rferl--2020-03-28--COVID-19: Russia To Close Its Borders; 139 More Deaths In Iran

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 28,800 with almost 624,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Iran has reported 139 new coronavirus deaths , bringing the total number of fatalities attributed to the growing pandemic to 2,517 .
Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told Iranian state television on March 28 that the total number of cases in the country rose over a 24-hour period by 3,076 , to a total of 35,408 .
Iran is one of the worst-hit countries in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along with the United States , Italy , and China .
Earlier this week , authorities enacted a new travel ban after fears that many Iranians had ignored previous advice to stay at home and cancel travel plans for the Persian New Year holidays that began on March 20 .
President Hassan Rohani has pledged that authorities will contain the coronavirus spread within two weeks .
However , the continued rise in numbers , along with fears that the country ’ s health-care system is incapable of dealing with the surge of infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goal .
Russia will “ temporarily ” close its borders starting on March 30 to curb the spread of the coronavirus , the government website said on March 28 .
The measure will not apply to Russian diplomats and the drivers of freight trucks , among others , the government said .
The announcement comes as the country ’ s health officials announced three new coronavirus-related deaths on March 28 , bringing the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in Russia to seven .
Two of the deaths were reported from St Petersburg and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case was recorded in the capital , Moscow .
According to health officials , the total number of coronavirus infections in Russia as of March 28 stands at 1,264 , with seven deaths and 49 recovered .
Authorities in Moscow also closed shopping centers , restaurants , and larger parks from March 28 for at least a week .
Russian health officials warned this week that a sharp increase in the number of cases in the country is expected in the coming days due to expanded testing in Moscow .
A consumer watchdog @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 166,000 citizens were under medical supervision for signs of coronavirus infection .
Earlier , the Kremlin said that a member of President Vladimir Putin 's administration has been infected with the coronavirus , but that the person had not been in direct contact with the Russian leader .
The death toll among Turkmen migrants in Turkey who drank tainted alcohol has risen to 53 , a source who attended funeral services told RFE/RL 's Turkmen Service on March 28 .
The source , who spoke on condition of anonymity , said that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 28 , and that at least 15 people remain hospitalized .
Doctors familiar with the case told an RFE/RL contributor in Turkey that the migrants from Turkmenistan had drunk tainted vodka and also rubbed it on their bodies in the belief that doing so would protect them from COVID-19 .
The Turkmen migrants are being interred in a cemetery in Istanbul 's Sariyer district .
RFE/RL has confirmed that relatives of victims have faced bureaucratic hurdles trying to repatriate bodies in the midst of coronavirus travel restrictions and border closures .
Police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 10 people suspected of selling the illegally produced alcohol .
Turkish police also reportedly confiscated tainted vodka along with guns and ammunition in the possession of the suspects when they were arrested .
Armenia has reported two more deaths of patients who had been infected by the coronavirus , raising the Caucasus nation ’ s total to three fatalities .
In a Facebook posting late on March 28 , Health Minister Arsen Torosian wrote : “ I regret to inform you that two deaths have occurred in [ Yerevan ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past hour.
” “ The victims are a 55-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man who had the new coronavirus in combination with other chronic diseases , ” he added .
On March 26 , Armenia reported its first fatality among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 -- a 72-year-old woman who Armenia ’ s health authorities said had suffered from multiple medical conditions , including heart disease .
Late on March 28 , Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reported that 35 new cases had been registered during the day , bringing the total number of cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 30 patients with COVID-19 have recovered in Armenia .
Ukraine announced on March 28 that its number of coronavirus infections had reached 311 , with eight deaths .
The new figures come as new measures ordered by the government come into effect .
Thousands of Ukrainians were reportedly lined up at the Polish-Ukrainian border on the evening of March 27 as they attempted to reenter Ukraine before new restrictions intended to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic went into effect .
Earlier , President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an online video address @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s decision to shut cross-border travel after March 27 , including for Ukrainian nationals .
Previously , the cabinet had issued a nationwide directive limiting passengers in all public transportation .
All above-ground transportation such as minibuses , buses , trolleybuses , and trams should only ride up to half capacity .
China has sent a plane loaded with medical personnel and supplies to help Pakistan to fight the spread of the coronavirus , which has infected more than 1,400 people in the country , the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said .
The plane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Islamabad airport on March 28 by Pakistan ’ s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureishi .
The ministry said the supplies include test kits , masks , and protective suits .
Beijing had previously sent ventilators to Pakistan and it is also assisting the country in building a special hospital to treat COVID-19 patients , officials said .
According to the ministry , the eight-strong medical team from China will stay in Pakistan for two week to assist local doctors .
Pakistan has reported 1,420 infections and 12 coronavirus-related deaths as of March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected people there are Pakistani nationals returning from neighboring Iran .
China is a strategic partner and major investor in Pakistan ’ s economy .
Beijing has pledged tens of millions of dollars in investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor ( CPEC ) project , part of its ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure initiative .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , TASS , Interfax , RFE/RL 's Turkmen Service , dawn.com , and AFP

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 28,800 with almost 624,000 infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.
Iran
Iran has reported 139 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities attributed to the growing pandemic to 2,517.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told Iranian state television on March 28 that the total number of cases in the country rose over a 24-hour period by 3,076, to a total of 35,408.
Iran is one of the worst-hit countries in the world by the deadly virus, along with the United States, Italy, and China.
Earlier this week, authorities enacted a new travel ban after fears that many Iranians had ignored previous advice to stay at home and cancel travel plans for the Persian New Year holidays that began on March 20.
President Hassan Rohani has pledged that authorities will contain the coronavirus spread within two weeks.
However, the continued rise in numbers, along with fears that the country’s health-care system is incapable of dealing with the surge of infections, have raised doubts about meeting that goal.
Russia
Russia will “temporarily” close its borders starting on March 30 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the government website said on March 28.
The measure will not apply to Russian diplomats and the drivers of freight trucks, among others, the government said.
The announcement comes as the country’s health officials announced three new coronavirus-related deaths on March 28, bringing the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in Russia to seven.
Two of the deaths were reported from St Petersburg and the Orenburg region, while the third case was recorded in the capital, Moscow.
According to health officials, the total number of coronavirus infections in Russia as of March 28 stands at 1,264, with seven deaths and 49 recovered.
Authorities in Moscow also closed shopping centers, restaurants, and larger parks from March 28 for at least a week.
Russian health officials warned this week that a sharp increase in the number of cases in the country is expected in the coming days due to expanded testing in Moscow. A consumer watchdog reported on March 28 that more than 166,000 citizens were under medical supervision for signs of coronavirus infection.
Earlier, the Kremlin said that a member of President Vladimir Putin's administration has been infected with the coronavirus, but that the person had not been in direct contact with the Russian leader.
Turkmenistan
The death toll among Turkmen migrants in Turkey who drank tainted alcohol has risen to 53, a source who attended funeral services told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service on March 28.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the 53rd victim died on the morning of March 28, and that at least 15 people remain hospitalized.
Doctors familiar with the case told an RFE/RL contributor in Turkey that the migrants from Turkmenistan had drunk tainted vodka and also rubbed it on their bodies in the belief that doing so would protect them from COVID-19.
The Turkmen migrants are being interred in a cemetery in Istanbul's Sariyer district.
RFE/RL has confirmed that relatives of victims have faced bureaucratic hurdles trying to repatriate bodies in the midst of coronavirus travel restrictions and border closures.
Police in Istanbul earlier said they had arrested more than 10 people suspected of selling the illegally produced alcohol.
Turkish police also reportedly confiscated tainted vodka along with guns and ammunition in the possession of the suspects when they were arrested.
Armenia
Armenia has reported two more deaths of patients who had been infected by the coronavirus, raising the Caucasus nation’s total to three fatalities.
In a Facebook posting late on March 28, Health Minister Arsen Torosian wrote: “I regret to inform you that two deaths have occurred in [Yerevan’s] Nork infectious diseases hospital during the past hour.”
“The victims are a 55-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man who had the new coronavirus in combination with other chronic diseases,” he added.
On March 26, Armenia reported its first fatality among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 -- a 72-year-old woman who Armenia’s health authorities said had suffered from multiple medical conditions, including heart disease.
Late on March 28, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reported that 35 new cases had been registered during the day, bringing the total number of cases to 407.
According to official data, 30 patients with COVID-19 have recovered in Armenia.
Ukraine
Ukraine announced on March 28 that its number of coronavirus infections had reached 311, with eight deaths.
The new figures come as new measures ordered by the government come into effect.
Thousands of Ukrainians were reportedly lined up at the Polish-Ukrainian border on the evening of March 27 as they attempted to reenter Ukraine before new restrictions intended to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic went into effect.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an online video address to the nation announced the country’s decision to shut cross-border travel after March 27, including for Ukrainian nationals.
Previously, the cabinet had issued a nationwide directive limiting passengers in all public transportation. All above-ground transportation such as minibuses, buses, trolleybuses, and trams should only ride up to half capacity.
Pakistan
China has sent a plane loaded with medical personnel and supplies to help Pakistan to fight the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 1,400 people in the country, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
The plane carrying aid to Pakistan was met at the Islamabad airport on March 28 by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureishi.
The ministry said the supplies include test kits, masks, and protective suits. Beijing had previously sent ventilators to Pakistan and it is also assisting the country in building a special hospital to treat COVID-19 patients, officials said.
According to the ministry, the eight-strong medical team from China will stay in Pakistan for two week to assist local doctors.
Pakistan has reported 1,420 infections and 12 coronavirus-related deaths as of March 28. Pakistan says most of the infected people there are Pakistani nationals returning from neighboring Iran.
China is a strategic partner and major investor in Pakistan’s economy. Beijing has pledged tens of millions of dollars in investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, part of its ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, TASS, Interfax, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, dawn.com, and AFP


rferl--2020-03-28--UN Postpones Five-Year Review Of Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Due To Coronavirus

The United Nations has announced that a conference to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has been postponed because of the @ @ @ @ @ states parties were expected to attend the conference that had been scheduled for April 27 @ @ @ @ @ headquarters in New York .
Participants meet every five years to review the treaty , @ @ @ @ @ efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons .
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the @ @ @ @ @ “ as soon as the circumstances permit , but no later than April 2021.
” @ @ @ @ @ completed 50 years ago , is credited with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to @ @ @ @ @ part of the treaty , nations without nuclear weapons committed not to acquire them .
@ @ @ @ @ committed to move toward their elimination .
Every nation is a party to the treaty @ @ @ @ @ and North Korea -- which hold nuclear weapons -- and Israel , which most experts @ @ @ @ @ power but which has never acknowledged it .

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that there can be no advancement in the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless there is an improvement in the treatment of women in the country.
Speaking to reporters on August 15, the two-year anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Kabul, Blinken said the United States continues to work to hold the Taliban accountable for the commitments that it's made, particularly when it comes to the rights of women and girls.
"We've been very clear with the Taliban -- and dozens of countries around the world have been very clear -- that the path to any more normal relationship between the Taliban and other countries will be blocked unless and until the rights of women and girls among other things are actually supported," Blinken said.
No country has recognized the Taliban-led government, and the United States has avoided direct economic engagement in part over the treatment of women and girls, who have seen their rights drastically curbed by the hard-line Islamists. This includes a ban on women working in local and international nongovernmental organizations and a ban on education beyond the sixth grade.
The Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 after President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. troops under the terms of an agreement reached in February 2020 between the Taliban and the administration of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Blinken defended the pullout and said the United States was not focused on other priorities.
"The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was an incredibly difficult one, but also the right one," Blinken said. "We ended America's longest war. For the first time in 20 years, we don't have another generation of young Americans going to fight and die."
A number of international human rights organizations earlier on August 15 called the Taliban's two years of rule shameful and worrying.
Amnesty International and several other international human rights organizations demanded in a statement an effective response to the situation, noting the Taliban's strict decrees against human rights in Afghanistan, especially against women and girls.
The organizations said in a statement that in the past two years, the Taliban has increasingly imposed harmful policies against women and girls and religious and ethnic minorities that clearly violate Afghanistan's obligations under international human rights law.
The Taliban has previously rejected reports on the treatment of women as propaganda of international organizations. The militant group's leaders have said they have strengthened all the rights of women in Afghanistan in light of Islamic principles.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban, said in an interview with the AP marking the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of the country that the Taliban views its rule of Afghanistan as open-ended and as drawing legitimacy from Islamic law. He also suggested a ban on female education will remain in place.
Female activist Soheila Yousefi calls the situation alarming and wants the world to pay attention.
"The international community should take serious action in this regard because the world chose to be silent in these two years and did not take any practical steps. Our request is that they should look at the current situation in Afghanistan, then take a serious and comprehensive review."
The Taliban did not respond to Radio Azadi's questions before the release of the report, but the rulers have spoken of strengthening human rights in Afghanistan, especially the rights of women and girls, according to Islamic principles.
With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-03-28--IMF’s Georgieva Says World In Recession, Urges Funds for Emerging-Market Nations

International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) chief Kristalina Georgieva says the global economy has already been thrust into a recession because of the coronavirus pandemic and she urged countries to respond with “ very massive ” spending programs to avoid a flood of bankruptcies and debt defaults in emerging markets .
Georgieva , a Bulgarian economist , told a news conference on March 27 that emerging-market countries will need at least $ 2.5 trillion in financial resources to get through the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed some 27,000 people worldwide .
Georgieva spoke to reporters following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nations that make up the policy-setting panel of the Washington-based IMF , which is considered the world ’ s lender of last resort .
`` It is now clear that we have entered a recession as bad or worse than in 2009 , '' Georgieva said , adding that it will be `` quite deep . ''
“ A key concern about a long-lasting impact of the sudden stop of the world economy is the risk of a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs that not only can undermine the recovery but erode the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
She added , though , that a `` sizable rebound '' was possible in 2021 -- `` but only if we succeed with containing the virus everywhere and prevent liquidity problems from becoming a solvency issue . ''
Georgieva warned that the worst is yet to come for many emerging economies , which she said have not yet felt the full brunt of the virus but are suffering outflows of capital and reduced prices for energy and commodity exports .
The IMF has received requests or inquiries about emergency financing from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low-income countries and 31 middle-income countries , including Pakistan , Ghana , Iran , and Kyrgyzstan , she said .
The IMF board on March 26 approved a $ 120.9 million emergency disbursement for Kyrgyzstan to help the Central Asian nation deal with the COVID-19 pandemic , in what could be the first in a series of such moves .
“ We have seen an extraordinary spike in requests for IMF emergency financing , ” Georgieva said .
“ We are being asked by our members to do more , do it better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before.
” The Group of 20 ( G20 ) leading economies on March 26 vowed to provide more than the $ 5 trillion in rescue funds .
Asked in an interview with Reuters whether it was enough , Georgieva said , `` Our advice is : Go big.
’ '' `` This is a very big crisis and it 's not going to be sorted out without a very massive deployment of resources , '' she said .
Georgieva also said she welcomed a $ 2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package signed into law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mitigate the damage caused by the crisis on American consumers and businesses .
The bill includes $ 78 billion to help toward the IMF goal of doubling its crisis lending fund to $ 500 billion .
`` The U.S. decision to speed up approval of its substantial new contributions to the IMF is a powerful message to the international community and helps solidify the IMF 's [ overall ] $ 1 trillion lending capacity , '' Georgieva said .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , and AFP

A former top FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty to charges related to his work for notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, changing his plea after federal prosecutors filed new, reduced charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by working for the billionaire industrialist.
The move by Charles McGonigal, made on August 15 before a federal judge in New York City, ends a prosecution that had stunned the FBI, where McGonigal had investigated Russian influence operations for years while climbing the bureau’s ranks.
The 55-year-old also still faces a separate set of foreign agent charges in Washington, D.C., related to work he did for Albanian officials.
McGonigal, who retired as head counterintelligence in the FBI's New York bureau in 2018, was originally indicted in January by a grand jury on more serious charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions.
Prosecutors alleged that McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat with whom he was associated, were paid more than $200,000 to do work for Deripaska, a wealthy Russian metals tycoon who has long been seen as a Kremlin insider. Deripaska was hit with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
U.S. authorities said McGonigal was hired to dig up negative information on Vladimir Potanin, a rival oligarch to Deripaska. McGonigal and the former diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, also worked to try and get Deripaska removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
Shestakov has pleaded not guilty to the more serious charges than had been originally filed against McGonigal.
They "attempted to conceal Deripaska's involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska," the Justice Department said in a press release after McGonigal entered his plea.
McGonigal could receive up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
The separate case filed in Washington, D.C., by federal prosecutors centers on work McGonigal allegedly did on behalf of a former Albanian intelligence officer, for which he was paid $225,000.
McGonigal also allegedly lied to the FBI about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel while he was still employed by the bureau.
Deripaska also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions through real estate deals and a complicated scheme under which he allegedly arranged for his girlfriend to travel to the United States to give birth to two of their children.


rferl--2020-03-27--Olympic Gold Medalists Among Four Russians Facing New Doping Charges

Two Olympic gold medalists are among four Russian track-and-field athletes charged with fresh doping offenses .
Andrei Silnov , the @ @ @ @ @ and Natalya Antyukh , the 2012 winner in the 400-meter hurdles , are facing charges @ @ @ @ @ or method .
The charges are based on an investigation into Russian doping for the @ @ @ @ @ 2016 by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren , the Athletics Integrity Unit ( AIU ) said @ @ @ @ @ was the senior vice president of the Russian track federation until June 2019 , when @ @ @ @ @ investigation by the AIU into his conduct .
The AIU said his case included suspicions @ @ @ @ @ .
The other two Russian athletes charged are middle-distance runner Yelena Soboleva and retired hammer @ @ @ @ @ cases will be decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but hearing dates are @ @ @ @ @ Based on reporting by AP and dpa

Two Olympic gold medalists are among four Russian track-and-field athletes charged with fresh doping offenses.
Andrei Silnov, the 2008 Olympic high-jump champion, and Natalya Antyukh, the 2012 winner in the 400-meter hurdles, are facing charges of using a prohibited substance or method.
The charges are based on an investigation into Russian doping for the World Anti-Doping Agency presented in 2016 by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on March 27.
Silnov was the senior vice president of the Russian track federation until June 2019, when he stepped down citing an investigation by the AIU into his conduct. The AIU said his case included suspicions of using a banned steroid.
The other two Russian athletes charged are middle-distance runner Yelena Soboleva and retired hammer thrower Oksana Kondratyeva.
All cases will be decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but hearing dates are yet to be set.
Based on reporting by AP and dpa


rferl--2020-03-27--EU Criticizes Russia For Labeling Brussels-Based Organization 'Undesirable'

The European Union says it rejects Russia 's decision earlier this month to designate the Brussels-based European Endowment for Democracy ( EED ) an `` undesirable '' organization .
In a statement on March 27 , the EU urged the Russian authorities to remove the EED from its list of `` undesirable '' organizations , saying EED `` represents tenets and principles that are also enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights . ''
The EED is a joint initiative of EU institutions and member states .
On March 11 , the Russian Prosecutor-General 's Office announced that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of `` undesirable '' organizations , saying its activities `` pose a threat to the foundations of Russia ’ s constitutional system and security . ''
A 2015 law allows Russian prosecutors to shut down `` undesirable '' organizations if they are deemed to be a threat to Russia 's national interests .
Related legislation requires nongovernmental organizations that receive funding from foreign sources and engage in political activity within Russia to declare themselves `` foreign agents . ''
In its statement the EU called on Russia to `` reconsider '' the 2015 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international and foreign donor organizations `` that have had to terminate their operations aimed at strengthening civil society '' in Russia .
`` The legislation on 'undesirable ' organizations and 'foreign agents ' contributes to restricting civil society , independent media , and the rights of political opposition and has a negative impact on the work of civil society in Russia , '' it said .

The European Union says it rejects Russia's decision earlier this month to designate the Brussels-based European Endowment for Democracy (EED) an "undesirable" organization.
In a statement on March 27, the EU urged the Russian authorities to remove the EED from its list of "undesirable" organizations, saying EED "represents tenets and principles that are also enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights."
The EED is a joint initiative of EU institutions and member states.
On March 11, the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office announced that it had been put on the official registry of "undesirable" organizations, saying its activities "pose a threat to the foundations of Russia’s constitutional system and security."
A 2015 law allows Russian prosecutors to shut down "undesirable" organizations if they are deemed to be a threat to Russia's national interests.
Related legislation requires nongovernmental organizations that receive funding from foreign sources and engage in political activity within Russia to declare themselves "foreign agents."
In its statement the EU called on Russia to "reconsider" the 2015 legislation and remove from the list all international and foreign donor organizations "that have had to terminate their operations aimed at strengthening civil society" in Russia.
"The legislation on 'undesirable' organizations and 'foreign agents' contributes to restricting civil society, independent media, and the rights of political opposition and has a negative impact on the work of civil society in Russia," it said.


rferl--2020-03-27--Afghan Government Unveils Negotiating Team For Taliban Talks

KABUL -- Afghanistan 's government has finalized a 21-member team that is expected to negotiate with the Taliban at upcoming talks aimed at putting an end to the country ’ s 18-year conflict .
The team was formed after `` much deliberation and consultations with all parties , '' the State Ministry of Peace said in a statement late on March 26 .
It will be led by Masoom Stanekzai , the former head of the National Directorate of Security , and will include politicians , former officials , and representatives of civil society .
Five members are women .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ about where or when the talks would begin .
The Taliban did not immediately react to the announcement .
Under a deal signed by the United States and the Taliban in Doha on February 29 , Taliban representatives agreed to commit to direct talks with the Afghan government .
In return for the start of talks and a series of security commitments from the Taliban , all U.S. troops and other foreign coalition forces are meant to withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months .
U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad congratulated Afghan political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he called an `` inclusive negotiating team . ''
`` This consensus is a meaningful step that moves the parties significantly closer to intra-Afghan negotiations , '' Khalillzad wrote in a separate tweet .
It was not immediately clear whether President Ashraf Ghani 's electoral rival , former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah , would back the list .
U.S. efforts to resolve a dispute between Ghani and Abdullah , who also claims the presidency , have been unsuccessful .
Earlier this week , the government in Kabul said it would meet directly with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considered by all sides a prerequisite for the beginning of intra-Afghan talks .
With reporting by dpa , AFP , 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--2020-03-30--RSF Points Finger At Pakistani Intelligence After Exiled Journalist Disappears In Sweden

Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) suspects that a Pakistani journalist who has been missing for a month in Sweden was abducted `` at the behest '' of an intelligence agency in Pakistan .
Sajid Hussain , the editor of the Balochistan Times news website , went missing in the Swedish city of Uppsala on March 2 , according to the website , which covered human right violations and other aspects of the situation in the southwestern Pakistani region .
`` Considering the recent attacks and harassment against other Pakistani journalists in Europe , we can not ignore the possibility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work , '' Erik Halkjaer , the president of RSF 's Swedish section , said in a statement on March 30 .
Daniel Bastard , the head of RSF ’ s Asia-Pacific desk , said that `` everything indicates that this is an enforced disappearance , '' adding , `` And if you ask yourself who would have an interest in silencing a dissident journalist , the first response would have to be the Pakistani intelligence services . ''
The Balochistan Times `` often crossed the 'red lines ' imposed by the military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Paris-based media-freedom watchdog .
Meanwhile , the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists ( CPJ ) also urged Swedish police to step up efforts to find Hussain '' The disappearance of a journalist who focused on one of Pakistan 's most sensitive issues -- human rights in Balochistan -- and who escaped Pakistan because of threats he received , is especially concerning , '' said Steven Butler , CPJ 's Asia program coordinator .
Hussain fled Pakistan in 2012 after receiving threats related to his reporting , and lived in exile in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2017 , according to news reports .
No one has heard from Hussain since he boarded a train in Stockholm on March 2 to go to Uppsala , 70 kilometers north of the Swedish capital , to collect the keys to his new apartment and leave some personal effects there , RSF said .
It quoted local police as saying that Hussain , who has political-refugee status in Sweden , did alight from the train in Uppsala 45 minutes after it left Stockholm .
Pakistan 's southwestern province of Balochistan has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacks , and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004 .
Successive Pakistani governments and the powerful military have been accused for years of censoring the media .
The country is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF 's 2019 World Press Freedom Index .

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) suspects that a Pakistani journalist who has been missing for a month in Sweden was abducted "at the behest" of an intelligence agency in Pakistan.
Sajid Hussain, the editor of the Balochistan Times news website, went missing in the Swedish city of Uppsala on March 2, according to the website, which covered human right violations and other aspects of the situation in the southwestern Pakistani region.
"Considering the recent attacks and harassment against other Pakistani journalists in Europe, we cannot ignore the possibility that his disappearance is related to his work," Erik Halkjaer, the president of RSF's Swedish section, said in a statement on March 30.
Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk, said that "everything indicates that this is an enforced disappearance," adding, "And if you ask yourself who would have an interest in silencing a dissident journalist, the first response would have to be the Pakistani intelligence services."
The Balochistan Times "often crossed the 'red lines' imposed by the military establishment in Islamabad," according to the Paris-based media-freedom watchdog.
Meanwhile, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also urged Swedish police to step up efforts to find Hussain
"The disappearance of a journalist who focused on one of Pakistan's most sensitive issues -- human rights in Balochistan -- and who escaped Pakistan because of threats he received, is especially concerning," said Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.
Hussain fled Pakistan in 2012 after receiving threats related to his reporting, and lived in exile in several countries before seeking asylum in Sweden in 2017, according to news reports.
No one has heard from Hussain since he boarded a train in Stockholm on March 2 to go to Uppsala, 70 kilometers north of the Swedish capital, to collect the keys to his new apartment and leave some personal effects there, RSF said.
It quoted local police as saying that Hussain, who has political-refugee status in Sweden, did alight from the train in Uppsala 45 minutes after it left Stockholm.
Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.
Successive Pakistani governments and the powerful military have been accused for years of censoring the media.
The country is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2019 World Press Freedom Index.


rferl--2020-03-30--Monitor Says '5 Million' Georgians' Private Data Shared On Hacker Forum

An anonymous user on a hacker forum has shared the names and other personal data of millions of Georgian nationals , according to data-breach monitors and an IT-news website .
The database leak on March 28 comes roughly seven months before the South Caucasus country 's next parliamentary elections , although it was said to have been originally shared to a `` niche '' hacker community nine years ago .
In addition to names , it includes addresses , ID numbers , birthdates , and mobile-phone numbers , according to ZDNet , a specialist IT news site .
Georgia 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case .
Georgia 's population is estimated at around 4 million people , but the database was said to have included the details of `` 4,934,863 Georgians . ''
It did not appear to have been updated since the original leak in 2011 , according to Under The Breach , the data-breach-monitoring and -prevention service that discovered its weekend reappearance and tweeted about its existence .
There was no confirmation of the data 's authenticity by Georgian authorities .
The Central Election Commission said it was not their data , which it said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has no deceased individuals .
The commission also said it did not collect the names of individuals ' fathers -- which reportedly appeared on the leaked list .
`` The database got shared on a cybercrime forum , free of charge under the category of a 'leak ' , the actor who leaked it gave a download link to the actual database which contained the information about the Georgian people , '' Under The Breach told RFE/RL in a March 30 e-mail .
Under The Breach said they had not noticed the original @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to large hacking forums . ''
ZDNet reported that the user who put the 1.04 GB file on the hacker forum claimed it was from an official voter-registration portal that was down at the time its article was being prepared .
`` This is similar to a lot of Russian databases which are n't getting leaked in large forums but in small Russian hacking communities because the rest of the hacking community do n't really care about their leaks , mostly because they ca n't monetize those databases , '' Under The Breach @ @ @

An anonymous user on a hacker forum has shared the names and other personal data of millions of Georgian nationals, according to data-breach monitors and an IT-news website.
The database leak on March 28 comes roughly seven months before the South Caucasus country's next parliamentary elections, although it was said to have been originally shared to a "niche" hacker community nine years ago.
In addition to names, it includes addresses, ID numbers, birthdates, and mobile-phone numbers, according to ZDNet, a specialist IT news site.
Georgia's Interior Ministry said it is investigating the case.
Georgia's population is estimated at around 4 million people, but the database was said to have included the details of "4,934,863 Georgians."
The data included deceased citizens, ZDNet said.
It did not appear to have been updated since the original leak in 2011, according to Under The Breach, the data-breach-monitoring and -prevention service that discovered its weekend reappearance and tweeted about its existence.
There was no confirmation of the data's authenticity by Georgian authorities.
The Central Election Commission said it was not their data, which it said includes information on 3.5 million voters and has no deceased individuals. The commission also said it did not collect the names of individuals' fathers -- which reportedly appeared on the leaked list.
"The database got shared on a cybercrime forum, free of charge under the category of a 'leak', the actor who leaked it gave a download link to the actual database which contained the information about the Georgian people," Under The Breach told RFE/RL in a March 30 e-mail.
Under The Breach said they had not noticed the original leak "because it didn't surface to large hacking forums."
ZDNet reported that the user who put the 1.04-gigabyte file on the hacker forum claimed it was from an official voter-registration portal that was down at the time its article was being prepared.
"This is similar to a lot of Russian databases which aren't getting leaked in large forums but in small Russian hacking communities because the rest of the hacking community don't really care about their leaks, mostly because they can't monetize those databases," Under The Breach told RFE/RL.


rferl--2020-03-31--Elections Under Way In Karabakh Despite International Criticism And Virus Concerns

De-facto authorities in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh are holding presidential and parliamentary elections amid international criticism and despite a coronavirus pandemic .
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region within Azerbaijan that was seized by Armenian-backed separatists who declared independence amid a 1988-1994 conflict that killed at least 30,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands .
Following a Russia-brokered fragile truce in 1994 , the region has been under the control of ethnic-Armenian forces that Azerbaijan says include troops supplied by Armenia .
The region 's claim to independence has not been recognized by any country .
Periodic skirmishes have been taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 , Armenia accused Baku of violating the fragile cease-fire , saying that two Armenian soldiers and one civilian were wounded near the northeastern border with Azerbaijan .
Russia , the United States , and France are the co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , which acts as a mediator in resolving the crisis .
The group has been struggling for years to mediate a solution to the situation .
Fourteen candidates are vying for the job of incumbent leader Bako Sahakian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reelection under local law .
Twelve political parties and alliances are seeking mandates in Nagorno-Karabakh ’ s 33-seat National Assembly .
In a sternly worded statement , the European Union reminded Karabakh leaders on March 31 that it does not recognized their entity and warned that the move could hamper the progress of international negotiations on resolving the conflict .
“ In view of the so-called 'presidential and parliamentary elections ' in Nagorno-Karabakh on 31 March 2020 , the European Union reiterates that it does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EU spokesperson Peter Stano said .
`` This event can not prejudice the determination of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiation process . ''
Stano also reiterated the EU 's `` firm support to the OSCE Minsk Group and , in particular , to its Co-Chairs ’ efforts to bring about progress beyond the status quo and substantive negotiations towards comprehensive and sustainable peace . ''
Azerbaijan and its closest regional ally , Turkey , have both condemned the poll .
The election went ahead despite concerns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of the candidates to call for their postponement .
As of March 30 , the region reported no coronavirus cases , saying that three people who had been isolated on suspicion of having the virus have tested negative for it .
The polls opened at 8 a.m. local time on March 31 and are due to close at 8 p.m. As voters went to the polls in the region 's de facto capital , Stepanakert , and other towns and villages across Nagorno-Karabakh , the authorities said all polling stations had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election representative , Srbuhi Arzumanian , said medical protection gear would be distributed to all participants .

De-facto authorities in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh are holding presidential and parliamentary elections amid international criticism and despite a coronavirus pandemic.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region within Azerbaijan that was seized by Armenian-backed separatists who declared independence amid a 1988-1994 conflict that killed at least 30,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Following a Russia-brokered fragile truce in 1994, the region has been under the control of ethnic-Armenian forces that Azerbaijan says include troops supplied by Armenia. The region's claim to independence has not been recognized by any country.
Periodic skirmishes have been taking place in the region. On March 30, Armenia accused Baku of violating the fragile cease-fire, saying that two Armenian soldiers and one civilian were wounded near the northeastern border with Azerbaijan.
Russia, the United States, and France are the co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which acts as a mediator in resolving the crisis. The group has been struggling for years to mediate a solution to the situation.
Fourteen candidates are vying for the job of incumbent leader Bako Sahakian, who is not allowed to seek reelection under local law. Twelve political parties and alliances are seeking mandates in Nagorno-Karabakh’s 33-seat National Assembly.
In a sternly worded statement, the European Union reminded Karabakh leaders on March 31 that it does not recognized their entity and warned that the move could hamper the progress of international negotiations on resolving the conflict.
“In view of the so-called 'presidential and parliamentary elections' in Nagorno-Karabakh on 31 March 2020, the European Union reiterates that it does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework within which they are being held," EU spokesperson Peter Stano said.
"This event cannot prejudice the determination of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiation process."
Stano also reiterated the EU's "firm support to the OSCE Minsk Group and, in particular, to its Co-Chairs’ efforts to bring about progress beyond the status quo and substantive negotiations towards comprehensive and sustainable peace."
Azerbaijan and its closest regional ally, Turkey, have both condemned the poll.
The election went ahead despite concerns over the coronavirus outbreak that prompted even some of the candidates to call for their postponement.
As of March 30, the region reported no coronavirus cases, saying that three people who had been isolated on suspicion of having the virus have tested negative for it.
The polls opened at 8 a.m. local time on March 31 and are due to close at 8 p.m.
As voters went to the polls in the region's de facto capital, Stepanakert, and other towns and villages across Nagorno-Karabakh, the authorities said all polling stations had been disinfected.
The region’s top election representative, Srbuhi Arzumanian, said medical protection gear would be distributed to all participants.


rferl--2020-03-31--COVID-19: Russian Cases Jump As Duma OKs State-Of-Emergency Bill

The global death toll has surpassed 37,000 with over 790,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Russian lawmakers have given their initial approval for legislation that allows Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to declare a state of emergency as the country recorded a 27 percent jump in confirmed coronavirus cases , its biggest single-day increase so far .
The bill , approved by parliament 's lower chamber , the State Duma , on March 31 , allows the government to declare an emergency situation across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conduct during a state of emergency .
It also approved a penalty of up to five years in prison for those who `` knowingly '' disseminate false information during `` natural and man-made emergencies '' and up to seven years in prison for breaking hygiene and sanitation regulations such as quarantine The legislation comes as health officials released figures showing the number of coronavirus cases had jumped by 500 from the previous day to 2,337 .
It was the seventh consecutive day that the number has increased .
The federal coronavirus task force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toll had risen overnight by eight to stand at 17 .
Critics and even ordinary Russians have voiced skepticism about the accuracy of official figures and have raised questions about the state 's testing for the virus .
Moscow all but confined its 12 million residents to their homes on March 30 , and Mishustin asked regional governors during an emergency meeting to mirror that move .
St. Petersburg , Russia 's second-largest city , and more than a dozen other regions from the westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad to the Arctic region of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , have heeded the call and followed Moscow 's example by introducing compulsory self-isolation regimes .
President Vladimir Putin has called Moscow 's lockdown `` necessary and justified . ''
He had previously called for the week between March 28 and April 5 to be a nonworking week -- essentially a weeklong break from work to `` prevent the threat of the quick spread of the illness . ''
The government also closed all of the country 's borders as of March 30 , allowing only Russian diplomats , freight , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Britain , France and Germany have used a special trading mechanism for the first time to send medical supplies to Iran in a way that does not violate U.S. sanctions against Tehran .
The German Foreign Ministry said on March 31 that the three countries sent supplies via Instex , the mechanism set up more than a year ago to allow legitimate humanitarian trade with Iran to offset some effects of the U.S. sanctions .
`` France , Germany , and the United Kingdom confirm that Instex has successfully concluded its first transaction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Europe to Iran .
These goods are now in Iran , '' the German government said .
`` Now that the first transaction is complete , Instex and its Iranian counterpart STFI will work on more transactions and enhancing the mechanism , '' it added .
Iranian authorities say Washington ’ s policies and sanctions have hampered its ability to cope with the coronavirus pandemic .
Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on March 31 that 3,111 new infections had been confirmed during the previous day , bringing the total to 44,606 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death toll in Iran rose by 141 on March 31 to a total of 2,898 .
Iran is among the countries worst hit by the virus .
Experts have been skeptical about the accuracy of official figures released by the Iranian government , which keeps tight controls on local and foreign media .
The government banned intercity travel as it looked to slow the outbreak during the Persian New Year holiday that began on March 20 .
But Iran has not implemented a complete lockdown in cities -- a measure taken in many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forbidden Iranians from gathering on April 1 for `` Sizdah Bedar , '' an annual nature festival on the last day of Persian New Year celebrations , during which many Iranians spend time picnicking outdoors .
Romania 's government has placed the northeastern town of Suceava and eight surrounding villages under quarantine to slow the spread of the coronavirus , with more than a quarter of all cases in the country identified in the region .
Interior Minister Marcel Vela announced the measure , known as Military Order No .
6 , late @ @ @ @ @ @ @ highways into Suceava have been blocked by police and the army , with access allowed only for trucks carrying supplies .
EU member Romania , which has recorded 2,109 coronavirus infections and 65 deaths , declared a state of emergency on March 16 .
With a population of just over 100,000 , Suceava has 593 cases and one-third of all fatalities .
More than half of the country 's 285 infected doctors , nurses , and other medical staff were in Suceava , officials said .
Health Minister Nelu Tataru said the spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local hospital , where infected medical personnel was allowed to mingle with healthy colleagues , and people not respecting self-isolation rules .
The quarantine will last until mid-April at the end of the 30-day emergency period .
Movements in the rest of the country have been restricted for almost a week .
Bulgaria will have to raise 4.2 billion levs ( $ 2.36 billion ) in additional debt this year to bridge a fiscal gap caused by additional aid to be given to businesses and workers hit by the coronavirus pandemic , Finance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Goranov also slashed the 2020 outlook to a 3 percent contraction of the Bulgarian economy compared to previous estimates of 3.3 percent growth .
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov 's center-right government revised its fiscal plans late on March 30 to run a deficit of 2.9 percent of economic output this year and raised the ceiling on new debt it can raise to 10 billion levs ( $ 5.65 billion ) due to the pandemic .
`` All these measures have one and only goal : to guarantee that the state has enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main functions , '' Goranov told reporters .
The changes are pending parliamentary approval .
Bulgaria is the poorest but also least indebted European Union member state .
Bulgaria has closed schools , restaurants and bars , restricted intercity travel and access to parks , and banned all domestic and foreign holidays and trips until April 13 to contain the spread of the outbreak that has infected 379 people and killed eight so far .
Kazakhstan has officially registered its second coronavirus-related death after a 50-year-old man died while in hospital .
Saule @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Department in the capital , Nur-Sultan , told reporters that a 50-year-old man , who had been diagnosed with coronavirus and hospitalized 10 days earlier , died on March 31 .
That follows the March 26 death of a 65-year-old woman in the central Aqmola region that surrounds Nur-Sultan .
According to Kazakhstan 's health officials , as of March 31 the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country is 325 .
In neighboring Kyrgyzstan , visits to relatives and friends and gatherings of more than three people in one place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banned in Bishkek , which was already under a state of emergency due to the pandemic .
In addition , drivers of private vehicles must prove that they are heading to work or returning home from work with papers issued by their employees as all `` unnecessary '' use of vehicles in the capital has been banned .
The two southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad and several adjacent districts have also been under a state of emergency since last week .
The deputy chief of the coronavirus crisis center in Bishkek , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 13 more coronavirus cases were registered in the country , bringing the total number of cases to 107 .
In another Central Asian nation , Uzbekistan , the number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases reached 158 , including two deaths , as of March 31 .
In two other Central Asian countries , Tajikistan and Turkmenistan , no coronavirus cases have been reported so far .
Both are tightly controlled .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Romanian and Bulgarian services , Reuters , dii24.ro , and hotnews.ro

The global death toll has surpassed 40,000 with over 825,000 infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.
Russia
Russian lawmakers have given their initial approval for legislation that allows Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to declare a state of emergency as the country recorded a 27 percent jump in confirmed coronavirus cases, its biggest single-day increase so far.
The bill, approved by parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, on March 31, allows the government to declare an emergency situation across the country and to establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of emergency.
It also approved a penalty of up to five years in prison for those who "knowingly" disseminate false information during "natural and man-made emergencies" and up to seven years in prison for breaking hygienic and sanitation regulations such as quarantine.
The legislation comes as health officials released figures showing the number of coronavirus cases had jumped by 500 from the previous day to 2,337. It was the seventh consecutive day that the number has increased.
Russia's federal coronavirus task force said on March 31 that the death toll had risen overnight by eight to stand at 17. Critics and even ordinary Russians have voiced skepticism about the accuracy of official figures and have raised questions about the state's testing for the virus.
It emerged on March 31 that the chief physician of a Moscow hospital that has been dealing with coronavirus patients has tested positive.
"I have isolated myself in my office, where I have everything for online work, management, and televised medical consultations," Denis Protsenko wrote on Facebook.
Protsenko gave President Vladimir Putin a tour of the Kommunarka hospital last week, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no need to worry as the president tested regularly and all the tests came back negative.
Moscow all but confined its 12 million residents to their homes on March 30, and Mishustin asked regional governors during an emergency meeting to mirror that move.
St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, and more than 20 other regions from the westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad to the Arctic region of Murmansk and Tatarstan on the Volga River, have heeded the call and followed Moscow's example by introducing compulsory self-isolation regimes.
President Vladimir Putin has called Moscow's lockdown "necessary and justified." He had previously called for the week between March 28 and April 5 to be a nonworking week -- essentially a weeklong break from work to "prevent the threat of the quick spread of the illness."
The government also closed all of the country's borders as of March 30, allowing only Russian diplomats, freight, and other necessary vehicles and people to enter.
Meanwhile, authorities in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan plan to introduce an electronic code system to control the movements of residents during the region's coronavirus lockdown.
Presidential spokeswoman Lilia Galimova said on March 31 that the system will require residents of Tatarstan to register at a website, which will become functional in a couple of days.
Once registered, people will receive SMS messages with electronic codes that they will show police to prove that they left their houses or work for legitimate reasons.
For example, before leaving their homes, residents will have to text the word 'Exit' to the website to receive a code giving them permission to be outside for a maximum of one hour.
Each person will be eligible to receive two of such permission codes per day.
Authorities of the Russian capital, Moscow, said earlier that they plan to introduce a similar electronic code system to control residents' movements during the lockdown, but they have not given any further details.
There were 19 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of March 31 in Tatarstan.
Iran
Britain, France and Germany have used a special trading mechanism for the first time to send medical supplies to Iran in a way that does not violate U.S. sanctions against Tehran.
The German Foreign Ministry said on March 31 that the three countries sent supplies via Instex, the mechanism set up more than a year ago to allow legitimate humanitarian trade with Iran to offset some effects of the U.S. sanctions.
"France, Germany, and the United Kingdom confirm that Instex has successfully concluded its first transaction, facilitating the export of medical goods from Europe to Iran. These goods are now in Iran," the German government said.
"Now that the first transaction is complete, Instex and its Iranian counterpart STFI will work on more transactions and enhancing the mechanism," it added.
Iranian authorities say Washington’s policies and sanctions have hampered its ability to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on March 31 that 3,111 new infections had been confirmed during the previous day, bringing the total to 44,606 cases in Iran.
Jahanpour said the death toll in Iran rose by 141 on March 31 to a total of 2,898.
Iran is among the countries worst hit by the virus. Experts have been skeptical about the accuracy of official figures released by the Iranian government, which keeps tight controls on local and foreign media.
The government banned intercity travel as it looked to slow the outbreak during the Persian New Year holiday that began on March 20. But Iran has not implemented a complete lockdown in cities -- a measure taken in many other countries worldwide.
Officials also have forbidden Iranians from gathering on April 1 for "Sizdah Bedar," an annual nature festival on the last day of Persian New Year celebrations, during which many Iranians spend time picnicking outdoors.
Armenia
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has extended emergency measures until April 10 as the coronavirus continues to spread in the South Caucasus nation.
Pashinian made the announcement during a live session on Facebook on March 31, saying he was “worried” about rising numbers of infections in the country of 3 million people.
The Health Ministry confirmed 50 more coronavirus cases on March 31, raising the total number to 532, the highest number in the South Caucasus region. Three fatalities have been attributed to the respiratory illness.
The initial month-long state of emergency was declared on March 16.
Restrictions on the free movement of people followed on March 24. Most businesses were ordered shut, with only grocery stores, pharmacies, and banks allowed to stay open.
People are allowed to exercise outdoors once a day near their places of residence, while personnel deemed critical are allowed to continue going to work, such as at hospitals.
Pashinian said that some Armenians remain complacent about the pandemic and ignore stay-at-home orders issued by the authorities.
“The situation is very risky and I want to call on all of us to take it very seriously,” the prime minister said, adding: “Dear compatriots, stay at home and protect your and your loved ones’ health.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers passed a government-drafted bill on its second and last reading to allow the authorities to access personal data from people’s mobile phones to track their movements, phone calls, and text messages.
The measures aim to make it easier for the authorities to track who has been exposed to infected individuals and improve isolation methods to stem the spread of the coronavirus, officials said.
Belarus
Belarus's president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has confirmed that the death of a theater actor in the eastern Belarusian city of Vitsebsk is the country's first coronavirus-related fatality.
Relatives told RFE/RL on March 31 that 75-year-old Viktar Dashkevich, an actor at the National Drama Theater in Vitsebsk, had tested positive for the virus and was in hospital for several days before passing away.
"[Dashkevich's] wife -- who was living together with her husband -- is well, and his daughter is also well. Because their immunity is strong. But the poor man has not survived. He had a severe case of pneumonia, was connected to a lung-ventilation system, and [doctors] were trying to save him," Lukashenko said at a meeting with Natallya Kachanava, the chairwoman of parliament's upper chamber, the Republic Council.
As of March 30, the total number of coronavirus cases in Belarus was 152 and Lukashenka said the country was at the peak of the pandemic.
"Looking at the figures of the illness, I feel we are now at the peak. I pray to God that the peak will have passed by [Orthodox] Easter [April 19]," Lukashenka said.
Lukashenka said there was no need so far to postpone a presidential election planned for later in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 30, the Belarusian central bank said it would ask the International Monetary Fund for some $900 million of emergency funding to tackle the economic effects of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for the immediate release of a Belarusian news website editor who was arrested on March 25 on a charge of “receiving a bribe,” which carries a possible 10-year prison sentence.
The arrest of Syarhey Satsuk, director and editor in chief of the online newspaper ej.by, came three days after he published an editorial criticizing Lukashenka’s approach to the coronavirus epidemic and casting doubt on official infection figures.
Romania
The number of coronavirus infections and deaths in Romania has reached a new high as authorities locked down a northeastern city where more than a quarter of all cases were registered.
The government's crisis group dealing with the outbreak announced 26 more deaths on March 31 -- a more than 50 percent day-to-day increase -- bringing the total to 72 fatalities.
The total number of confirmed cases increased by 293 since the previous day, a new daily record that put the total infections at 2,245.
Late on March 30, Interior Minister Marcel Vela announced that Suceava, a city of more than 100,000 people, and eight surrounding villages have been placed under lockdown.
With a population of just over 100,000, Suceava had almost 600 cases and one-third of all fatalities. More than half of the country's 285 infected doctors, nurses, and other medical staff were in Suceava, officials said.
All roads and highways into Suceava have been blocked by police and the army, with access allowed only for trucks carrying supplies.
Health Minister Nelu Tataru said the spread was caused by poor management at the local hospital, where infected medical personnel were allowed to mingle with healthy colleagues, and people not respecting self-isolation rules.
The quarantine will last until mid-April, when a 30-day nationwide state of emergency is set to end.
Movements in the rest of the country have been restricted for almost a week.
In a live address on March 31, President Klaus Iohannis reassured the inhabitants of Suceava and the surrounding villages that authorities will make sure they will receive food and medical supplies.
Iohannis also thanked all medical personnel for their efforts and promised they will be provided with everything they need to fight the outbreak.
Iohannis's message came after a growing number of medical personnel -- doctors, paramedics, nurses, and auxiliary personnel -- resigned from their jobs, either in frustration at the lack of medical supplies or because of fatigue or sheer panic.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria will have to raise 4.2 billion levs ($2.36 billion) in additional debt this year to bridge a fiscal gap caused by additional aid to be given to businesses and workers hit by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said on March 31.
Goranov also slashed the 2020 outlook to a 3 percent contraction of the Bulgarian economy compared to previous estimates of 3.3 percent growth.
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's center-right government revised its fiscal plans late on March 30 to run a deficit of 2.9 percent of economic output this year and raised the ceiling on new debt it can raise to 10 billion levs ($5.65 billion) due to the pandemic.
"All these measures have one and only goal: to guarantee that the state has enough liquidity and enough possibility to maintain its main functions," Goranov told reporters.
The changes are pending parliamentary approval.
Bulgaria is the poorest but also least indebted European Union member state.
Bulgaria has closed schools, restaurants and bars, restricted intercity travel and access to parks, and banned all domestic and foreign holidays and trips until April 13 to contain the spread of the outbreak that has infected 379 people and killed eight so far.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Kazakhstan has officially registered its second coronavirus-related death after a 50-year-old man died while in hospital.
Saule Qisyqova, the head of the Health Department in the capital, Nur-Sultan, told reporters that a 50-year-old man, who had been diagnosed with coronavirus and hospitalized 10 days earlier, died on March 31.
That follows the March 26 death of a 65-year-old woman in the central Aqmola region that surrounds Nur-Sultan.
According to Kazakhstan's health officials, as of March 31 the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country is 325.
Why Numbers Don’t Tell The Full Story A daily compilation of global coronavirus cases by Johns Hopkins University is currently the most comprehensive in the world, but it relies on information provided by governments. In many countries, there are restrictions on releasing such information or reasons why the full story might not want to be told. The methodology, immediacy, transparency, and quality of this data can vary dramatically country by country.
In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, visits to relatives and friends and gatherings of more than three people in one place, excluding family members, have been banned in Bishkek, which was already under a state of emergency due to the pandemic.
In addition, drivers of private vehicles must prove that they are heading to work or returning home from work with papers issued by their employees as all "unnecessary" use of vehicles in the capital has been banned.
The two southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad and several adjacent districts have also been under a state of emergency since last week.
The deputy chief of the coronavirus crisis center in Bishkek, Kasymbek Mambetov, said on March 31 that 13 more coronavirus cases were registered in the country, bringing the total number of cases to 107.
In another Central Asian nation, Uzbekistan, the number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases reached 158, including two deaths, as of March 31.
In two other Central Asian countries, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, no coronavirus cases have been reported so far. Both are tightly controlled.
Tajikistan
Hundreds of Tajik migrant workers stranded at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport because of emergency public health travel restrictions have been forced to leave the airport premises.
Galia Ibragimova, a Moscow-based journalist who has been following the migrants' ordeal for days, said in a Facebook post on March 31 that about 300 migrant workers had been forced out of the airport overnight.
The migrants were stranded at the airport for about two weeks after all flights to and from Tajikistan were canceled due to coronavirus restrictions imposed in Tajikistan and in Russia.
Ibragimova quoted one migrant named Farukh who said Russian law enforcement officials asked all migrants stuck at the airport to gather at one location.
After they did so, Farukh said, all of them were "kicked out" of the premises without any place to go. Farukh posted a video showing the situation on YouTube.
Kosovo
Kosovo's Constitutional Court has ruled that curfews ordered by Prime Minister Albin Kurti to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country violated the constitution.
The court said on March 31 that imposing blanket nightly curfews affecting all citizens of Kosovo violates free movement guaranteed by the constitution, and ordered the government to repeal the measures within two weeks.
The court acted on a motion filed by President Hashim Thaci as part of political wrangling that drove Kosovo into a political crisis as it struggles to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
The Balkan country has confirmed 112 coronavirus cases and one virus-related death.
Acting Deputy Prime Minister Haki Abazi told RFE/RL that the Constitutional Court has not fully explained why the government’s March 23 decision is unconstitutional.
Abazi said the government will respect the ruling, but in the meantime will do its best to ensure that all measures will be taken to “protect people's lives.”
Last week, Thaci told citizens not to respect coronavirus-related curfews announced by Kurti’s government, saying such measures can only be declared under a state of emergency.
With reporting by Suren Musayelyan, RFE/RL's Romanian, Belarus, Balkan, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Bulgarian services, RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Reuters, dii24.ro, hotnews.ro, and BelTA


rferl--2020-03-31--Poland State Gas Distributor Says It Wins $1.5 Billion From Russia's Gazprom In Price Dispute

Poland ’ s largest distributor of natural gas has announced it won a years-long energy-supply price dispute with Russia ’ s state-run Gazprom worth $ 1.5 billion at an international arbitration court in Sweden .
Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo ( PGNiG ) , itself a Polish state-owned company , said in a statement on March 30 that the final award stems from a gas supply contract that was concluded in 1996 .
It had a `` pay-or-take '' clause , which obligated Poland to pay for gas supplies beyond what it had ordered for a particular year .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for many years been overcharging and will now be required to refund nearly USD 1.5 billion to PGNiG , '' the Polish gas distributor said in a statement .
The period covered in the award is for gas supplied from November 1 , 2014 to February 29 , 2020 .
PGNiG also said the court in Stockholm had ordered Gazprom to change the gas-pricing formula so that it takes into account market quotations , which would `` improve the conditions of trading activity . ''
A subsidiary of Gazprom said that it had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analyzing it , Reuters reported .
`` It is still too early to provide any estimates of the size of the potential payments , '' Gazprom Export said in a statement .
Poland receives more than half the gas it consumes from Russia and is reliant upon it based on Soviet-era energy-transit infrastructure routes .
The arbitration ruling marks another blow to Gazprom , whose Nord Stream 2 underwater gas pipeline project to Germany is facing U.S. sanctions .
The Russian company has also recently lost international rulings to Ukraine ’ s state-owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for which it was also ordered to pay nearly $ 3 billion late last year .
With reporting by Business PAP and Reuters

Poland’s largest distributor of natural gas has announced it won a years-long energy-supply price dispute with Russia’s state-run Gazprom worth $1.5 billion at an international arbitration court in Sweden.
Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG), itself a Polish state-owned company, said in a statement on March 30 that the final award stems from a gas supply contract that was concluded in 1996.
It had a "pay-or-take" clause, which obligated Poland to pay for gas supplies beyond what it had ordered for a particular year.
"The Russian company [Gazprom] has for many years been overcharging and will now be required to refund nearly USD 1.5 billion to PGNiG," the Polish gas distributor said in a statement.
The period covered in the award is for gas supplied from November 1, 2014 to February 29, 2020.
PGNiG also said the court in Stockholm had ordered Gazprom to change the gas-pricing formula so that it takes into account market quotations, which would "improve the conditions of trading activity."
A subsidiary of Gazprom said that it had received the Stockholm arbitration ruling and was analyzing it, Reuters reported.
"It is still too early to provide any estimates of the size of the potential payments," Gazprom Export said in a statement.
Poland receives more than half the gas it consumes from Russia and is reliant upon it based on Soviet-era energy-transit infrastructure routes.
The arbitration ruling marks another blow to Gazprom, whose Nord Stream 2 underwater gas pipeline project to Germany is facing U.S. sanctions.
The Russian company has also recently lost international rulings to Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz in a gas-transit and supply dispute for which it was also ordered to pay nearly $3 billion late last year.
With reporting by Business PAP and Reuters


rferl--2020-03-31--U.S. Extends Sanctions Waivers On Iranian Nuclear Program

The U.S. government has extended for another 60 days sanction waivers that allow Russian , Chinese , and European countries to continue nonproliferation work at Iranian nuclear sites .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo approved the waiver extensions on March 30 but maintained that the decision restricts Iran 's atomic work .
`` Iran 's continued expansion of nuclear activities is unacceptable .
The regime 's nuclear extortion is among the greatest threats to international peace and security , '' State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement .
President Donald Trump 's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signatories Britain , Germany , France , Russia , and China , saw U.S. sanctions reimposed on Tehran , crippling its economy , which is mostly reliant on oil exports .
The deal , brokered in 2015 , envisioned sanctions relief if Iran curbed its nuclear ambitions .
Since withdrawing from the deal , Washington has pursued a `` maximum pressure '' campaign aimed at reducing Iran ’ s regional activities and limiting its nuclear missile program .
The waivers allow nonproliferation work to continue at the Arak heavy-water research reactor , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Research Reactor , and other nuclear initiatives .
The United States will continue to closely monitor all developments in Iran ’ s nuclear program and can adjust the restrictions at any time , Ortagus said .
`` As President Trump said earlier this year , Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon , '' she said .
Earlier this month , the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) said that Iran had been blocking international nuclear inspectors from investigating possible nuclear activities at two sites .
The Vienna-based agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stockpiles beyond the limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal .
Iranian authorities have blamed Washington ’ s policies and sanctions for hampering its ability to cope with the coronavirus pandemic .
More than 41,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been recorded , including over 2,700 attributable deaths , according to a tracking monitor by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University .
Iran is one of the countries worst hit by the virus , and experts have been skeptical about the veracity of official figures released by the Islamic regime , which keeps a tight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ With additional reporting by AP , dpa , and Reuters

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