn attention to Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine, including an allegation that the former vice president pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, in an attempt to block an investigation into Burisma's owner.
The Ukraine allegations were thought to be among activities that Trump asked Ukraine's president to ask his attorney general to investigate as part of a conversation that led to Trump's impeachment trial earlier this year.
Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached after a whistle-blower complaint and accusations that he had improperly withheld congressionally allocated spending and improperly pressured new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy into trying to dig up dirt on the Bidens.
The report does not expose new information about Shokin's sacking and provides no conclusion that Joe Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor as a way to protect his son.
Democrats have pointed out there was no active investigation into Burisma at the time of Shokin's ouster in 2016, and European governments also supported the policy.
In addition to examining the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy, the Republican report made stinging allegations that Hunter Biden and his associates received millions of dollars from foreign nationals with “questionable backgrounds.”
“The Treasury records acquired by the Chairmen show potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals,” the report states.
“These foreign nationals have questionable backgrounds that have been identified as being consistent with a range of criminal activities, including but not limited to organized prostitution and/or human trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and embezzlement.”
Additionally, the report states these financial transactions pose “serious counterintelligence and extortion concerns.”
The report used financial records to find that Hunter Biden and business partner, Devon Archer, received a wire transfer of $3.5 million in 2014 from Russian businesswoman Elena Baturina, the wife of late Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov.
It also stated that Archer received $142,300 for a car from Kenges Rakishev, the son-in-law of former Kazakh politician Imangali Tasmagambetov. The payment occurred around the time when former Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Ukraine in April 2014.
With reporting by AP


rferl--2020-09-23--Bulgaria Expels Two Russian Diplomats For Alleged Military Spying

Bulgaria has expelled two Russian diplomats accused of military espionage and ordered them to leave the country within 72 hours , the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on September 23 .
`` Bulgaria 's Foreign Ministry has declared two Russian diplomats 'personae non gratae ' and has informed the Russian embassy with a diplomatic note , '' a ministry spokesman said .
State prosecutors launched a case against the two suspects at the request of the State Agency for National Security ( SANS ) , which alleged the two suspects collected secret state information on Bulgaria ’ s military modernization plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be brought against the suspects because they have diplomatic immunity .
`` Their goal was to transfer the collected information , including official and state secrets , to Russian military intelligence in Moscow , ” prosecutors said .
The Russian Embassy in Sofia said there was no evidence to justify the `` unreasonable expulsion '' of its diplomats .
`` The Russian side reserves the right to take 'mirrored ' measures in response , '' the embassy said in a statement on Facebook .
`` No evidence proving that they were engaged in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been provided , '' it said .
Bulgarian investigators said the espionage , which took place between 2016 and the present , included the use of financial inducements to recruit Bulgarian nationals with access to sensitive information Bulgaria is a NATO member with generally good ties with Russia , which supplies it with much of its energy .
It is not the first spying case to have marred Sofia 's relations with Moscow this year .
Two Russian diplomats were also declared personae non gratae in January for allegedly pursuing classified information on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined to grant a visa to a Russian defense attache choice in December 2019 .

Bulgaria has expelled two Russian diplomats accused of military espionage and ordered them to leave the country within 72 hours, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on September 23.
"Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has declared two Russian diplomats 'personae non gratae' and has informed the Russian embassy with a diplomatic note," a ministry spokesman said.
State prosecutors launched a case against the two suspects at the request of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), which alleged the two suspects collected secret state information on Bulgaria’s military modernization plans and preparedness.
Criminal proceedings could not be brought against the suspects because they have diplomatic immunity.
"Their goal was to transfer the collected information, including official and state secrets, to Russian military intelligence in Moscow,” prosecutors said.
The Russian Embassy in Sofia said there was no evidence to justify the "unreasonable expulsion" of its diplomats.
"The Russian side reserves the right to take 'mirrored' measures in response," the embassy said in a statement on Facebook. "No evidence proving that they were engaged in some activities inconsistent with their status has been provided," it said.
Bulgarian investigators said the espionage, which took place between 2016 and the present, included the use of financial inducements to recruit Bulgarian nationals with access to sensitive information
Bulgaria is a NATO member with generally good ties with Russia, which supplies it with much of its energy.
It is not the first spying case to have marred Sofia's relations with Moscow this year.
Two Russian diplomats were also declared personae non gratae in January for allegedly pursuing classified information on Bulgaria's electoral architecture.
Sofia also declined to grant a visa to a Russian defense attache choice in December 2019.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-09-23--U.S. Widens Sanctions Net Against Kremlin-Connected Backer Of 'Troll Factory,' Mercenary Group

The U.S. Treasury has announced sanctions against people and entities with links to the Kremlin-connected organizer and financier of the so-called Russian troll factory behind suspected assaults on U.S. and other foreign elections .
U.S. sanctions have long been in place against Yevgeny Prigozhin and his previously known companies , including the Internet Research Agency ( IRA ) and the Vagner Group , a Russian military contractor force active in Libya , Syria , and Africa .
`` Yevgeny Prigozhin has an international network of supporters to spread his malign political and economic influence around the globe , ” Treasury @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new measures on September 23 .
“ The United States will continue to target the ability of Prigozhin to conduct operations globally.
” Prigozhin 's St. Petersburg-based IRA initially gained a reputation for its alleged efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election through online influence operations .
Former employees have given accounts of a workmanlike approach to producing and promoting misinformation through inauthentic online behavior and prodding Westerners into divisive debates online .
Vagner is one of the best-known of several Russian private paramilitary companies that have come into being over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always been held in close secrecy , in part because mercenary activity is illegal under Russian law and in part because the group is widely believed to operate in close cooperation with Russian military intelligence .
`` The IRA conducts operations to exacerbate political tensions and divisions in foreign countries , including the United States , '' the U.S. Treasury said .
`` Prigozhin is also believed to be the manager and financier of the Russian private military company ( PMC ) Wagner , an OFAC-designated Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destabilizing operations in foreign countries , such as Ukraine , Syria , Sudan , Libya , and Mozambique . ''
Tens of Vagner employees were recently picked up in Belarus in what was described by some as a suspected Russian plot to contribute to unrest and prompt a crackdown by embattled Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka .
Prigozhin , known as `` Putin 's chef '' for having personally catered an event for Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his ascent to key Kremlin insider , has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing .
Last month , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debt from Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his shuttered Anti-Corruption Foundation ( FBK ) as Navalny lay in a coma in Germany , recovering from what doctors say was poisoning with a Soviet-style nerve agent while in Russia .
The State Department in July announced sanctions against five companies with connections to Prigozhin in an effort to discourage his `` destabilizing global activity . ''
It noted his use of `` front companies and facilitators '' to operate through .
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller in 2018 bought an indictment against the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other firms controlled by the Russian , following its investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2018 U.S. elections .
A Washington Post report in 2019 asserted that the U.S. military 's Cyber Command had blocked the Internet access of the Internet Research Agency amid reports that it had again meddled in U.S. elections in 2018 .

The U.S. Treasury has announced sanctions against people and entities with links to the Kremlin-connected organizer and financier of the so-called Russian troll factory behind suspected assaults on U.S. and other foreign elections.
U.S. sanctions have long been in place against Yevgeny Prigozhin and his previously known companies, including the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and the Vagner Group, a Russian military contractor force active in Libya, Syria, and Africa.
"Yevgeny Prigozhin has an international network of supporters to spread his malign political and economic influence around the globe,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in announcing the new measures on September 23. “The United States will continue to target the ability of Prigozhin to conduct operations globally.”
Prigozhin's St. Petersburg-based IRA initially gained a reputation for its alleged efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election through online influence operations.
Former employees have given accounts of a workmanlike approach to producing and promoting misinformation through inauthentic online behavior and prodding Westerners into divisive debates online.
Vagner is one of the best-known of several Russian private paramilitary companies that have come into being over the past decade.
Vagner's operations have always been held in close secrecy, in part because mercenary activity is illegal under Russian law and in part because the group is widely believed to operate in close cooperation with Russian military intelligence.
"The IRA conducts operations to exacerbate political tensions and divisions in foreign countries, including the United States," the U.S. Treasury said. "Prigozhin is also believed to be the manager and financier of the Russian private military company (PMC) Wagner, an OFAC-designated Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force, which conducts or has conducted dangerous and destabilizing operations in foreign countries, such as Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Libya, and Mozambique."
Tens of Vagner employees were recently picked up in Belarus in what was described by some as a suspected Russian plot to contribute to unrest and prompt a crackdown by embattled Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Prigozhin, known as "Putin's chef" for having personally catered an event for Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his ascent to key Kremlin insider, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Last month, he claimed he intended to collect a debt from Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his shuttered Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) as Navalny lay in a coma in Germany, recovering from what doctors say was poisoning with a Soviet-style nerve agent while in Russia.
The State Department in July announced sanctions against five companies with connections to Prigozhin in an effort to discourage his "destabilizing global activity."
It noted his use of "front companies and facilitators" to operate through.
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller in 2018 bought an indictment against the agency, along with Prigozhin and two other firms controlled by the Russian, following its investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2018 U.S. elections.
A Washington Post report in 2019 asserted that the U.S. military's Cyber Command had blocked the Internet access of the Internet Research Agency amid reports that it had again meddled in U.S. elections in 2018.
Based on reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-09-23--Russia Adds Names To 'Reciprocal' List Of Barred EU Officials

Russia said on September 23 that it is expanding a list of barred European officials in response to what it called `` hostile steps '' against it and its citizens .
The announcement , by the Russian Foreign Ministry , did not specify what actions it was reciprocating .
But it said the number of EU officials who will be denied entry to Russia is now the same as the number of its officials on a similar EU list .
It described its own blacklist as `` a reciprocal list of representatives of EU countries and institutions who are banned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said it could act further if Brussels continued its `` confrontational '' policies .
`` The EU is continuing to expand its sanctions tools and apply them on the basis of groundless and sometimes absurd pretexts , '' it said , according to AFP .
`` We have repeatedly warned the EU about the malignancy of such an approach . ''
Russia and the European Union have gaping differences over alleged Russian meddling in Western elections , Russia 's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 , suspected Russian assassinations and attempted assassinations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny .
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have demanded explanations from Russia since German and other tests showed the Kremlin critic was poisoned with a Soviet-designed Novichok chemical agent .
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on September 23 repeated Moscow 's accusations that Western states are carrying out `` a massive disinformation campaign '' over Navalny 's hospitalization .

Russia said on September 23 that it is expanding a list of barred European officials in response to what it called "hostile steps" against it and its citizens.
The announcement, by the Russian Foreign Ministry, did not specify what actions it was reciprocating.
But it said the number of EU officials who will be denied entry to Russia is now the same as the number of its officials on a similar EU list.
It described its own blacklist as "a reciprocal list of representatives of EU countries and institutions who are banned from entering Russian territory."
Russia said it could act further if Brussels continued its "confrontational" policies.
"The EU is continuing to expand its sanctions tools and apply them on the basis of groundless and sometimes absurd pretexts," it said, according to AFP.
"We have repeatedly warned the EU about the malignancy of such an approach."
Russia and the European Union have gaping differences over alleged Russian meddling in Western elections, Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, suspected Russian assassinations and attempted assassinations in Western Europe, and more recently the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have demanded explanations from Russia since German and other tests showed the Kremlin critic was poisoned with a Soviet-designed Novichok chemical agent.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on September 23 repeated Moscow's accusations that Western states are carrying out "a massive disinformation campaign" over Navalny's hospitalization.
Based on reporting by AFP


rferl--2020-09-23--Tajik Villagers Say They Were Ordered To Donate Money For President’s Red-Carpet Welcome

Villagers in southern Tajikistan say they were ordered to donate money to their local authorities to buy carpets , flowers , and street billboards ahead of President Emomali Rahmon ’ s visit to their region on September 23 .
Several residents of the Vakhsh district told RFE/RL that officials have been going door to door in recent days asking people to make financial contributions for the red-carpet welcome .
Jumagul Ashurova , a resident of the Ittifoq village in Vakhsh , said she was told to contribute at least 20 somoni , about $ 2 , an amount many impoverished @ @ @ @ @ @ @ village teachers make about $ 50 to $ 100 a month .
“ I have eight children and we barely make ends meet .
Instead of helping us , the authorities are asking us to give them money , ” Ashurova said on September 22 .
Several other Vakhsh residents confirmed Ashurova ’ s account .
They said that more well-to-do people and local businesses were told to contribute greater amounts .
But Qosim Davlatov , the head of the Vahdat village , rejected claims that authorities have asked money from “ ordinary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money to buy flowers to plant around the fountain in the main square , but we got that money from businesses , such as gas stations , shops , and farming groups , ” Davlatov said .
“ Where else can we get the money from ?
” he added .
Rahmon is visiting Vakhsh as part of his annual tour of the Khatlon Province that began on September 22 .
During Rahmon 's trips to provinces , local governments usually throw extravagant welcome ceremonies , laying carpets along his way , hanging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portraits , and organizing parades with children reading poems for him .
Such events have been considerably scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months .

Villagers in southern Tajikistan say they were ordered to donate money to their local authorities to buy carpets, flowers, and street billboards ahead of President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to their region on September 23.
Several residents of the Vakhsh district told RFE/RL that officials have been going door to door in recent days asking people to make financial contributions for the red-carpet welcome.
Jumagul Ashurova, a resident of the Ittifoq village in Vakhsh, said she was told to contribute at least 20 somoni, about $2, an amount many impoverished villagers can’t afford. Tajik village teachers make about $50 to $100 a month.
“I have eight children and we barely make ends meet. Instead of helping us, the authorities are asking us to give them money,” Ashurova said on September 22.
Several other Vakhsh residents confirmed Ashurova’s account. They said that more well-to-do people and local businesses were told to contribute greater amounts.
But Qosim Davlatov, the head of the Vahdat village, rejected claims that authorities have asked money from “ordinary” people.
“We collected some money to buy flowers to plant around the fountain in the main square, but we got that money from businesses, such as gas stations, shops, and farming groups,” Davlatov said. “Where else can we get the money from?” he added.
Rahmon is visiting Vakhsh as part of his annual tour of the Khatlon Province that began on September 22.
During Rahmon's trips to provinces, local governments usually throw extravagant welcome ceremonies, laying carpets along his way, hanging large billboards with the president’s portraits, and organizing parades with children reading poems for him.
Such events have been considerably scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months.


rferl--2020-09-23--Turkmenistan Steps Up Security Measures Ahead Of Independence Day

Turkmenistan has stepped up security measures on highways leading to the capital , Ashgabat , in recent days , with police stopping and controlling all vehicles coming from the provinces .
RFE/RL correspondents in the city say that officers thoroughly check the drivers and passengers ’ documents and register every person and vehicle that enters the capital .
At the same time , authorities have removed medical checkpoints that were installed at the city 's entrances to check the body temperatures of drivers and passengers as part of measures introduced to control the coronavirus even though the tightly governed Central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a single COVID-19 infection .
An increased police presence has also been reported in Mary Province in recent days .
An RFE/RL correspondent in the provincial capital , Mary City , said that police officers can be seen almost “ every 50 meters.
” “ They stop people and demand they show their IDs , ” the correspondent said .
Meanwhile , traffic police are stopping cars , checking documents , and searching vehicles .
No explanation was given for the latest measures , which came without any prior announcement by authorities or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security ahead of major public events .
On September 27 , the country marks its Independence Day .
On September 25 , Ashgabat will host a meeting of the rubberstamp People ’ s Council that is expected to approve a package of amendments to the constitution .

Turkmenistan has stepped up security measures on highways leading to the capital, Ashgabat, in recent days, with police stopping and controlling all vehicles coming from the provinces.
RFE/RL correspondents in the city say that officers thoroughly check the drivers and passengers’ documents and register every person and vehicle that enters the capital.
At the same time, authorities have removed medical checkpoints that were installed at the city's entrances to check the body temperatures of drivers and passengers as part of measures introduced to control the coronavirus even though the tightly governed Central Asian nation officially hasn’t reported a single COVID-19 infection.
An increased police presence has also been reported in Mary Province in recent days. An RFE/RL correspondent in the provincial capital, Mary City, said that police officers can be seen almost “every 50 meters.”
“They stop people and demand they show their IDs,” the correspondent said. Meanwhile, traffic police are stopping cars, checking documents, and searching vehicles.
No explanation was given for the latest measures, which came without any prior announcement by authorities or state media.
Turkmenistan often beefs up security ahead of major public events. On September 27, the country marks its Independence Day.
On September 25, Ashgabat will host a meeting of the rubberstamp People’s Council that is expected to approve a package of amendments to the constitution.


rferl--2020-09-23--Montenegro's New Parliament Holds First Session After Election; Djukanovic Absent

PODGORICA -- Montenegro 's parliament met on September 23 for the first time since last month 's election , when President Milo Djukanovic 's Democratic Party of Socialists ( DPS ) lost power after three decades .
The new majority , which comprises three coalitions held together by little more than the ambition to dislodge Djukanovic and the DPS , has yet to agree on a new government .
Djukanovic was absent from the inaugural parliamentary session .
The leaders of the three coalitions -- Zdravko Krivokapic , Aleks Becic , and Dritan Abazovic -- said they want to form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they say were weakened by decades of corrupt rule .
So far , however , talks have been marked by disagreements between the coalition partners , which , with 41 out of 81 seats , have a fragile majority .
The three sides `` are likely to forge the government coalition , '' but feuding may quickly open the door for new elections that would offer a chance for the DPS to return , Boris Raonic , the head of the nongovernmental organization Civic Alliance , told state broadcaster RTCG on September 23 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country since 1990 , steering Montenegro away from its traditional alliance with Serbia and Russia , to join NATO in 2017 .
However , his critics accuse him of corruption , nepotism , and ties to organized crime .
He has rejected the accusations .

PODGORICA -- Montenegro's parliament met on September 23 for the first time since last month's election, when President Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) lost power after three decades.
The new majority, which comprises three coalitions held together by little more than the ambition to dislodge Djukanovic and the DPS, has yet to agree on a new government.
Djukanovic was absent from the inaugural parliamentary session.
The leaders of the three coalitions -- Zdravko Krivokapic, Aleks Becic, and Dritan Abazovic -- said they want to form a government that will strengthen institutions that they say were weakened by decades of corrupt rule.
So far, however, talks have been marked by disagreements between the coalition partners, which, with 41 out of 81 seats, have a fragile majority.
The three sides "are likely to forge the government coalition," but feuding may quickly open the door for new elections that would offer a chance for the DPS to return, Boris Raonic, the head of the nongovernmental organization Civic Alliance, told state broadcaster RTCG on September 23.
Djukanovic has governed the tiny Balkan country since 1990, steering Montenegro away from its traditional alliance with Serbia and Russia, to join NATO in 2017. However, his critics accuse him of corruption, nepotism, and ties to organized crime. He has rejected the accusations.
With reporting by dpa


rferl--2020-09-23--U.S., Europeans Say Belarus Leader Illegitimate As New Crackdown Follows Surprise Swearing-In

Riot troops used truncheons and a water cannon and detained dozens of protesters as clashes escalated in Minsk and other cities on September 23 following Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka 's surprise swearing-in for a sixth term despite weeks of unprecedented public calls for his exit .
Lukashenka 's secretive inauguration earlier in the day immediately met with criticism from members of the opposition , who refused to accept the results of an August 9 vote following jailings and other intimidation tactics to mute dissent and limit would-be challengers in the former Soviet state of more than 9 million .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstrators emerged , the United States added its name to growing list of Western countries that responded to the swearing-in by saying they wo n't recognize Lukashenka 's presidency .
`` The elections August 9 were neither free nor fair .
The announced results were fraudulent and did not convey legitimacy , '' a State Department spokesperson told RFE/RL .
`` The United States can not consider Alyaksandr Lukashenka the legitimately elected leader of Belarus . ''
The State Department called for a `` national dialogue '' culminating in `` a free and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The spokesperson added , `` Release of those unjustly detained and an end of repression against peacefully protesting citizens is a first step toward genuine national dialogue . ''
Following the inauguration ceremony , spontaneous demonstrations broke out in Minsk , the heart of more than six weeks of nationwide opposition to a vote that Lukashenka claims to have won with more than 80 percent support .
By late afternoon , thousands had gathered near the Stela Minsk Hero City World War II memorial in downtown Minsk before Interior Ministry troops moved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crowd , followed by a truck with a water cannon , sending many Belarusians fleeing into nearby grassy areas and shops .
After nightfall , groups of protesters and anti-Lukashenka motorists blocked some streets in the capital .
The Vyasna rights group issued a list of more than 140 people it said had been detained in Minsk , the southwestern city of Brest , and other places .
The official news agency BelTA reported `` several hundred '' senior officials had been invited to the inauguration ceremony , though it did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
BelTA said Lukashenka put his right hand on the constitution and took the oath office , before signing it .
The chairman of the Central Commission of Belarus on Elections then presented him with the certificate of the President of the Republic of Belarus , it added .
`` Our statehood had to face an unprecedented challenge based on well-developed technologies that are aimed at destroying independent states , '' Lukashenka said during his inauguration speech , alluding to his previous claims that Western states were fomenting a pro-democracy revolution against him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be one of those few countries where a color revolution failed , or perhaps , we were the only such country .
It was a choice made by the Belarusian people who don ’ t want to lose their country . ''
The strength of the Belarusian government , Lukashenka added , `` lies in the fact that even in the most difficult times we have not abandoned our policy of a socially oriented state . ''
The inauguration drew harsh criticism from supporters of the opposition , who have called on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and hold free and fair elections , claiming the vote was rigged in his favor .
After the swearing-in ceremony , the opposition , led by his exiled main challenger , Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , said it would never accept Lukashenka 's `` falsified '' victory and called for an immediate campaign of civil disobedience and open-ended protests .
`` This so-called inauguration is certainly a farce .
In fact , today Lukashenka just retired , '' Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her Telegram channel .
`` This means that his orders for security agencies are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fulfilled .
Tsikhanouskaya , who officially finished second to Lukashenka but claims to have won , added that `` I , Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , am the only leader recognized by the Belarusian people . ''
Earlier , while addressing the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius , Tsikhanouskaya called Lukashenka 's inauguration `` an attempt to seize power . ''
In a statement , her team said : `` Anyone can be president ... .
Take the constitution , put your hand on it , say a couple of times ' I swear , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am president , ' and put it in your pocket . ''
Paval Latushka -- who served as Belarusian ambassador to Poland , France , UNESCO , and Spain between 2002-19 and was part of the opposition 's Coordination Council set up to pave a transition to a new president -- wrote on his Telegram channel that the country was `` witnessing an unprecedented situation . ''
`` The outgoing president , who claims to have won more than 80 percent of the vote in the election , has carried out a special @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latushka wrote .
`` Under the protection of riot police , in an atmosphere of secrecy , in a narrow circle of officials who were hastily brought in .
Where are the jubilant citizens ?
Where is the diplomatic corps ? ''
`` To be honest , '' Latushka added , `` it looks more like a thieves ' meeting for the coronation of another thief-in-law . ''
Lukashenka faces the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule amid the unprecedented nationwide protests and has answered peaceful protests and demands for him to leave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ torture of detainees .
Ales Byalyatski , the head of Vyasna , told RFE/RL 's Belarus Service that the secret inauguration was a sign of Lukashenka 's `` weakness . ''
“ People don ’ t perceive this as a real inauguration .
But he probably could n't have done it any other way , '' Byalyatski said .
`` If the inauguration had been announced in advance , 200,000 demonstrators would have been standing under his palace . ''
He added that most Belarusians consider Lukashenka `` to be a man who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an inauguration will provoke even greater mass protests against such actions . ''
Images posted on social media showed people holding placards reading `` the king is naked '' and `` victory belongs to the people , '' and holding up the banned red-and-white flags and banners associated with the opposition movement .
Protesters were reportedly blocking some streets in the city center .
Lukashenka said in his inauguration speech that `` we will deal with our issues on our own , without any external participation , will come to an agreement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classes while observing the law and mutual respect . ''
On September 23 , before the U.S. announcement , a growing list of European countries said they would not recognize Lukashenka 's presidency .
Denmark , Latvia , Lithuania , Germany , Slovakia , the Czech Republic , and Estonia all said they did not consider Lukashenka the legitimate president of Belarus .
`` The minimum requirements for democratic elections were by no means met .
They were neither fair nor free , '' German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said after Lukashenka was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's ceremony , Mr. Lukashenka can not evoke the democratic legitimacy that would have been the condition for him to be recognized as a legitimate president . ''
The Polish Foreign Ministry , meanwhile , said in a statement that `` a president elected in an undemocratic election can not be considered to be legally exercising power , whether the oath was secret or official . ''
Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said Lukashenka `` has no legitimacy to lead his country . ''
Former Estonian President Toomas Ilves , a frequent critic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swearing-in ceremony by tweeting that `` inaugurating oneself as president is 'literally ' autocracy . ''
The United States , the European Union , and other Western allies have also denounced the violence used against demonstrators .
Following Lukashenka 's ceremony , the Belarusian military pledged allegiance to the long-serving authoritarian president and willingness to `` defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Motherland , '' according to the state agency BelTA .
In Moscow , Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Lukashenka 's inauguration , saying that `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it means they considered it to be reasonable . ''
Russia has given lukewarm support to Lukashenka amid the protests , offering military support if necessary and providing Belarus with a $ 1.5 billion loan after the embattled Belarusian leader flew to Sochi to meet with President Vladimir Putin earlier this month .
Peskov added that Putin has no plans to visit Belarus following Lukashenka 's inauguration .
Turkmen 's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov on September 23 became the first leader from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ) to congratulate Lukashenka @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With reporting from Current Time , RFE/RL 's Belarus Service , BelTA , Reuters , dpa , Tut.by , and TASS


rferl--2020-09-23--Navalny Posts Photo In Park After Discharge, As Russia Denies Developing Novichok

Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny has been discharged from the Berlin hospital where he was being treated for what Germany has said is a case of poisoning with a Soviet-style nerve agent .
The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner posted on social media a picture of himself sitting on a park bench in the German capital after being released , adding that while he still doesn ’ t have full use of his left hand , he has started learning how to regain his balance by standing on one leg .
Hours later , Moscow denied that Russia or the Soviet Union had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nerve agents at the center of the international findings , Novichok , despite decades of overwhelming evidence to the contrary .
Navalny fell violently ill aboard a Moscow-bound flight on August 20 originating in the Siberian city of Tomsk , where he was carrying out his latest investigation into state corruption .
Days later , he was airlifted to Berlin for treatment .
“ The first time they put me in front of a mirror after 24 days in intensive care ( of which 16 were in a coma ) , a character @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rings ' looked back at me and I can tell you , it was not an elf at all , ” Navalny said in the post .
“ I was terribly upset : I thought that I would never be discharged .
But the doctors continued to do their miracle , ” he added .
Navalny said he will continue to do physiotherapy , while doctors from the Charite hospital in Berlin said in a statement on September 23 that based on his “ progress and current condition , ” physicians believe that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' However , it remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning , '' the statement cautioned .
German authorities have said tests in Germany , France , and Sweden have determined Navalny was poisoned by a chemical agent from the Novichok group of bioweapons .
German authorities have said tests in Germany , France , and Sweden have determined Navalny was poisoned with a chemical agent from the Novichok group .
French President Emmanuel Macron on September 22 demanded a `` swift and flawless '' explanation from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the 75th-annual United Nations General Assembly .
Several other countries in the West have also demanded an explanation from Russia , but Moscow has declined to open an investigation so far , saying it has yet to see evidence of a crime .
The Russian Foreign Ministry , which has accused the West of a `` disinformation '' campaign in the case , said on September 23 that its pre-investigative probe of the case can not be completed without data from Berlin .
It also said there can not be any `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also claimed -- improbably -- that the Novichok nerve agent was never developed or produced in either Russia or the Soviet Union .
They are banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997 and have never been shown to have been used on the battlefield .
But they were used in the 2018 poisoning of a former Soviet intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter by suspected Russian agents in Salisbury , England .
Their development has been attributed to the Soviet State Scientific Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology , which was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the KGB , during the 1970s and 1980s .
In addition to foreign intelligence agencies , Russian scientists in the past have come forward to discuss Novichok 's development .
Separately , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated its demand to see evidence collected by the Germans .
`` We are n't inclined to reject anything , we only want to be certain and understand what 's going on , so as to compare .
In order to compare , be convinced , and understand , we need to have information , which we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Peskov said .
Russia 's permanent representative to the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW ) , Aleksandr Shulgin , said on September 23 that Moscow had sent a note to Germany 's mission to the OPCW demanding information on the Navalny case .
The Kremlin , which also has denied any involvement in the attack , said the anti-corruption crusader “ is free ” to return to Russia whenever he pleases .
Peskov also addressed a recent article in the French newspaper Le Monde , saying the report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counterpart , Emmanuel Macron , in a recent conversation that perhaps Navalny had poisoned himself had many inaccuracies .
He did , however , confirm that the Navalny case was discussed between the two leaders .
Navalny was medically airlifted to Germany at the request of his wife following a medical tussle with Russian doctors who said he was too sick to travel .
He emerged earlier this month from a medically induced coma as his condition slowly improved .
German doctors say the military-grade nerve agent Novichok was found both inside his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in a post on his website on September 21 that the 30-day deadline for Russian police to conduct their “ pre-investigative check ” into what he called his attempted murder by poisoning has expired .
He demanded that the Russian side return articles of clothing taken when he was hospitalized there .
Experts say the clothes he had on could help any investigation into the poisoning .
Navalny 's team has said a water bottle removed from his hotel room in the city of Tomsk after he fell ill had been taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the nerve agent .
Peskov has said that is `` absurd . ''
Navalny was attacked with a green dye by unknown assailants in Russia in 2017 , leaving him with permanent damage to his vision .
Two years later , he suddenly fell ill while in Russian detention with what Russian doctors said was a severe allergic reaction but which he and his team insisted was an intentional poisoning .
That case still has not been solved .
With reporting by Interfax and TASS


rferl--2020-09-22--Russian Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker Sets Off On Maiden Arctic Voyage

The Arktika , Russia 's new nuclear-powered icebreaker championed by the Kremlin as the largest and most powerful of its kind in the world , has set sail on its maiden voyage to the Arctic as part of the country ’ s efforts to tap the region 's commercial potential .
* The vessel left St. Petersburg on September 22 and is expected to arrive at the Arctic port of Murmansk in two weeks .
The Arktika stretches more than 173 meters in length , measures 15 meters tall , and can break ice as thick as 3 meters .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ icebreakers in a bid to boost freight traffic along Russia 's Arctic coast , making the passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans navigable all year round .
`` The creation of a modern nuclear icebreaker fleet capable of ensuring regular year-round and safe navigation through the entire Northern Sea Route is a strategic task for our country , '' Vyacheslav Ruksha , head of Rosatom 's Northern Sea Route Directorate , said in a statement .
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the country 's Arctic fleet would operate at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powered by nuclear reactors .
The Arctic holds huge reserves of oil and gas that are being eyed by Russia and other countries , including the United States , Canada , and Norway .
Two other similar vessels -- the Ural and the Sibir -- are under construction .
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters *CORRECTIONS : This story has been amended to remove an erroneous nickname for the vessel and a reference to it being designed to transport liquefied natural gas .

The Arktika, Russia's new nuclear-powered icebreaker championed by the Kremlin as the largest and most powerful of its kind in the world, has set sail on its maiden voyage to the Arctic as part of the country’s efforts to tap the region's commercial potential.*
The vessel left St. Petersburg on September 22 and is expected to arrive at the Arctic port of Murmansk in two weeks.
The Arktika stretches more than 173 meters in length, measures 15 meters tall, and can break ice as thick as 3 meters.
Moscow has stepped up its construction of icebreakers in a bid to boost freight traffic along Russia's Arctic coast, making the passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans navigable all year round.
"The creation of a modern nuclear icebreaker fleet capable of ensuring regular year-round and safe navigation through the entire Northern Sea Route is a strategic task for our country," Vyacheslav Ruksha, head of Rosatom's Northern Sea Route Directorate, said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the country's Arctic fleet would operate at least 13 heavy-duty icebreakers, most of them powered by nuclear reactors.
The Arctic holds huge reserves of oil and gas that are being eyed by Russia and other countries, including the United States, Canada, and Norway.
Two other similar vessels -- the Ural and the Sibir -- are under construction.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
*CORRECTIONS: This story has been amended to remove an erroneous nickname for the vessel and a reference to it being designed to transport liquefied natural gas.