rferl--2020-11-08--March In Minsk Begins 13th Consecutive Sunday Of Anti-Government Protests

MINSK – Anti-government protesters have gathered in Minsk for the 13th consecutive Sunday of protests in Belarus to call for the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a new election amid unprecedented public resistance following a disputed presidential election in August .
Participants in the March of Democracy on November 8 waved red-and-white flags and umbrellas that have become the symbol of the opposition .
There is a heavy police presence in central Minsk , where security forces detained several people just minutes after the rally began .
Access to the Internet has been restricted on mobile phones in the capital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the city center closed an hour before the rally , citing `` passenger safety . ''
The protests come after police detained dozens of medical professionals at an unauthorized protest against Lukashenka on November 7 .
About 60 doctors and other health-care workers who gathered for the demonstration on November 7 were taken away to police stations , according to the human rights group Vyasna .
Yulia Yarmak was the first of the medical professionals detained , according to RFE/RL 's Belarus Service .
She said police had promised to release all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Meanwhile , the Belarusian Association of Journalists said on November 8 that two reporters detained while covering the medics ' rally were transferred to the Akrestsina prison in Minsk .
It identified the reporters as Yekaterina Karpitskaya from the Nasha Niva and Raman Papkov from the MBKh-Media publications .
The association said there were at least 14 journalists in custody in Belarus .
There have been protests almost daily against Lukashenka in Minsk and elsewhere in the country since the presidential election , which protesters alleged was rigged and that Western countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , who has been living in Lithuania since shortly after the election amid threats to her and her family , praised the medics for their courage and peaceful action , and slammed the authorities for arresting health personnel in the middle of a pandemic .
Several doctors have lost their jobs because of strikes or protests , actions that Tsikhanouskaya criticized , saying Lukashenka was sacrificing people 's lives to stay in power .
Lukashenka has faced strong criticism from the medical community and the population for having resisted calls for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Lukashenka downplayed the pandemic in the spring and summer , but partially closed all the country 's land borders to foreigners on November 1 as second wave of the virus engulfs Europe .
Tsikhanouskaya also accused the authorities of hiding the true extent of the pandemic in the country .
Belarus reported 997 new infections , a new daily record , and three deaths related to the virus on November 7 for a total of 105,283 infections and 1,004 deaths .
Also on November 7 at least 14 people were detained at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Vyasna said .
As on previous Saturdays , the women walked along Independence Avenue holding flowers in protest against Lukashenka .
Tsikhanouskaya also criticized Lukashenka for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Astravets near the Lithuanian border without the people 's consent .
The nuclear power plant , the first in Belarus , has been heavily criticized by Lithuania as a potential environmental and security threat .
Lukashenka boasted that Belarus `` will become a nuclear power '' at its official opening on November 7 .
`` The Astravets nuclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the future , toward ensuring the energy security of the state , '' Lukashenka said in comments broadcast on state television .
Built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $ 10 billion loan , construction of the power plant near the city of Astravets , in the western Hrodna region , was opposed by Lithuania , whose capital , Vilnius , is just 50 kilometers away .
Astravets draws water for its cooling reactors from the Nevis River , which also supplies drinking water in Lithuania .
Belarus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , prompting Lithuania to halt electricity imports from its neighbor .
The plant 's construction has also been divisive among Belarusians , who suffered greatly from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster .
Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world 's worst civilian nuclear accident .
With reporting by Reuters and dpa

MINSK -- Police in Belarus have detained hundreds of anti-government demonstrators who gathered for the 13th consecutive Sunday of protests to call for the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a new presidential election following a disputed vote in August.
The Vyasna human rights group said about 800 people had been detained by security forces on November 8. The arrests were made in Minsk, Homel, Vitebsk, Zhlobin, and other cities. At least six of those listed as detained were journalists.
The group said some of the detainees were later released.
Video and photos on social media showed men, often in plainclothes, brutally wrestling demonstrators to the ground and forcing them into police transport.
Minsk city police earlier said that about 10 people were detained over "unsanctioned actions."
Journalists estimated that several thousand people took part in the Minsk demonstration.
There was a heavy police presence from the early morning in Minsk, where participants in the March of Democracy waved red-and-white flags and umbrellas that have become the symbol of the opposition. Security forces blocked several streets and cordoned off areas in central Minsk.
Access to the Internet was restricted in the capital since the morning. Several subway stations in the city center closed an hour before the rally, citing "passenger safety."
The protests come after police detained dozens of medical professionals at an unauthorized protest against Lukashenka on November 7.
About 60 doctors and other health-care workers who gathered for the demonstration on November 7 were taken away to police stations, according to the human rights group Vyasna. Most were expected to be released shortly.
Yulia Yarmak was the first of the medical professionals detained, according to RFE/RL's Belarus Service. She said police had promised to release all detainees except one journalist on November 7.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said on November 8 that two reporters detained while covering the medics' rally were transferred to the Akrestsina prison in Minsk.
It identified the reporters as Yekaterina Karpitskaya from the Nasha Niva and Raman Papkov from the MBKh-Media publications. The association said there were at least 14 journalists in custody in Belarus.
There have been protests almost daily against Lukashenka in Minsk and elsewhere in the country since the presidential election, which protesters alleged was rigged and that Western countries have refused to accept.
Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has been living in Lithuania since shortly after the election amid threats to her and her family, praised the medics for their courage and peaceful action, and slammed the authorities for arresting health personnel in the middle of a pandemic.
Several doctors have lost their jobs because of strikes or protests, actions that Tsikhanouskaya criticized, saying Lukashenka was sacrificing people's lives to stay in power.
Lukashenka has faced strong criticism from the medical community and the population for having resisted calls for strict lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus.
Lukashenka downplayed the pandemic in the spring and summer, but partially closed all the country's land borders to foreigners on November 1 as second wave of the virus engulfs Europe.
Tsikhanouskaya also accused the authorities of hiding the true extent of the pandemic in the country.
Belarus reported 997 new infections, a new daily record, and three deaths related to the virus on November 7 for a total of 105,283 infections and 1,004 deaths.
Also on November 7 at least 14 people were detained at a separate women's march in Minsk, Vyasna said.
As on previous Saturdays, the women walked along Independence Avenue holding flowers in protest against Lukashenka.
Tsikhanouskaya also criticized Lukashenka for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Astravets near the Lithuanian border without the people's consent.
The nuclear power plant, the first in Belarus, has been heavily criticized by Lithuania as a potential environmental and security threat.
Lukashenka boasted that Belarus "will become a nuclear power" at its official opening on November 7.
"The Astravets nuclear power station is a new step into the future, toward ensuring the energy security of the state," Lukashenka said in comments broadcast on state television.
Built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $10 billion loan, construction of the power plant near the city of Astravets, in the western Hrodna region, was opposed by Lithuania, whose capital, Vilnius, is just 50 kilometers away.
Astravets draws water for its cooling reactors from the Nevis River, which also supplies drinking water in Lithuania.
Belarus began operating the plant earlier this week, prompting Lithuania to halt electricity imports from its neighbor.
The plant's construction has also been divisive among Belarusians, who suffered greatly from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa


rferl--2020-11-08--U.S. Allies Congratulate Biden On Election; Kremlin Silent, Iran Cautious

U.S. allies from Europe to East Asia have congratulated Joe Biden on his election as the next U.S. president , with Germany hailing it as a `` new and exciting chapter '' in transatlantic ties and Japan 's leader pledging to work to ensure `` peace , freedom , and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region . ''
While many allies were quick to offer warm words after Biden was declared the winner November 7 , a number of other prominent European and world leaders either stayed silent or issued more tempered statements of support .
In Moscow , the Kremlin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as of midafternoon on November 8 .
Hungary 's prime minister , whose anti-democratic policies have alienated him from European Union and NATO partners and who is an open supporter of President Donald Trump , sent a letter of congratulations to Biden , according to Viktor Orban 's spokesman .
`` Allow me to congratulate you on the successful presidential campaign .
I wish you good health and continuous successes in carrying out your extremely responsible mission , '' Orban said , according to the Hungarian state news agency MTI .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pro-government media in Hungary published unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the U.S. vote .
In Poland , another NATO ally , President Andrezj Duda gave qualified praise to Biden `` as we await the nomination by the Electoral College . ''
Formally , Biden will not be the winner of the U.S. election until the Electoral College meets next month , and then the U.S. Congress ratifies those votes in early January .
But the declaration of Biden 's victory , made by all major U.S. news media on November 7 , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president , Hassan Rohani , meanwhile suggested the new Biden administration would be able to `` compensate for ... previous mistakes '' -- a reference to Biden 's predecessor , Donald Trump .
`` Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments , '' Rohani said in a statement posted on his website .
Tensions with Iran skyrocketed under Trump , who pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed crippling economic sanctions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Baghdad of the powerful commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps 's Quds Force , Major General Qasem Soleimani .
That killing stunned Tehran and many Iranians .
Biden has said that he planned to embark on a `` credible path to return to diplomacy '' with Iran and raised the possibility of returning to the nuclear deal , negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama .
Biden has said he wants to strengthen the transatlantic relationship , including reinvigorating NATO .
Some former officials in the Trump White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ withdraw the United States from NATO if he had won a second term .
European leaders expressed a sigh of relief when the election outcome was announced .
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she `` looked forward to future cooperation with President Biden .
Our transatlantic friendship is irreplaceable if we are to master the great challenges of our time . ''
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted : `` The Americans have chosen their President .
Congratulations @ JoeBiden and @ KamalaHarris !
We have a lot to do to overcome today 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' British Prime Minister Boris Johnson , seen by many as a Trump ally and supporter , congratulated Biden and Harris on her `` historic victory . ''
`` The U.S. is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities , from climate change to trade and security , '' Johnson said .
In Japan , the closest U.S. ally in the Pacific , Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called on Biden to help strengthen bilateral ties .
`` I look forward to working with you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensure peace , freedom , and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond , '' Suga said on a Twitter .
Biden is expected to take a tougher stance toward the Kremlin on its human rights record and foreign policies compared with Trump .
He has repeatedly criticized President Vladimir Putin for Russia 's `` malign actions , '' including invading its neighbors and meddling in foreign elections , and recently called Moscow an `` opponent . ''
While the Kremlin was slow to issue any statement about the Biden victory , Aleksei @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prominent and acerbic Kremlin critic and opposition figure , offered his congratulations .
Congratulations , he said in a post to Twitter , `` to the Americans on defining the new leadership in a free and fair election .
This is a privilege which is not available to all countries .
Looking forward to the new level of cooperation between Russia and the US . ''
As vice president , Biden was the Obama administration 's point man for Ukraine relations , in the aftermath of the 2014 Euromaidan uprising that ousted Ukraine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Moscow annexing Ukraine 's Crimean Peninsula and stoking a war in eastern Ukraine that continues today .
Biden visited Ukraine six times during his tenure as vice president and helped provide more than $ 1.5 billion in military and other financial aid to Kyiv .
He was also deeply involved in pushing the country to clean up rampant corruption , including pushing for the ouster of a notorious prosecutor-general .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy , who has found his government caught up in U.S. domestic political affairs , tweeted his congratulations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future of the strategic partnership with the United States . ''
Ukraine and the United States `` have always collaborated on security , trade , investment , democracy , fight against corruption .
Our friendship becomes only stronger ! ''
A 2019 phone call in which Trump suggested that Zelenskiy help investigate Biden and the business dealings of his son Hunter led to Trump being impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives .
The Senate eventually acquitted Trump .
`` Ukraine is blessed to have a U.S. President with so profound and personal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote on Twitter .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Hungarian Service , Reuters , and AP

U.S. allies from Europe to East Asia have congratulated Joe Biden on his election as the next U.S. president, with Germany hailing it as a "new and exciting chapter" in transatlantic ties and Japan's leader pledging to work to ensure "peace, freedom, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region."
While many allies were quick to offer warm words after Biden was declared the winner November 7, a number of other prominent European and world leaders either stayed silent or issued more tempered statements of support.
In Moscow, the Kremlin had issued no statement on the election as of midafternoon on November 8.
Hungary's prime minister, whose anti-democratic policies have alienated him from European Union and NATO partners and who is an open supporter of President Donald Trump, sent a letter of congratulations to Biden, according to Viktor Orban's spokesman.
"Allow me to congratulate you on the successful presidential campaign. I wish you good health and continuous successes in carrying out your extremely responsible mission," Orban said, according to the Hungarian state news agency MTI.
In the days following the November 3 election, pro-government media in Hungary published unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the U.S. vote.
In Poland, another NATO ally, President Andrezj Duda gave qualified praise to Biden "as we await the nomination by the Electoral College."
Formally, Biden will not be the winner of the U.S. election until the Electoral College meets next month, and then the U.S. Congress ratifies those votes in early January. But the declaration of Biden's victory, made by all major U.S. news media on November 7, is widely accepted as definitive.
Iran's president, Hassan Rohani, meanwhile suggested the new Biden administration would be able to "compensate for...previous mistakes" -- a reference to Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump.
"Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments," Rohani said in a statement posted on his website.
Tensions with Iran skyrocketed under Trump, who pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed crippling economic sanctions. Trump also ordered the drone assassination in Baghdad of the powerful commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps's Quds Force, Major General Qasem Soleimani. That killing stunned Tehran and many Iranians.
Biden has said that he planned to embark on a "credible path to return to diplomacy" with Iran and raised the possibility of returning to the nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama.
Biden has said he wants to strengthen the transatlantic relationship, including reinvigorating NATO. Some former officials in the Trump White House had warned that Trump might try and withdraw the United States from NATO if he had won a second term.
European leaders expressed a sigh of relief when the election outcome was announced.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she "looked forward to future cooperation with President Biden. Our transatlantic friendship is irreplaceable if we are to master the great challenges of our time."
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "The Americans have chosen their President. Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris! We have a lot to do to overcome today's challenges. Let's work together!"
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, seen by many as a Trump ally and supporter, congratulated Biden and Harris on her "historic victory."
"The U.S. is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security," Johnson said.
In Japan, the closest U.S. ally in the Pacific, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called on Biden to help strengthen bilateral ties.
"I look forward to working with you to further strengthen the Japan-US Alliance and ensure peace, freedom, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," Suga said on a Twitter.
Russia's 'Malign Activities'
Biden is expected to take a tougher stance toward the Kremlin on its human rights record and foreign policies compared with Trump.
He has repeatedly criticized President Vladimir Putin for Russia's "malign actions," including invading its neighbors and meddling in foreign elections, and recently called Moscow an "opponent."
While the Kremlin was slow to issue any statement about the Biden victory, Aleksei Navalny, who has become the most prominent and acerbic Kremlin critic and opposition figure, offered his congratulations.
Congratulations, he said in a post to Twitter, "to the Americans on defining the new leadership in a free and fair election. This is a privilege which is not available to all countries. Looking forward to the new level of cooperation between Russia and the US."
As vice president, Biden was the Obama administration's point man for Ukraine relations, in the aftermath of the 2014 Euromaidan uprising that ousted Ukraine's pro-Russian president. That upheaval led to Moscow annexing Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and stoking a war in eastern Ukraine that continues today.
Biden visited Ukraine six times during his tenure as vice president and helped provide more than $1.5 billion in military and other financial aid to Kyiv. He was also deeply involved in pushing the country to clean up rampant corruption, including pushing for the ouster of a notorious prosecutor-general.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has found his government caught up in U.S. domestic political affairs, tweeted his congratulations, saying Ukraine "is optimistic about the future of the strategic partnership with the United States."
Ukraine and the United States "have always collaborated on security, trade, investment, democracy, fight against corruption. Our friendship becomes only stronger!"
A 2019 phone call in which Trump suggested that Zelenskiy help investigate Biden and the business dealings of his son Hunter led to Trump being impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate eventually acquitted Trump.
Zelenskiy's predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, also welcomed the Biden victory.
"Ukraine is blessed to have a U.S. President with so profound and personal knowledge of our country," he wrote on Twitter.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Hungarian Service, Reuters, and AP


rferl--2020-11-09--Protest At Georgia's Election Commission In Tbilisi Ends After Police Use Water Cannons

TBILISI – A protest demanding the resignation of Georgia ’ s Central Election Commission ( CEC ) and new parliamentary elections came to an end in Tbilisi after police used water cannons several times to disperse the crowd .
Human rights watchdogs had called on police not to use force against the demonstrators , but the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed it was justified because it said the opposition tried to storm the CEC building .
The protesters were behind fences installed near the CEC building when the water cannons were used , and no attempt to storm the building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to RFE/RL 's Georgian Service .
RFE/RL journalists at the scene said they heard no warning before police began spraying water at several hundred protesters who had pledged to remain outside the CEC building until their demands were met .
Georgian law requires police to warn civilians before using water cannons .
The opposition vowed to continue protests on November 9 despite a curfew put in place to combat rising number of COVID-19 infections in the country .
Earlier in the afternoon , thousands of protesters gathered to hear opposition leaders issue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( ENM ) , the country ’ s largest opposition party , earlier on November 8 rejected the election results , which handed the ruling Georgian Dream party its third consecutive election victory .
Georgian Dream , founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili , came in first in the October 31 election with 48.15 percent , while ENM 's bloc had 27.14 percent and European Georgia , led by a number of former ENM members , was third with 3.78 percent .
On November 2 , Davit Bakradze , a leader of European Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neither free nor fair ” and that his party did not accept the official results .
Turnout was said to have been 56 percent .

TBILISI -- A protest demanding the resignation of Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) and new parliamentary elections came to an end in Tbilisi after police used water cannons several times to disperse the crowd.
Human rights watchdogs had called on police not to use force against the demonstrators, but the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed it was justified because it said the opposition tried to storm the CEC building.
The protesters were behind fences installed near the CEC building when the water cannons were used, and no attempt to storm the building or attack the police was reported, according to RFE/RL's Georgian Service.
RFE/RL journalists at the scene said they heard no warning before police began spraying water at several hundred protesters who had pledged to remain outside the CEC building until their demands were met. Georgian law requires police to warn civilians before using water cannons.
The opposition vowed to continue protests on November 9 despite a curfew put in place to combat a rising number of COVID-19 infections in the country.
Earlier in the afternoon, thousands of protesters gathered to hear opposition leaders issue their demands.
The United National Movement (ENM), the country’s largest opposition party, earlier on November 8 rejected the election results, which handed the ruling Georgian Dream party its third consecutive election victory.
Georgian Dream, founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, came in first in the October 31 elections with 48.15 percent, while ENM's bloc had 27.14 percent and European Georgia, led by a number of former ENM members, was third with 3.78 percent.
On November 2, Davit Bakradze, a leader of European Georgia, said the legislative elections “were neither free nor fair” and that his party did not accept the official results.
Turnout was said to have been 56 percent.


rferl--2020-11-08--Georgian Police Use Water Cannons To Disperse Election Protest

TBILISI -- Police have used water cannons outside Georgia 's Central Election Commission office to disperse protesters who were demanding the resignation of the commission head and new parliamentary elections .
RFE/RL journalists on the scene said they heard no warning on November 8 before police began spraying several hundred protesters who had pledged to remain outside the building until their demands were met .
Georgian law requires police to warn civilians before using water cannons .
Earlier in the afternoon , thousands of protesters gathered to hear opposition leaders issue the demands .
On November 2 , Davit Bakradze @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgia party , said the October 31 legislative elections `` were neither free nor fair '' and that his party did not accept the official results .
Earlier the United National Movement ( ENM ) , the largest opposition party , also rejected the election results , which handed the ruling Georgian Dream party its third consecutive election victory .
Georgian Dream , founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili , received 48.15 percent , while ENM 's bloc had 27.14 percent and European Georgia , led by a number of former ENM members , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was said to have been 56 percent .

TBILISI -- Police have used water cannons outside Georgia's Central Election Commission office to disperse protesters who were demanding the resignation of the commission head and new parliamentary elections.
RFE/RL journalists on the scene said they heard no warning on November 8 before police began spraying several hundred protesters who had pledged to remain outside the building until their demands were met.
Georgian law requires police to warn civilians before using water cannons.
Earlier in the afternoon, thousands of protesters gathered to hear opposition leaders issue the demands.
On November 2, Davit Bakradze, a leader of the opposition European Georgia party, said the October 31 legislative elections "were neither free nor fair" and that his party did not accept the official results.
Earlier the United National Movement (ENM), the largest opposition party, also rejected the election results, which handed the ruling Georgian Dream party its third consecutive election victory.
Georgian Dream, founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, received 48.15 percent, while ENM's bloc had 27.14 percent and European Georgia, led by a number of former ENM members, was third with 3.78 percent.
Turnout was said to have been 56 percent.


rferl--2020-11-08--Nagorno-Karabakh Fighting Flares Up As Azerbaijan Says Key City Captured

President Ilham Aliyev says Azerbaijani forces have taken Shushi ( known as Susa in Azeri ) , the second-largest city in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave .
Armenian officials denied the report but confirmed fighting around the city , a hilltop settlement located on a main road overlooking the breakaway region 's main city , Stepanakert .
Videos on social media showed lines of cars leaving Stepanakert on November 8 , although the scope of the exodus could not be confirmed independently .
Large crowds of people gathered in Baku to celebrate following Aliyev 's statement , waving flags and chanting slogans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armenian Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisian said in a Facebook post the same day that `` battles in Shushi continue ; wait and believe in our troops . ''
Armenia had earlier reported `` fierce combat '' near the city .
Shushi is located on a road that links Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia , which backs the separatists fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh 's independence .
Aliyev 's statement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with his French and Turkish counterparts .
During a November 7 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emmanuel Macron expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict , the Kremlin said in a statement .
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts , including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 's ( OSCE ) Minsk Group , set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution .
The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia , France , and the United States .
Later in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Recep Tayyip Erdogan , who told the Russian leader that Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijani lands and `` sit down at the negotiating table , '' according to a statement from Ankara .
Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Nagorno-Karabakh , a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s , broke out in late September .
At least 1,000 people and possibly many more have died in the nearly six weeks of fighting , representing the deadliest outbreak of hostilities over the region in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to declare a cease-fire have failed .
Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Karabakh to support Azerbaijan in its fight against the separatists .
Analysts say Ankara wants a seat at the negotiating table that has long been dominated by Moscow .
Armenia has turned to its traditional ally , Russia , for help .
Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

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President Ilham Aliyev says Azerbaijani forces have taken Shushi (known as Susa in Azeri), the second-largest city in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Armenian officials denied the report but confirmed fighting around the city, a hilltop settlement located on a main road overlooking the breakaway region's main city, Stepanakert.
Videos on social media showed lines of cars leaving Stepanakert on November 8, although the scope of the exodus could not be confirmed independently.
Large crowds of people gathered in Baku to celebrate following Aliyev's statement, waving flags and chanting slogans while drivers sounded their car horns.
Armenian Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisian said in a Facebook post the same day that "battles in Shushi continue; wait and believe in our troops." Armenia had earlier reported "fierce combat" near the city.
Shushi is located on a road that links Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia, which backs the separatists fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh's independence.
Aliyev's statement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with his French and Turkish counterparts.
During a November 7 phone call, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts, including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution. The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States.
Later in the day, Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told the Russian leader that Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijani lands and "sit down at the negotiating table," according to a statement from Ankara.
Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s, broke out in late September.
At least 1,000 people and possibly many more have died in the nearly six weeks of fighting, representing the deadliest outbreak of hostilities over the region in more than a quarter-century. Several attempts to declare a cease-fire have failed.
Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Karabakh to support Azerbaijan in its fight against the separatists. Analysts say Ankara wants a seat at the negotiating table that has long been dominated by Moscow.
Armenia has turned to its traditional ally, Russia, for help. Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP


rferl--2020-11-08--Belarusian Activists Say More Than 800 Detained At Anti-Government Rallies

MINSK -- Police in Belarus have detained hundreds of anti-government demonstrators who gathered for the 13th consecutive Sunday of protests to call for the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a new presidential election following a disputed vote in August .
The Vyasna human rights group said about 800 people had been detained by security forces on November 8 .
The arrests were made in Minsk , Homel , Vitebsk , Zhlobin , and other cities .
At least six of those listed as detained were journalists .
The group said some of the detainees were later released .
Video and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often in plainclothes , brutally wrestling demonstrators to the ground and forcing them into police transport .
Minsk city police earlier said that about 10 people were detained over `` unsanctioned actions . ''
Journalists estimated that several thousand people took part in the Minsk demonstration .
There was a heavy police presence from the early morning in Minsk , where participants in the March of Democracy waved red-and-white flags and umbrellas that have become the symbol of the opposition .
Security forces blocked several streets and cordoned off areas in central Minsk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the capital since the morning .
Several subway stations in the city center closed an hour before the rally , citing `` passenger safety . ''
The protests come after police detained dozens of medical professionals at an unauthorized protest against Lukashenka on November 7 .
About 60 doctors and other health-care workers who gathered for the demonstration on November 7 were taken away to police stations , according to the human rights group Vyasna .
Most were expected to be released shortly .
Yulia Yarmak was the first of the medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Belarus Service .
She said police had promised to release all detainees except one journalist on November 7 .
Meanwhile , the Belarusian Association of Journalists said on November 8 that two reporters detained while covering the medics ' rally were transferred to the Akrestsina prison in Minsk .
It identified the reporters as Yekaterina Karpitskaya from the Nasha Niva and Raman Papkov from the MBKh-Media publications .
The association said there were at least 14 journalists in custody in Belarus .
There have been protests almost daily against Lukashenka in Minsk and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election , which protesters alleged was rigged and that Western countries have refused to accept .
Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , who has been living in Lithuania since shortly after the election amid threats to her and her family , praised the medics for their courage and peaceful action , and slammed the authorities for arresting health personnel in the middle of a pandemic .
Several doctors have lost their jobs because of strikes or protests , actions that Tsikhanouskaya criticized , saying Lukashenka was sacrificing people 's lives to stay in power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the medical community and the population for having resisted calls for strict lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus .
Lukashenka downplayed the pandemic in the spring and summer , but partially closed all the country 's land borders to foreigners on November 1 as second wave of the virus engulfs Europe .
Tsikhanouskaya also accused the authorities of hiding the true extent of the pandemic in the country .
Belarus reported 997 new infections , a new daily record , and three deaths related to the virus on November 7 for a total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Also on November 7 at least 14 people were detained at a separate women 's march in Minsk , Vyasna said .
As on previous Saturdays , the women walked along Independence Avenue holding flowers in protest against Lukashenka .
Tsikhanouskaya also criticized Lukashenka for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Astravets near the Lithuanian border without the people 's consent .
The nuclear power plant , the first in Belarus , has been heavily criticized by Lithuania as a potential environmental and security threat .
Lukashenka boasted that Belarus `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its official opening on November 7 .
`` The Astravets nuclear power station is a new step into the future , toward ensuring the energy security of the state , '' Lukashenka said in comments broadcast on state television .
Built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $ 10 billion loan , construction of the power plant near the city of Astravets , in the western Hrodna region , was opposed by Lithuania , whose capital , Vilnius , is just 50 kilometers away .
Astravets draws water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ River , which also supplies drinking water in Lithuania .
Belarus began operating the plant earlier this week , prompting Lithuania to halt electricity imports from its neighbor .
The plant 's construction has also been divisive among Belarusians , who suffered greatly from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster .
Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world 's worst civilian nuclear accident .
With reporting by Reuters and dpa


rferl--2020-11-09--Iran Calls For Dialogue With Neighbors After Trump's Election Defeat

Iran has called for dialogue with neighboring countries now that Donald Trump has lost the U.S. presidential election .
`` Trump 's gone in 70 days .
But we 'll remain here forever , '' Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on November 9 , after Democrat Joe Biden clinched the presidency following the November 3 vote .
Biden will be inaugurated in January .
“ We extend our hand to our neighbors for dialog to resolve differences , ” Zarif wrote , adding : “ Only together can we build a better future for all.
” Mainly Shi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States and its Sunni-ruled allies in the Persian Gulf -- particularly Bahrain , Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates -- have dramatically deteriorated during Trump 's presidency .
Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and launched a `` maximum pressure '' campaign against Iran that included crippling economic sanctions .
But the Trump administration has failed to achieve its stated goal of forcing Tehran to negotiate a new accord that would place indefinite curbs on its nuclear program and restrict Tehran 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. sanctions , Iran has gradually stopped adhering to its commitments under the nuclear accord .
Tehran has signaled its readiness to return to commitments under the agreement if the United States returns to the deal and lift sanctions imposed under Trump .
Biden has suggested Washington may rejoin the landmark nuclear agreement struck when he served as vice president under President Barack Obama .
`` We urgently need to change course , '' Biden wrote in September in an opinion piece published on CNN , saying he was `` ready to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ takes steps to show it is ready , too . ''
In comments carried by the semiofficial news agency ISNA , Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeid Khatibzadeh said that Tehran is “ realistic about the United States.
” “ We pay attention to its actions , not to speculation and media analysis , '' Khatibzadeh added .
With reporting by dpa and AFP

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


rferl--2020-11-09--Kremlin Awaits Final U.S. Vote Results Before Congratulating President-Elect Biden

As a growing number of world leaders are congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden , the Kremlin says it will wait for the final official results of the election before commenting on its outcome .
Asked why in 2016 President Vladimir Putin had congratulated Republican Donald Trump soon after he had won the Electoral College and beaten Democrat Hillary Clinton , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on November 9 : `` You can see that there are certain legal procedures that have been announced by the current president.
” “ That is why the situations are different and we therefore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ official announcement , '' Peskov added .
Trump 's Democratic challenger , Biden , clinched the presidency on November 7 , four days after election day , clearing the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House .
But some U.S. states are counting remaining votes , and Trump is launching legal challenges to the results in several states .
The moves are not expected to change the overall result in the Electoral College , however .
Electoral College electors meet on December 14 to cast their official votes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he would respect the choice of the American people '' and was ready to work with any U.S. president .
Moscow hoped it could find a way to normalize relations with Washington , according to the spokesman .
Russian ties with the United States sank to post-Cold War lows in 2014 , when Russia annexed Ukraine ’ s Crimea region .
Biden , who was serving as vice president under President Barack Obama at the time , is expected to take a tougher stance toward the Kremlin on its human rights record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy , who has found his government caught up in U.S. domestic political affairs , tweeted his congratulations on November 7 , saying Ukraine `` is optimistic about the future of the strategic partnership with the United States . ''
With reporting by AFP and Reuters

As a growing number of world leaders are congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, the Kremlin says it will wait for the final official results of the election before commenting on its outcome.
Asked why in 2016 President Vladimir Putin had congratulated Republican Donald Trump soon after he had won the Electoral College and beaten Democrat Hillary Clinton, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on November 9: "You can see that there are certain legal procedures that have been announced by the current president.”
“That is why the situations are different and we therefore think it appropriate to wait for an official announcement," Peskov added.
Trump's Democratic challenger, Biden, clinched the presidency on November 7, four days after election day, clearing the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
But some U.S. states are counting remaining votes, and Trump is launching legal challenges to the results in several states. The moves are not expected to change the overall result in the Electoral College, however.
Electoral College electors meet on December 14 to cast their official votes.
Peskov said Putin had “repeatedly said he would respect the choice of the American people" and was ready to work with any U.S. president.
Moscow hoped it could find a way to normalize relations with Washington, according to the spokesman.
Russian ties with the United States sank to post-Cold War lows in 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region.
Biden, who was serving as vice president under President Barack Obama at the time, is expected to take a tougher stance toward the Kremlin on its human rights record and foreign policies compared with Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has found his government caught up in U.S. domestic political affairs, tweeted his congratulations on November 7, saying Ukraine "is optimistic about the future of the strategic partnership with the United States."
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-11-09--Armenian Opposition Requests Talks With Pashinian Amid Fighting Around Key Nagorno-Karabakh Town

YEREVAN -- The leaders of the two opposition factions in the Armenian parliament have reiterated their demand for a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to discuss the ongoing fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh .
Prosperous Armenia ’ s Gagik Tsarukian and Edmon Marukian of Bright Armenia renewed their call on November 9 as Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh gave different accounts of the battle for the region ’ s strategic town of Shushi ( known as Susa in Azeri ) .
Tsarukian and Marukian issued a joint statement in which they reminded Pashinian about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for an urgent meeting of the country ’ s Security Council and opposition lawmakers .
They said Pashinian had given no official response to that request .
“ Taking into account that fighting in Artsakh ( the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh ) continues , we once again appeal to the prime minister with a demand for an immediate meeting with the parliamentary opposition factions , ” the statement reads .
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on November 8 said his country ’ s forces had taken Shushi , the second-largest settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh -- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by officials in Yerevan .
Earlier , Aliyev told the BBC that Yerevan 's `` opportunities to compromise are shrinking '' and said he saw no possibility of peace talks with Pashinian .
Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanian said that fighting near Shushi -- a hilltop town located on a main road some 10 kilometers south of the region 's main city , Stepanakert , which it overlooks -- continued in the morning of November 9 .
Nagorno-Karabakh ’ s de facto ethnic Armenian leader , Arayik Harutiunian , said in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positions defending Stepanakert and praised ethnic Armenian forces “ who have , for more than a day , been resisting enemy bandits attacking the capital from Shushi.
” Meanwhile , Nagorno-Karabakh ’ s de facto Defense Ministry said it had recorded another 44 casualties among its forces , pushing its military death toll to 1,221 since fighting with the Azerbaijani military erupted on September 27 .
Azerbaijan has not released any military casualty figures .
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan , but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been governing their own affairs , with support from Armenia , since Azerbaijan 's troops were pushed out of the region in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994 .
Efforts to resolve the conflict by the OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by Russia , France , and the United States -- have not brought any results since 1992 .
Diplomats appeared to ramp up efforts over the weekend , with Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking separately on November 7 to his Turkish and French counterparts , Recep Tayyip Erdogan and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Erdogan proposed that Putin create a new working group to try settle the conflict .
On November 9 , Putin 's spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the report .
The fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh has raised fears of a wider conflict in the South Caucasus drawing in NATO member Turkey , which is an ally of Azerbaijan , and Russia , which has a military pact with Armenia .
With reporting by CNN Turk , the BBC , and Interfax

BAKU/YEREVAN -- Officials from the de facto government in the breakaway area of Nagorno-Karabakh have confirmed that Azerbaijani forces have taken control of the strategic town of Shushi amid heavy fighting and reports forces are approaching the region’s capital, Stepanakert.
"Today, unfortunately, we have to accept that a chain of unlucky events has followed us for days and the city of Shushi is completely out of our control," Vahram Poghosian, a spokesman for the leader of the unrecognized republic's de facto government, said on November 9.
The statement confirms comments by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on November 8 that his country’s forces had taken Shushi, the second-largest settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh. That announcement had sent many people into the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, to celebrate.
However, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, in a message on Facebook, later said that "the fighting for Shushi continues," without elaborating.
Surrounded by sheer cliffs, Shushi (known as Susa in Azeri) is seen as a strategic point for Azerbaijani forces to launch attacks on Stepanakert.
Earlier, Aliyev told the BBC that Yerevan's "opportunities to compromise are shrinking" and said he saw no possibility of peace talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the population reject Azerbaijani rule. They have been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops were pushed out of the region in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.
Shushi's population was mainly Azerbaijani before the 1991-94 war, but the town is culturally significant to both sides.
Several thousand people are feared killed in the latest flare-up of the conflict over territory. Three cease-fires have failed in the past six weeks and Azerbaijan's superior weaponry and battlefield gains have reduced its incentive to seek a lasting peace deal.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto Defense Ministry said it had recorded another 44 casualties among its forces, pushing its military death toll to 1,221 since fighting with the Azerbaijani military erupted on September 27.
Azerbaijan has not released any military casualty figures.
Efforts to resolve the conflict by the OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States -- have not brought any results since 1992.
Diplomats appeared to ramp up efforts over the weekend, with Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking separately on November 7 to his Turkish and French counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron, respectively.
CNN Turk quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Erdogan proposed that Putin create a new working group to try settle the conflict.
On November 9, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the report.
The fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh has raised fears of a wider conflict in the South Caucasus drawing in NATO member Turkey, which is an ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a military pact with Armenia.
With reporting by CNN Turk, the BBC, and Interfax


rferl--2020-11-09--Over 1,000 People Detained In Latest Crackdown On Protests In Belarus

MINSK -- More than 1,000 anti-government demonstrators were detained across Belarus on the 13th consecutive Sunday of protests calling for the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a new presidential election following a disputed vote three months ago .
The Vyasna human rights group said a total of 1,024 people were detained by security forces on November 8 , with video and photographs on social media showing men , often in plainclothes , brutally wrestling demonstrators to the ground and forcing them into police transport .
Most of the arrests took place in the capital , Minsk , where several thousand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waved the red-and-white flags and umbrellas that have become the symbol of the opposition .
Security forces prevented protesters from gathering near city hall , blocking several streets and cordoning off areas in the center of the city .
Access to the Internet was restricted in Minsk since the morning , and several subway stations in the city center closed an hour before the rally , citing `` passenger safety . ''
Protest rallies and detentions were also reported in Homel , Vitebsk , Zhlobin , and other cities .
At least six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Vyasna said some of the detainees were later released .
Lukashenka , who has ruled Belarus for 26 years , has faced almost daily protests since the August 9 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept .
Thousands of people have been arrested since authorities declared Lukashenka the landslide winner of the vote .
Most of the country 's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country .
In response to the “ violence , unjustified arrests , and falsification ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Union has imposed visa bans and asset freezes on 55 Belarusian high-raking officials , including Lukashenka .
Last week , an independent report found “ massive and systematic ” human rights violations in Belarus before and in the wake of the presidential vote , including election fraud and excessive police violence and systematic torture , as well as widespread arrests of peaceful protesters .
The report , prepared by an independent expert under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , called for a new election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisoners , and the establishment of an independent , international investigation into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment .
“ It ’ s frankly very shocking that this kind of behavior would happen in a country on the European continent in the 21st century , ” James Gilmore , the U.S. ambassador to the OSCE , told a press briefing on November 6 , citing “ credible reports of torture , arbitrary detention on a mass scale , [ and ] expansive restrictions on the rights of peaceful assembly and freedoms of expression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the report is very detailed about the threats against people , women being threatened with rape , threatened -- the family members being threatened that their children would be taken away , physical abuse , attacks on people , people putting -- throwing people into prison in inhumane conditions , all for the purpose of trying to discourage the development of legitimate democracy in Belarus at this point , ” Gilmore said .

MINSK -- More than 1,000 anti-government demonstrators were detained across Belarus on the 13th consecutive Sunday of protests calling for the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a new presidential election following a disputed vote three months ago.
The Vyasna human rights group said a total of 1,024 people were detained by security forces on November 8, with video and photographs on social media showing men, often in plainclothes, brutally wrestling demonstrators to the ground and forcing them into police transport.
Most of the arrests took place in the capital, Minsk, where several thousand participants in a so-called March Of Democracy waved the red-and-white flags and umbrellas that have become the symbol of the opposition.
Security forces prevented protesters from gathering near city hall, blocking several streets and cordoning off areas in the center of the city.
Access to the Internet was restricted in Minsk since the morning, and several subway stations in the city center closed an hour before the rally, citing "passenger safety."
Protest rallies and detentions were also reported in Homel, Vitebsk, Zhlobin, and other cities.
At least six of those listed as detained were journalists.
Vyasna said some of the detainees were later released.
Lukashenka, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, has faced almost daily protests since the August 9 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept.
Thousands of people have been arrested since authorities declared Lukashenka the landslide winner of the vote. Most of the country's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
In response to the “violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification” of the presidential vote, the European Union has imposed visa bans and asset freezes on 55 Belarusian high-raking officials, including Lukashenka.
Last week, an independent report found “massive and systematic” human rights violations in Belarus before and in the wake of the presidential vote, including election fraud and excessive police violence and systematic torture, as well as widespread arrests of peaceful protesters.
The report, prepared by an independent expert under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), called for a new election, the immediate release of all political prisoners, and the establishment of an independent, international investigation into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
“It’s frankly very shocking that this kind of behavior would happen in a country on the European continent in the 21st century,” James Gilmore, the U.S. ambassador to the OSCE, told a press briefing on November 6, citing “credible reports of torture, arbitrary detention on a mass scale, [and] expansive restrictions on the rights of peaceful assembly and freedoms of expression and association.”
“In fact, the report is very detailed about the threats against people, women being threatened with rape, threatened -- the family members being threatened that their children would be taken away, physical abuse, attacks on people, people putting -- throwing people into prison in inhumane conditions, all for the purpose of trying to discourage the development of legitimate democracy in Belarus at this point,” Gilmore said.


rferl--2020-11-09--Russian Soldier Shoots Three Dead At Air Base

The Russian military says one of its servicemen has killed three people at a military air base in the country ’ s west .
The incident occurred in the Voronezh region early in the morning of November 9 , the Western Military District 's press service said in a statement .
`` A soldier on duty ... attacked officers who had arrived to check the on-duty shift , took a gun from one of the officers , and fled the site .
Three servicemen sustained lethal injuries as a result of the attack , ” the statement said .
Media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the attack had been detained by police .
The incident reportedly took place at the Baltimor military air base , which is under renovation .
Sources were quoted as saying that a 20-year-old private , identified as Anton Makarov , argued with a major , snatched the officer 's handgun , and shot him .
Makarov then fired at a corporal and a private who rushed to assist the major .
Doctors at a military hospital in Voronezh said a soldier who sustained injuries in the shooting was being treated at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ news agency .
Early reports said the attacker had barricaded himself at the base .
Deadly shootings at Russia 's military units often take place as the result of wide-spread hazing , which has been under the focus of human rights organizations for years .
In recent years , photos and video footage have been posted online by members of the Russian military that show the bullying of young recruits in the army .
In October 2019 , a private shot eight fellow servicemen dead and wounded two other soldiers in a military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the incident was triggered by bullying .
With reporting by Interfax , RIA Novosti , and TASS

The Russian military says one of its servicemen has killed three people at a military air base in the country’s west.
The incident occurred in the Voronezh region early in the morning of November 9, the Western Military District's press service said in a statement.
"A soldier on duty...attacked officers who had arrived to check the on-duty shift, took a gun from one of the officers, and fled the site. Three servicemen sustained lethal injuries as a result of the attack,” the statement said.
Media reports later said that the soldier suspected in the attack had been detained by police.
The incident reportedly took place at the Baltimor military air base, which is under renovation.
Sources were quoted as saying that a 20-year-old private, identified as Anton Makarov, argued with a major, snatched the officer's handgun, and shot him. Makarov then fired at a corporal and a private who rushed to assist the major.
Doctors at a military hospital in Voronezh said a soldier who sustained injuries in the shooting was being treated at the medical facility, according to the TASS news agency.
Early reports said the attacker had barricaded himself at the base.
Deadly shootings at Russia's military units often take place as the result of wide-spread hazing, which has been under the focus of human rights organizations for years.
In recent years, photos and video footage have been posted online by members of the Russian military that show the bullying of young recruits in the army.
In October 2019, a private shot eight fellow servicemen dead and wounded two other soldiers in a military unit in Siberia.
Investigations revealed that the incident was triggered by bullying.
With reporting by Interfax, RIA Novosti, and TASS


rferl--2020-11-09--Former Kosovar President Thaci To Make Initial Court Appearance On War Crimes Charges

Former Kosovar President Hashim Thaci will make an initial court appearance in The Hague on November 9 on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Kosovo ’ s war of independence more than 20 years ago .
A commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army ( UCK ) during the 1998-99 war , Thaci resigned as president on November 5 after learning the Kosovo Specialist Chambers ( KSC ) had confirmed an indictment against him .
Thaci and two other former UCK members were transferred to the detention facilities of The Hague-based KSC later that day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ innocence , has pledged to cooperate with the tribunal .
The KSC has said the initial appearance will be a public hearing .
“ During an initial appearance , the pretrial judge makes sure that the rights of the accused , including the right to legal representation , are respected , and that the accused understands the charges against him or her , ” the court said in a statement .
Thaci , who says he is innocent , has pledged to cooperate with the tribunal .
The KSC and Specialist Prosecutor 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Kosovo , located in The Hague , hosting four Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor 's Office .
The SPO in June accused Thaci and other suspects of being `` criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders , '' as well as the `` enforced disappearance of persons , persecution , and torture . ''
The alleged crimes involved `` hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian , Serb , Roma , and other ethnicities and include political opponents , '' according to the SPO .
The KSC is mandated to look into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war to gain independence from Serbia .
It operates under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation .
Kosovo 's war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead .
Most of them were ethnic Albanians from Kosovo .
More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for .
The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia .
Kosovo , which has a largely ethnic Albanian population , declared independence from Serbia in 2008 , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not Serbia or its allies Russia and China .
Two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army ( UCK ) were transferred to the detention facilities of the KSC on November 5 .
They are Kadri Veseli , a former speaker of parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , and Rexhep Selimi , a Kosovar lawmaker and former UCK member .
Jakup Krasniqi , also an ex-speaker of parliament and former guerrilla commander , was taken into custody on November 4 and taken to The Hague .
Krasniqi pleaded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made his first appearance at the court on November 9 .
`` I do not feel guilty or responsible for any count stated in the indictment and for anything else stated in the indictment , '' he told the pretrial judge .
Information about the date of the appearances of Veseli and Selimi is to be announced later .
Salih Mustafa , one of the founders of the UCK , had already been transferred to The Hague to face similar charges .
Two more suspects , Nesim Haradinaj and Hysen Gucati , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but their indictments have yet to be confirmed .

Former Kosovar President Hashim Thaci has appeared for the first time before a war crimes court in The Hague to face charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Kosovo’s war of independence more than 20 years ago.
A commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) during the 1998-1999 war, Thaci resigned as president on November 5 after learning the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) had confirmed an indictment against him.
Wearing a gray suit and red tie, Thaci, 52, entered a plea of "not guilty" on November 9 and told the court, "I do not agree" with the war crime charges.
Thaci and two other former UCK members were transferred to the detention facilities of The Hague-based KSC later that day.
The former president, who has claimed innocence, has pledged to cooperate with the tribunal.
The KSC has said the initial appearance will be a public hearing.
“During an initial appearance, the pretrial judge makes sure that the rights of the accused, including the right to legal representation, are respected, and that the accused understands the charges against him or her,” the court said in a statement.
The KSC and Specialist Prosecutor's Office (SPO) is a court of Kosovo, located in The Hague, hosting four Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor's Office.
The SPO in June accused Thaci and other suspects of being "criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders," as well as the "enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture."
The alleged crimes involved "hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents," according to the SPO.
The KSC is mandated to look into allegations that members of the UCK committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war to gain independence from Serbia.
It operates under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation.
Kosovo's war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead. Most of them were ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for. The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia.
Kosovo, which has a largely ethnic Albanian population, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move recognized by many Western states but not Serbia or its allies Russia and China.
Two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) were transferred to the detention facilities of the KSC on November 5.
They are Kadri Veseli, a former speaker of parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and Rexhep Selimi, a Kosovar lawmaker and former UCK member.
Jakup Krasniqi, also an ex-speaker of parliament and former guerrilla commander, was taken into custody on November 4 and taken to The Hague.
Krasniqi pleaded not guilty to the charges when he made his first appearance at the court on November 9.
"I do not feel guilty or responsible for any count stated in the indictment and for anything else stated in the indictment," he told the pretrial judge.
Information about the date of the appearances of Veseli and Selimi is to be announced later.
Salih Mustafa, one of the founders of the UCK, had already been transferred to The Hague to face similar charges.
Two more suspects, Nesim Haradinaj and Hysen Gucati, are also in detention in the Dutch city, but their indictments have yet to be confirmed.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service


rferl--2020-11-09--Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree To Russia-Brokered End To Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

YEREVAN/BAKU -- The leaders of Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Russia have signed an agreement to end fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh starting on November 10 , triggering unrest in the Armenian capital as protesters stormed government buildings .
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian first announced the agreement in an early morning social media post , saying he had signed a statement with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on the “ termination ” of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh war as of 1:00 a.m. local time .
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev later confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long-term deployment of Russian peacekeepers .
`` We believe that the achieved agreements will create [ the ] necessary conditions for a long-term and full-fledged settlement of the crisis around Nagorno-Karabakh on a fair basis and in the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani people , '' Putin said of the agreement .
The announcement on November 10 comes as Azerbaijani forces have made major battlefield gains in the six-week flare up in the decades-long conflict , including reports they were approaching the region ’ s capital , Stepanakert .
“ I made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for all of us , ” Pashinian said on Facebook .
“ I made this decision as a result of an in-depth analysis of the military situation and an assessment of the people who know it best.
” Pashinian said he would provide more information in the coming days , adding that the agreement was “ the best possible solution for the current situation.
” Nagorno-Karabakh ’ s de facto ethnic Armenian leader , Arayik Harutiunian , said he had agreed with Pashinian to end hostilities with Azerbaijan “ given the current dire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the separatist enclave .
The backlash from the announcement in Yerevan was swift as several thousand protesters angry over the agreement stormed government buildings and the opposition called on Pashinian to resign .
Aliyev said in a televised online meeting with Putin that the trilateral agreement would be a crucial point in the settlement of the conflict .
He also said that Turkey , a close ally of Baku , would take part in the peacekeeping center to monitor the cease-fire .
Under the deal , Azerbaijan will keep territory in Nagorno-Karabakh and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It also calls for Armenian forces to hand over some areas it held outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh , including the eastern district of Agdam and western area of Kalbacar .
Armenians will also forfeit the Lachin region , where a crucial road connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia .
The agreement calls for a 5-kilometer wide area in the so-called Lachin Corridor to remain open and be protected by around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers .
The agreement also calls for Russian border services to monitor a new transport corridor through Armenia connecting Azerbaijan to its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surrounded by Armenia , Iran , and Turkey .
Since fighting erupted on September 27 , several thousand people are believed to have been killed as three cease-fires failed to halt fighting between ethnic Armenian forces and the Azerbaijani military .
Aliyev on November 8 said that his country ’ s forces had taken Shushi ( known as Susa in Azeri ) , offering strategic heights over Stepanakert just 10 kilometers away .
Shushi also lies along the main road connecting Stepanakert with Armenia .
Thousands of people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh in recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicles clogging the main road connecting the enclave to Armenia .
Azerbaijan 's forces in recent weeks have also retaken several regions outside Nagorno-Karabakh that had been occupied by ethnic Armenian forces .
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan , but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the population reject Azerbaijani rule .
They have been governing their own affairs , with support from Armenia , since Azerbaijan 's troops were pushed out of the region in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994 .
Efforts to resolve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- co-chaired by Russia , France , and the United States -- have not brought any results since 1992 .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Armenian Service , RFE/RL 's Azerbaijan Service , and AP .

YEREVAN/BAKU -- The leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia have signed an agreement to end fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh starting on November 10, triggering unrest in the Armenian capital as protesters stormed government buildings.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian first announced the agreement in an early morning social media post, saying he had signed a statement with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on the “termination” of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh war as of 1:00 a.m. local time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev later confirmed the agreement, which will include the long-term deployment of Russian peacekeepers.
"We believe that the achieved agreements will create [the] necessary conditions for a long-term and full-fledged settlement of the crisis around Nagorno-Karabakh on a fair basis and in the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani people," Putin said of the agreement.
The announcement on November 10 comes as Azerbaijani forces have made major battlefield gains in the six-week flare up in the decades-long conflict, including reports they were approaching the region’s capital, Stepanakert.
“I made a very difficult decision for myself and for all of us,” Pashinian said on Facebook. “I made this decision as a result of an in-depth analysis of the military situation and an assessment of the people who know it best.”
Pashinian said he would provide more information in the coming days, adding that the agreement was “the best possible solution for the current situation.”
Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto ethnic Armenian leader, Arayik Harutiunian, said he had agreed with Pashinian to end hostilities with Azerbaijan “given the current dire situation” and to avoid completely losing the separatist enclave.
The backlash from the announcement was swift, with several thousand protesters angry at the government gathering in Yerevan as mobs stormed government buildings and parliament. Opposition parties called on Pashinian to resign.
Aliyev said in televised remarks that the trilateral agreement would be a crucial point in the settlement of the conflict.
"An iron hand forced him to sign this document," Aliyev said, referring to Pashinian. "This is essentially a capitulation."
Under the deal, Azerbaijan will keep territory in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas captured during the conflict. It also calls for Armenian forces to hand over some areas it held outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the eastern district of Agdam and western area of Kalbacar.
Armenians will also forfeit the Lachin region, where a crucial road connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The agreement calls for a 5-kilometer wide area in the so-called Lachin Corridor to remain open and be protected by around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers.
The agreement also calls for Russian border services to monitor a new transport corridor through Armenia connecting Azerbaijan to its western exclave of Naxcivan, which is surrounded by Armenia, Iran, and Turkey.
Aliyev also said that Turkey, a close ally of Baku, would take part in the peacekeeping center to monitor the cease-fire.
Since fighting erupted on September 27, several thousand people are believed to have been killed on both sides. Three cease-fire agreements broke down as soon as they were to go into force.
In a major development, Aliyev on November 8 said that his country’s forces had taken Shushi (known as Susa in Azeri), offering strategic heights over Stepanakert just 10 kilometers away.
Shushi also lies along the main road connecting Stepanakert with Armenia.
Thousands of people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh in recent days to Armenia, with lines of vehicles clogging the main road connecting the enclave to Armenia.
Azerbaijan's forces in recent weeks have also retaken several regions outside Nagorno-Karabakh that had been occupied by ethnic Armenian forces.
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the population reject Azerbaijani rule. They have been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops were pushed out of the region in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.
Efforts to resolve the conflict by the OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States -- have not brought any results since 1992.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian Service, RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service, and AP.


rferl--2020-11-09--Russian Military Helicopter Shot Down In Armenia Amid Karabakh Fighting

MOSCOW -- Azerbaijan has apologized for the `` accidental '' downing of a Russian military helicopter over Armenia that left two crew members dead and one injured on November 9 .
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry added that it was prepared to pay compensation .
Earlier , the Russian Defense Ministry said the Russian Mi-24 helicopter was shot down from the ground by a “ man-portable air-defense system ” while it was providing air cover to a “ vehicle convoy of the 102nd Russian military base on the territory of the Republic of Armenia in the airspace close to the Armenian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Azerbaijan ’ s Naxcivan exclave .
The ministry confirmed the casualties .
Russia is a key ally and military supplier of Armenia , which is locked in a conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh .
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on November 9 that “ Russia is planning to become more actively involved not in the conflict , but in its settlement.
” “ We ’ re doing all we can to resolve the situation and ensure that the parties sit down at the negotiating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interview with Ekho Moskvy radio .
Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh , supported by Yerevan , have been de facto independent since Azerbaijani forces were pushed out of the region and some surrounding districts in a war that ended with a 1994 cease-fire .
Fighting flared up again around the region in late September .
Several thousand people are believed to have been killed in the latest fighting , and three cease-fires have failed to take hold .
On November 8 , Azerbaijan announced that its forces had captured Shushi ( known as Susa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the region which lies on a major road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh ’ s capital , Stepanakert , with Armenia .
On October 31 , Armenia formally asked Russia to begin military-assistance consultations under a 1997 mutual-assistance treaty .
Moscow said at the time it would `` render all necessary assistance to Yerevan if military operations take place directly on the territory of Armenia . ''
Naxcivan is about 70 kilometers from Nagorno-Karabakh , separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenian territory .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Armenian Service and TASS

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--2020-11-09--Moscow Court Mitigates Prison Sentence For Activist In High-Profile 'Moscow Case'

MOSCOW -- A court of appeals in Moscow has intervened to ease the terms of the three-year prison term activist Yegor Lesnykh received during a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Moscow last year .
The Court of Appeals No.2 on November 9 ruled that Lesnykh will serve the remaining part of his sentence in a colony settlement instead of a prison .
A colony settlement is a penitentiary in which convicts live close to a facility where they work .
Lesnykh , who is currently serving his prison term in the Correctional Colony No .
12 in the Volgograd region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activists and charged with assaulting police during rallies in July and August that year .
At the rallies , demonstrators in the Russian capital demanded opposition and independent candidates be put on the ballot for the Moscow City Duma election that was held in September .
The barring of the would-be candidates sparked a wave of protests in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia , some of which were violently suppressed by police who detained thousands , sparking international condemnation .
Lesnykh was one of several activists punished with stiff prison sentences following the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Moscow Case . ''
The activists ' sentences sparked a public outcry in Russia because of their severity .
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Lesnykh as a political prisoner .

MOSCOW -- A court of appeals in Moscow has intervened to ease the terms of the three-year prison term activist Yegor Lesnykh received during a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Moscow last year.
The Court of Appeals No.2 on November 9 ruled that Lesnykh will serve the remaining part of his sentence in a colony settlement instead of a prison. A colony settlement is a penitentiary in which convicts live close to a facility where they work.
Lesnykh, who is currently serving his prison term in the Correctional Colony No. 12 in the Volgograd region, was arrested along with several other activists and charged with assaulting police during rallies in July and August that year.
At the rallies, demonstrators in the Russian capital demanded opposition and independent candidates be put on the ballot for the Moscow City Duma election that was held in September.
The barring of the would-be candidates sparked a wave of protests in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia, some of which were violently suppressed by police who detained thousands, sparking international condemnation.
Lesnykh was one of several activists punished with stiff prison sentences following the protests in what has been dubbed the "Moscow Case."
The activists' sentences sparked a public outcry in Russia because of their severity.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Lesnykh as a political prisoner.


rferl--2020-11-09--Azerbaijan Captures Key City In Nagorno-Karabakh

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Azerbaijan has captured @ @ @ @ @ , known as Susa in Azeri , as fighting with Armenia intensifies for control of @ @ @ @ @ Nagorno-Karabakh .

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Azerbaijan has captured the strategic city of Shushi, known as Susa in Azeri, as fighting with Armenia intensifies for control of the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh.