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Today, there are important updates from the Russian Federation. Here, Russia is facing a new separatist challenge from within, as armed Karelian activists have declared their intention to fight Moscow and pursue independence for Karelia, the northern region bordering Finland. Calling themselves the Northern Brotherhood, masked men carrying weapons have appeared in videos announcing preparations for partisan resistance against Russian authorities. The organization claims to defend people of Finnic origin and is recruiting supporters for information campaigns, underground activities, and armed operations. Although its membership and capabilities inside Russia remain unverified, its emergence highlights a vulnerability for the Russian government,...

Security guarantees for Ukraine and a new European security strategy were the main topics of meetings in Brussels on November 5 with representatives of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and NATO. Head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service Rustem Umerov said this in a Telegram post, Ukrinform reports. "Together with representatives of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and NATO, we discussed what security guarantees for Ukraine from the United States and other partners should look like, as well as a new European security strategy. We are continuing work on this track. We will share details...

[Sub-title: At least 38 civilians have been killed across Ukraine following intense Russian strikes on: a humanitarian aid centre in Zaporizhzhia, a hospice in Dnipro, and key municipal power networks.] 'Exceptionally horrific strike' — Russian bombs hit school used as humanitarian aid center in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, A wave of devastating Russian bombardments targeting civilian infrastructure across Ukraine has claimed the lives of at least 38 civilians and left scores of others injured over a single 24-hour period. The strikes directly hit a humanitarian distribution point, a medical hospice, and a hospital, deepening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The assaults come...

Independent international monitoring of detention facilities in Russia has come to an end with the country’s formal withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, the Council of Europe said on Sunday. In a statement, the Council of Europe said inspectors from the convention had carried out 30 visits to more than 450 detention facilities in Russia during the 23 years it was a member. Russia, however, permitted the publication of only four visit reports over that period. “Russia may authorize the publication of [the remaining] reports at any time,” the statement read, noting that the unpublished reports...

"Today, the biggest news comes from Europe. Putin warned Europe that a direct war with Russia would have no winners. Commenting on European preparations for a possible conflict with Russia by two thousand and thirty, he said Moscow is ready but does not want war. If they want to prepare, let them prepare. If the situation goes too far, there will be no winners at all, Putin said. With these remarks, Putin essentially threatened Europe with a nuclear war and mutually assured destruction. What Putin is effectively saying is that Europe is preparing for a possible Russian attack, while Moscow...

Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and his delegation safely reached Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast on 30 October, with the local truce at 80 hours and holding. He said he was talking with residents to learn what help they need most. Russia has kept Oleshky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River, cut off for months, leaving residents starving. Now the test is where the buses take people. The White House promised residents who wish to leave transport to their “preferred destination.” Lubinets said on 27 October that everyone who wants to go to Ukraine will be able...

WASHINGTON -- Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness to end his war against Ukraine, warning that Moscow’s growing cooperation with Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang poses a serious challenge to Western security. In an interview with RFE/RL on October 29, Pompeo, who served in President Donald Trump’s first administration, discussed Ukraine’s prospects for peace, the risks of negotiating with Putin, Iran’s support for Moscow, and the need for stronger Western security guarantees for Kyiv. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. RFE/RL: With a fresh round of attacks on...

China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, known collectively as CRINK, are seeking to undermine U.S. leadership by weakening the rules-based international order. Human rights violations and trafficking at the Alabuga complex in the Russian town of Yelabuga illustrate the increasingly complex ties among the CRINK regimes. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 created a demand for drones that Moscow could not initially meet. Its answer was an arrangement to manufacture the Iranian-designed Shahed on Russian soil. This report contends that the burgeoning labor force that powers the Alabuga drone factory has become a site of gross human rights...

Last Friday, hidden in the aftermath of the U.S. government’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia, was language proposing a joint U.S.-Russia project on data centers. As part of wider negotiations with the United States, Special Envoy to the Russian President Kirill Dmitriev suggested that a joint initiative between the two countries could focus on building data center infrastructure. Moreover, his statement suggested that several Russian companies were “actively participating” in the preliminary stages of these discussions. Data centers are a delicate issue. Domestically, the rise in AI use is driving massive economic investment in data center development across the...

VIDEO Today, the biggest news is coming from the Kherson direction. Here, Ukrainian marines just launched a daring operation into the besieged town of Oleshky, on the Russian-controlled side of the Dnipro River. Ukrainian civilians in the town have been under tight Russian control since the full-scale invasion, and recently the situation became critical enough to warrant a massive rescue mission. Heavy bomber drones flew into the Russian-controlled town, delivering dozens of heavy crates full of food, water, medicine, and hygiene supplies to the Ukrainian residents. Smaller Ukrainian FPV drones were also deployed, hoping to carry as much humanitarian aid...

US President Donald Trump renewed calls for a change in Ukraine’s leadership on Monday as his war of words with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued to intensify. “I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine,” Trump stated in Washington DC following criticism from Zelenskyy over the US leader’s decision to ease sanctions pressure on Russia. These latest comments followed on from Trump’s recent accusation that Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to end this war,” and his suggestion that Ukraine should get a new president “who can make a deal.” Many of Trump’s most prominent supporters have backed...

Elon Musk was behind the speed restrictions placed on the military-grade version of Starlink used by Ukrainian forces, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday night, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter. SpaceX first placed a limit on some services in Ukraine on October 13 without warning. Ukrainian officials at the time feared the move by Musk's company may have been made at the request of US President Donald Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine was unable to use its interceptors against Russian drone attacks as a result of the restrictions on Saturday, saying that...

That’s turned up the heat on Trump and the Republican Party to address surging prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The president’s approval ratings on the economy have hit a new low, according to an AP-NORC poll released last week, as the Iran war and his trade battles have increased U.S. prices for oil and other goods. A limited impact, at best Energy policy experts on Friday expressed doubts that a boost in diesel supply from Russia will have a significant impact on oil prices, whether in the U.S. or globally.

Russia has finalized preparations to provide a $1 billion loan to Iran, with the funds ready for transfer once Tehran provides bank account details, Iranian media reported Tuesday. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said the payment process had been finalized but disagreements among Iranian government bodies over how the money should be spent have delayed the transfer. The loan was first reported in June and was described as the first installment of a planned $20 billion Russian loan to Iran, according to Fars.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out a ceasefire on long-range strikes with Ukraine as Moscow steps up its campaign of aerial attacks on Kyiv. “We are told: ‘Let them stop striking your refineries, and you will stop striking their ships.’ It is simply ridiculous,” Putin said on Thursday at the Valdai political forum in Moscow. The remarks followed a meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on September 22, when Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to cease strikes on Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities if Moscow also stopped its...

Russian agents are posting ads online, preying on the vulnerable to fight for them, and sadly, people are falling for it. The money doesn't outweigh the risks. Russia is running out of troops and as a result has resorted to recruiting Americans to fight on the front lines by offering them an incentive of a $27,000 signing bonus. The Kremlin has reportedly duped 18 Americans into fighting on their behalf against Ukraine and according to insiders, it’s a suicide mission.

Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski responds directly to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a UN Security Council meeting on the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine is ready for an energy ceasefire with Russia. Kyiv will refrain from striking enemy energy facilities if Moscow does not attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this while speaking to journalists following his meeting with US President Donald Trump. "We spoke about an energy ceasefire. I don't want to go into details," the head of state said. According to the president, Washington will convey Ukraine's proposal on an energy ceasefire to Moscow.... Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would stop striking Russian energy facilities if Russia does not attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

An entire batch of Russian low Earth orbit satellites, intended to help create Moscow's version of Starlink, has failed to reach or remain at their anticipated altitudes just over a month after launch. The 16 Rassvet-3 satellites, launched on July 19, were originally supposed to orbit the Earth at an altitude of roughly 500 miles, according to the company developing the constellation, Bureau 1440. But publicly available US Space Force data shows that, as of Tuesday, the Rassvet-3 satellites are instead orbiting at altitudes of between 190 miles and 250 miles. Atmospheric drag at that altitude significantly shortens a satellite's...

Germany’s Foreign and Interior Ministers spoke publicly in Berlin on Sep. 1, 2026, to publicly announce new measures the German government will take against Russia in light of “police investigations” and “intelligence findings” which conclude that a “low-level” Russian agent was behind the drone incidents at Leipzig in August. Security services were first alerted to a potential threat when a quadcopter drone was discovered on the airport tarmac next to a parked Antonov An-124 belonging to the Ukrainian state-owned Antonov Airlines. 800 grams of explosives were attached to the drone, which CCTV footage showed impacting the wing of the aircraft...