Charles Maynes

The European Court of Human Rights says Russia's government is responsible for the 2006 killing in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned exiled dissident.

Russia's three days of voting for its parliament and city governments begin Friday. This political season has seen unusual tactics to keep Putin's opposition from running and off the ballot entirely.

The Russian leader will attend an upcoming regional meeting via teleconference, the Kremlin said. Putin said he got his second COVID-19 vaccine in April.

Russia had a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, so while taking some satisfaction in the U.S. failure, it's not gloating. Instability in the region is a danger to Russia's Asian neighbors.

Heather Shkliarov warns that her Belarusian American husband's health is in "immediate danger" following his late-July arrest by security forces of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Alexander Lukashenko got a boost from a meeting with Vladimir Putin amid a disputed presidential election in Belarus and street protests, the biggest crisis of the Belarusian president's 26-year rule.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a limited lifeline to Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, who's faced more than a month of protests after accusations of a rigged election victory.

Unidentified masked men detained opposition leader Maxim Znak on Wednesday. Others have been forced into exile or arrested. Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich warned of "terror against the people."

Media in Belarus report the country's opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was abducted by masked men and hauled away in a van Monday morning while walking in the capital city Minsk.

Maria Kolesnikova, 38, was taken away by masked men in a van Monday in Minsk, according to reports citing eyewitnesses. Authorities later said she was arrested while trying to cross into Ukraine.