Features

• October 23, 2025

  Russia's Oil Giants Get Sanctioned By The US. Will It Hurt The Kremlin's War On Ukraine? (For Now, No)

  Along with parallel EU measures, the new US sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies are some of the most consequential since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Whether they will affect the Kremlin’s war aims is an open question.

• October 23, 2025

  Wary Of Angering Russia, Kazakhstan Alters Plaque On Soviet-Era Famine

  Few noticed when city authorities in the Kazakh capital, Astana, quietly replaced a memorial plaque honoring the victims of the deadly 1930s famine earlier this month. The move highlights a long-standing debate over the famine, one of the darkest chapters in the Central Asian nation’s history.

• October 23, 2025

  Inside Nagorno-Karabakh's 'Surreal' Regions 2 Years After Recapture By Azerbaijan

  Aerial photos made inside territories formerly held by ethnic Armenians remain sparsely populated, despite billions of dollars of infrastructure and plans for a "great return" of displaced Azerbaijanis.

• October 23, 2025

  From The Stage To The Front: A Ballet Dancer At War In Ukraine

  Ukrainian ballet dancer Oleksandr Dushakov was in Paris for a performance when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of his country in 2022. By the fall of 2023, Dushakov was fighting at the front. He hopes to return to ballet when the war is over but says: “I don’t see the finish line.”

• October 22, 2025

  Top Iranian Officials Accused Of Shah-Era Assassination

  Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, faces new allegations from U.S.-based scholar Mehrzad Boroujerdi, who accuses him of involvement in his father’s 1978 killing.

• October 21, 2025

  Brussels Moves To Leverage $204 Billion In Russian Assets For Ukraine Loan

  EU leaders will task the European Commission with designing a plan to use $204 billion in frozen Russian assets to back a loan for Ukraine, aiming to fill funding gaps as US support wanes. Key disputes remain over legality, spending rules, and who will share the risk.

• October 21, 2025

  Nord Stream Sabotage Case Back In Court Amid Legal Setbacks, Political Blowback

  Germany’s ongoing effort to pursue Ukrainian citizens it suspects of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines faces its next battle in the high-security bunker courtroom at Bologna prison in northern Italy on October 23, following a series of recent legal and political setbacks.

• October 21, 2025

  Wider Europe Briefing: EU Leaders Might Agree On Russia Sanctions...But Little Else

  In this week's newsletter, RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, previews the upcoming EU summit and looks at Brussels' plan to train Ukrainian soldiers on their own soil.

• October 21, 2025

  Ex-NATO Chief Stoltenberg Says Alliance Let Ukraine Down, US Was 'Defeatist'

  Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance “was letting Ukraine down” by failing to deliver enough support during 2023-24, describing a “defeatist” mood in Washington and European nations as they failed to make promised arms deliveries.

• October 20, 2025

  Here's Why Russia's Vladimir Putin Is Fixated On Ukraine's Donbas

  Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region is central to the Kremlin’s political and military priorities; its importance -- economic, cultural, historic -- stretches back decades, if not centuries. Why the fixation?

• October 20, 2025

  EU Readies New Trade Routes -- And A Challenge To Beijing And Moscow -- At Luxembourg Summit

  Brussels will host top officials from across Central Asia and the Caucasus as the EU aims to use its influence and pocketbook to push back against Beijing and Moscow.

• October 19, 2025

  EU May Train Troops Inside Ukraine As Part Of Expanded Mission

  The EU is considering training Ukrainian troops inside Ukraine and expanding its support with border monitoring, cybersecurity aid, and war veteran reintegration -- moves that would deepen Brussels’ role as Kyiv pushes for stronger defense and eventual EU membership.

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