TALLINN, ESTONIA — Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 20 more people that rights activists describe as political prisoners, a statement on the president’s website said Saturday.  The announcement came amid…

LONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73. …

ROME — Efforts to release Italian journalist Cecilia Sala from prison in Iran are “complicated,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday.  Sala was detained on December 19 by police in…

As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers’ rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his…

MOSCOW / CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — Russian energy giant Gazprom said Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on Jan. 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova, which…

ISTANBUL — A delegation from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish DEM party is due on Saturday to visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on a prison island…

Ukraine said on Saturday it had struck a storage and maintenance depot for long-range Shahed drones in Russia’s Oryol region, adding that this had “significantly reduced” Russia’s ability to launch…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Idil Abdullahi Goley’s journey seeking a better life in Europe started in Somalia with a $6,500 payment to local smugglers. It ended a month later with fellow migrants…

VOA Russian spoke with U.S. officials, politicians and experts to see how U.S. relations with China and Russia could change under the incoming Donald Trump administration. Experts say Beijing may…

VOA Russian speaks to aviation expert Konstantin Kryvolap, who takes apart Moscow’s official versions of the crash of the Russia-bound Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan and says a Russian missile…

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on the founder of Georgia’s ruling political party, which has steered the country away from a pro-Western stance and toward Russia, U.S. officials…

BAMAKO, MALI — Nearly 70 migrants died when their boat sank as they tried to reach Spain earlier this month, Mali’s Minister for Malians Living Abroad said. In a press release…

Russia’s invasion has pushed Ukrainian tech companies working with defense simulation technology to seriously compete in global markets. One such company is SKIFTECH, which specializes in high-tech military simulators. Iryna…

Russia’s aviation chief said Friday that a Ukrainian drone attack was under way in the region of Chechnya at the time an Azerbaijani airliner attempted to land before diverting to…

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea’s spy agency said Friday. Pyongyang has…

CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — The parliament in ex-Soviet Moldova, controlled by pro-Western lawmakers, approved a 10-year defense strategy on Thursday calling for increased military spending as part of a plan to join…

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia’s war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces….

The Kremlin completed preparations to isolate the Russian segment of the internet from the rest of the World Wide Web, experts told VOA Russian. The Kremlin may implement severe internet…

Both Russia and Ukraine expanded the use of drones in 2024 as a relatively cheap means of warfare that requires an opponent to use a much more expensive air defense…

FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Finnish authorities have detained a Russia-linked ship as they investigate whether it damaged a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables, according to police and news media…

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about…

Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 20 of the 31 drones that Russian forces launched in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv…

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN — Experts say Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to enforce Western sanctions against companies supplying dual-use goods and equipment to Russia are constrained by opposition from business, limited bureaucratic resources, and unwillingness…

ISTANBUL — In a dim one-room apartment in one of Istanbul’s poorest neighborhoods, 11-year-old Atakan Sahin curls up on a threadbare sofa with his siblings to watch TV while their mother…

LILLE, FRANCE — French authorities said they rescued 107 migrants trying to cross the Channel from France to England on Wednesday. Over the course of Christmas Day, 12 rescue operations were…

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s election appeals authority on Wednesday canceled a ban on the main party of the ethnic Serb minority, allowing it to field candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election. …

Vatican City — Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms…

Moscow — A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major that sank in the Mediterranean Sea was the victim of “an act of terrorism,” state news agency RIA cited the vessel’s owner…