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At least 23 children killed in Iran’s crackdown on protests, Sistan-Baluchistan Province under a strict lockdown and Internet blackout, and a fire and reported clashes in Tehran’s Evin Prison.  

Courts in Tajikistan have handed down long prison sentences to three independent journalists in recent days, while several others await sentencing on what watchdogs say are dubious charges. Media advocates say the sentences are part of a renewed crackdown on dissent.  

Belarusian courts have never handed down a sentence of this magnitude for a political opponent: 25 years in prison for Mikalay Autukhovich, a businessman and activist charged with high treason and terrorism. The other 11 who stood trial with him were sentenced to a total of almost 170 years.

Human rights groups say Central Asian citizens and dual nationals are being targeted by recruiters amid Russia's mobilization. They say some have been coerced or tricked into joining the Russian military.

Jakub Kalensky has closely followed a decade of Kremlin aggression from the forefront of Euro-Atlantic efforts to counter Russian "hybrid warfare." He talked to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about nuclear threats, Moscow's disinformation success, and phrases "straight out of Hitler's notebook."

The bodies of recently mobilized Russian soldiers are arriving back home, adding to dismay over the unpopular and clumsy draft process. Now Putin says the "partial" mobilization will soon wrap up -- but not everyone is convinced.

Despite fears of how Russia will react, the EU is stepping up to give more military help to Ukraine.

Turkmen officials have ordered university students studying abroad to return home to serve their military service. That is despite university students being exempted from service by law.   

A series of deaths in Georgia linked to the opioid fentanyl has left ravers and other club-drug users scared, wary, and a local NGO scrambling to help.

As signs emerge of further pressure from Moscow to join the war in Ukraine, Belarus's already unpopular administration hints at a war footing that critics say could be "political suicide."