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Bavarian tradition honors St. Leonhard, patron saint of farmers, horses and livestock

WARNGAU, Germany — Farmers and their horses walked in a festive parade through the small Bavarian town of Warngau on Sunday to honor their patron saint, St. Leonhard.

Their manes neatly combed, the massive horses were decorated with ribbons and greenery as they pulled the adorned carriages to a local church as part of the procession some 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Munich.

Farmers donned colorful regional costumes and hats decorated with tufts of animal hair called Gamsbart, or chamois beards, as townspeople joined in amid the pounding of hooves. After the procession, the revelry traditionally turned to toasts with schnapps.

Often called Leonhardiritt or Leonhardifahrt, the traditional pilgrimage dates back centuries in Bavaria and Austria. It was revived in Warngau in 1983, after an 80-year break, and takes place there each year on the fourth Sunday in October, ahead of the annual Nov. 6 feast day.

St. Leonhard (St. Leonard in English) is the patron saint of farmers, horses and livestock. Also known as St. Leonard of Noblac, he was a Frankish courtier who asked God to repel an invading army, according to the Catholic News Agency. His plea worked, and he converted to Christianity following what he believed was a miracle.

Other Bavarian towns have similar traditions. In Bad Tolz, southwest of Warngau, this year’s Nov. 6 procession will be the 169th in a row.

Bad Tolz’s pilgrimage is listed on the Nationwide Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the German Commission for UNESCO. Only cold-blooded horses — large draft horses like Clydesdales — are allowed in the procession, which begins at 9 a.m. when all of the town’s church bells ring.

The crowd journeys to a Leonhardi chapel for blessings and an open-air Mass. The tradition involves the entire town, from the youth to the clergy and the city councilors.

St. Leonhard mostly lived in monasteries and in seclusion in what is now France, though Bad Tolz calls him the “Bavarian Lord.” According to legend, his prayers were believed to be breaking the chains of captives. He is also the patron saint of prisoners, among other groups.

He died of natural causes around the year 559, and many Catholic churches have been dedicated to him throughout Europe.
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Russian aerial attacks hit Kherson, Kharkiv

Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russian aerial attacks overnight killed at least one person in Kherson and injured several people in Kharkiv.

Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that Russian shelling hit residential buildings in the city of Kherson.

In Kharkiv, officials reported strikes from Russian guided bombs and shelling, including attacks that damaged an apartment building and a house.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram there were at least 13 people injured in the attacks that hit three districts of the city.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported Monday it destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones that were used in overnight attacks.

The ministry said Russian air defense destroyed 13 of the drones over the Belgorod region, six over Byransk, one over Voronezh and one over Kursk.

Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said drones damaged two businesses and injured two people.

Some information for this story was provided by Reuters

 
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Georgian president calls for protests after ruling party wins disputed election

TBILISI — Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called on Sunday for people to take to the streets to protest the results of Saturday’s disputed parliamentary election, which the electoral commission said the ruling party had won. 

The Georgian Dream party clinched nearly 54% of the vote, the commission said, as opposition parties contested the result and vote monitors reported significant violations. 

Zourabichvili, a former Georgian Dream ally turned fierce critic of the ruling party, said she did not recognize the results and referred to the vote as a “Russian special operation.” She did not clarify whether she believed Russia had a direct role in the elections. 

“It was a total fraud, a total taking away of your votes,” Zourabichvili told reporters, flanked by Georgian opposition party leaders. 

Zourabichvili called on Georgians to protest in the center of the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday evening “to announce to the world that we do not recognize these elections.” 

The results, with almost all precincts counted, were a blow for pro-Western Georgians who had cast the election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia and an opposition aiming to fast-track integration with Europe. 

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who is a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday described his party’s victory as “impressive and obvious,” and said “any attempts to talk about election manipulation … are doomed to failure.”

Georgian Dream, now headed for a fourth term in office, will take 89 seats in parliament, one less than it secured in 2020, the commission said, with four pro-Western opposition parties receiving 61 seats in total. 

A series of violations were reported on Sunday by three separate monitoring missions, including the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 

The groups said the alleged violations, including ballot-stuffing, bribery, voter intimidation and violence near polling stations, could have affected the result but stopped short of calling the outcome fraudulent. 

“We continue to express deep concerns about the democratic backsliding in Georgia,” said Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, head of the European Parliament’s delegation to the OSCE mission. 

“The conduct of yesterday’s election is unfortunately evidence to that effect,” he told reporters. 

In a post on X, European Council President Charles Michel called on Georgia’s electoral commission to fully investigate the reported violations. 

“We reiterate the EU’s call to the Georgian leadership to demonstrate its firm commitment to the country’s EU path,” he said. 

The electoral commission did not respond immediately to requests for comment, but on Saturday hailed a free and fair election. Prime Minister Kobakhidze said the observers’ conclusions showed there was no doubt about the election’s legitimacy. 

Georgia’s four pro-Western opposition parties said they did not recognize the results, and some members pledged to boycott the new parliament and called for supporters to take to the streets. 

Coalition for Change opposition party leader Nika Gvaramia called the vote “a constitutional coup” and a “usurpation of power.” His party cited two exit polls that showed the opposition winning a majority of seats in parliament. 

The leader of the United National Movement opposition party, Tina Bokuchava, said the election had been “stolen,” calling for protests. 

EU expansion challenge 

Georgian Dream’s reclusive billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who campaigned heavily on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, hailed the party’s victory on Saturday night after its strongest performance since 2012. 

Electoral commission data showed it winning by huge margins of up to 90% in some rural areas, though it underperformed in bigger cities. 

Georgian Dream says it wants Georgia to join the European Union, though Brussels says the Caucasus country’s membership application is frozen over what it says are the party’s authoritarian tendencies. 

It has pushed through a law on “foreign agents” and another curbing LGBT rights, both of which drew strong criticism from Western countries but were praised by some Russian officials. 

For years, Georgia was one of the most pro-Western countries to emerge from the Soviet Union, with polls showing many Georgians disliking Russia for its support of two breakaway regions of their country. 

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over the rebel province of South Ossetia in 2008. Georgia was defeated. 

But the election result poses a challenge to the EU’s ambition to bring in more ex-Soviet states. 

Last week, Moldova voted narrowly to approve its EU accession in a vote that Moldovan officials said was marred by Russian interference. 

An EU official told Reuters there was “a sense of disappointment” over the Georgian opposition’s performance, but Brussels was primarily concerned about a contested result leading to a standoff. 

The German, Estonian, Latvian foreign ministries said they were concerned by the reports of electoral irregularities. 

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was quick to congratulate Georgian Dream, planned to visit the country on Monday, the Georgian government said. 
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Lithuania left-wing opposition leading in early election results

VILNIUS, Lithuania — The opposition Social Democrats took an early lead in the second round of Lithuania’s parliamentary election on Sunday, with voters focusing on concerns over the cost of living and potential threats from neighboring Russia. 

Official government data showed the center-left grouping leading with 33 seats after 64% of the vote was counted on top of 20 secured in the first round, in the 141-member assembly, ahead of the ruling Homeland Union Party which led in six constituencies in addition to 18 first-round wins. 

The Baltic country of 2.9 million people has a hybrid voting system in which half of parliament is elected by popular vote. The remainder is decided in district-based run-off votes between the top two candidates, a process that favors the larger parties. 

If the Social Democrats, or SD, succeed in forming a government, they are expected to maintain Lithuania’s hawkish stance against Russia and hefty defense spending. 

Lithuania will spend about 3% of GDP on its armed forces this year, according to NATO estimates, making it the military alliance’s sixth-biggest spender. 

Full results are expected at about midnight (2200 GMT). 

“Probably there will be some changes, but I want to believe that direction will remain the same,” Marius Slepetis, a businessman, told Reuters after his young daughter dropped his ballot into the box. 

The SD won 20% of the vote in the first round on Oct. 13, making it the largest party ahead of the ruling Homeland Union with 18% and the anti-establishment Nemunas Dawn with 15%. 

Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte’s center-right three-party coalition has seen its popularity eroded by inflation that topped 20% two years ago, deteriorating public services and a widening rich-poor gap. 

After the first round, SD leader Vilija Blinkeviciute said she was already in talks about forming a majority coalition government with two other parties – For Lithuania, and the Farmers and Greens Union. 

The SD made a pact with opposition parties to support all run-off candidates in contests against Simonyte’s Homeland Union nominees. 

Domestic economic issues were in focus during the election campaign, with the SD vowing to tackle increased inequality by raising taxes on wealthier Lithuanians to help fund more spending on health care and social support. 

But national security is also a major concern in Lithuania, which lies on the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union and shares a border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, a close Moscow ally. 

“For me, it’s of utmost importance to keep the calmness, and to stop the war in Ukraine,” Mykolas Zvinys, 79, told Reuters before casting his vote on the outskirts of Vilnius. 

Three-quarters of Lithuanians think Russia could attack their country in the near future, a Baltijos Tyrimai/ELTA opinion poll found in May.
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Russian forces thwart attempted cross-border assault from Ukraine, official says

Kyiv, Ukraine — Russian forces thwarted an attempt at another cross-border incursion by Ukraine into southwestern Russia, a local official reported Sunday, months after Kyiv staged a bold assault on its nuclear-armed enemy that Moscow is still struggling to halt.

An “armed group” sought Sunday to breach the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Bryansk region, its governor, Aleksandr Bogomaz, said but was beaten back. Bogomaz did not clarify whether Ukrainian soldiers carried out the alleged attack but claimed on Sunday evening that the situation was “stable and under control” by the Russian military.

There was no immediate acknowledgement or response from Ukrainian officials.

The region neighbors Kursk province, where Ukraine launched a surprise push on Aug. 6 that rattled the Kremlin and constituted the largest attack on Russia since World War II. Hundreds of Russian prisoners were blindfolded and ferried away in trucks in the opening moments of the lightning advance, and Ukraine’s battle-hardened units swiftly pressed on across hundreds of square kilometers of territory.

Responsibility for previous incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions has been claimed by two murky groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Russian officials and state media have sought to downplay the significance of Kyiv’s thunderous run in Kursk, but the country’s forces have so far been unable to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the province. Western officials have speculated that Moscow may send troops from North Korea to bolster its effort to do so, stoking the almost three-year war and bringing geopolitical consequences as far away as the Indo-Pacific region.

Russian lawmakers Thursday ratified a pact with Pyongyang envisioning mutual military assistance, a move that comes as the United States confirmed the deployment of 3,000 North Korean troops to Russia.

North Korean units were detected Wednesday in Kursk, according to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, known by its acronym GUR. The soldiers had undergone several weeks of training at bases in eastern Russia and had been equipped with clothes for the coming winter, the GUR said in a statement late Thursday. It did not provide evidence for its claims.

Moscow warns West against approving long-range strikes against Russia

Also on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is working on ways to respond if the U.S. and its NATO allies allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with long-range Western missiles.

Putin told Russian state TV that it was too early to say exactly how Moscow might react, but the defense ministry has been mulling a range of options.

Russia has repeatedly signaled that it would view any such strikes as a major escalation. The Kremlin leader warned on Sept. 12 that Moscow would be “at war” with the U.S. and NATO states if they approve them, claiming military infrastructure and personnel from the bloc would have to be involved in targeting and firing the missiles.

He reinforced the message by announcing a new version of the nuclear doctrine that considers a conventional attack on Russia by a nonnuclear nation that is supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack on his country — a clear warning to the U.S. and other allies of Kyiv.

Putin also declared the revised document envisages possible nuclear weapons use in case of a massive air attack, opening the door to a potential nuclear response to any aerial assault — an ambiguity intended to deter the West.

Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly said they need permission to strike weapons depots, airfields and military bases far from the border to motivate Russia to seek peace. In response, U.S. defense officials have argued that the missiles are limited in number, and that Ukraine is already using its own long-range drones to hit targets farther into Russia.

That capability was evidenced by a Ukrainian drone strike in mid-September that hit a large Russian military depot in a town 500 kilometers from the border.

The U.S. allows Kyiv to use American-provided weapons in more limited, cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces.

Civilian deaths reported in Kherson as warring sides trade drone strikes

In a separate update, Bryansk Gov. Bogomaz claimed that more than a dozen Ukrainian drones were shot down over the region on Sunday. Separately, at least 16 drones were downed over other Russian regions, including the Tambov province some 450 kilometers north of the border, officials reported. There were no reports of casualties from any of the alleged attacks.

In Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed three civilians on Sunday, local Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin claimed. Another Kherson resident died in a blaze sparked by shells hitting a high-rise, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

Air raid sirens wailed for more than three hours in Kyiv overnight into Sunday, and city authorities later reported that “around 10” drones had been shot down. They said no one had been hurt. Ukraine’s air force on Sunday reported that it had shot down 41 drones launched by Russia across Ukrainian territory.
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Real Madrid, Spanish league and government condemn racist insults against Yamal in league ‘clasico’

Madrid — Real Madrid, the Spanish league and the local government on Sunday condemned racist insults against Lamine Yamal during Saturday’s “clasico,” and Madrid said it was working to identify those who abused the Barcelona forward.

Madrid said it “has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken.”

The league said it was going to formally denounce the “intolerable racist” insults and gestures against Barcelona players at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The league said it “strongly condemns these events” and “remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any type of racist behavior and hatred inside and outside stadiums. There is no place for this scourge in sport.”

The Spanish government said the commission in charge of fighting against violence, racism and other hate crimes in sport will meet Monday to analyze what happened at the Bernabeu.

“The ‘clasico’ is one of the greatest spectacles in the world, a true expression of the importance that soccer has in our country,” the government said. “During this game, or in any sporting event, there can never be any room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance.”

The reaction came after videos on social media showed the alleged insults against Yamal after he scored Barcelona’s third goal in the second half of its 4-0 rout of Madrid. The 17-year-old celebrated in a corner in front of Madrid fans and made some gestures apparently provoking the fans.

A few fans could be heard yelling insults at Yamal and the other Barcelona players.

“Real Madrid strongly condemns any kind of behavior involving racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the corners of the stadium,” the club said in a statement.

Madrid has been denouncing racist insults against its forward Vinicius Junior, who is also Black, for several years, including when he played a match at Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium.

Four Atletico Madrid fans who allegedly led a social media campaign aimed at promoting racist acts against Vinícius were detained earlier this month.

Barcelona’s victory left the Catalan club six points ahead of Madrid at the top of the league standings after 11 matches.
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Georgian Dream declared election winner; opposition disputes results

Tbilisi, Georgia — The streets of Tbilisi echoed with despair on Sunday as the Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party won Saturday’s parliamentary election. The opposition parties are disputing the results.

With 99% of the precincts reporting, Georgian Dream had secured 54.8% of the vote, reinforcing its grip on a nation polarized over its political future. Most of the leaders of the opposition parties say the vote, seen as a referendum on Georgia’s path toward deeper Western alignment or closer ties with Russia, was rigged.

Judging by the preliminary results, the opposition struggled to mount a strong challenge. Initial counts show the Coalition for Changes at 10.8%, Unity-National Movement at 10%, Strong Georgia at 8.7%, and Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party at 7.7%.

As exit polls were announced, both the ruling party and opposition initially declared victory, though the official results quickly favored Georgian Dream securing its fourth term with more votes than it received in the last election.

“Such cases are rare worldwide, where the same party achieves such success under challenging circumstances,” Bidzina Ivanishvili said, shortly after the first exit polls were announced. The oligarch is seen as Georgian Dream’s true leader.

Soon after, Hungary’s Victor Orban congratulated the Georgian Dream, and Margarita Simonian, editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, wrote on Telegram: “Georgians won, well done.”

“This is election theft, a constitutional coup, and Georgian Dream will answer for it according to Georgian law,” said Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Changes. He said his coalition had uncovered a “technological scheme” used to manipulate the election results.

“We promised to protect your votes, and I apologize for not identifying this complex scheme earlier,” Gvaramia said.

Elene Khoshtaria, another member of the Coalition for Changes and leader of the Droa party, echoed Gvaramia.

“We are firm and principled in our stance that this election was stolen, and we won’t accept it. We are moving to continuous protest, organized and coordinated, starting tomorrow. The protest will be in the streets, and we will announce the time and place,” she said.

Unity-National Movement also sees the elections as stolen.

“Oligarch Ivanishvili stole the victory from the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future. On behalf of the Unity-National Movement, we declare that we do not accept the results of the elections,” Tina Bokuchava, party leader, said.

Some of the independent observers also criticized the reported outcome.

“Based on analysis of the pre-election environment, widespread manipulation on election day, and unprecedented pressure on voters, we believe that the preliminary results released by the CEC do not reflect the true will of Georgian citizens. We will continue to demand the annulment of these results,” said Londa Toloraia of the NGO coalition “My Voice.”

Many of the analysts in the country cite fraud as the source of the ruling party’s success.

Other observers also argue that Georgian Dream’s success stemmed not only from its strengths but also from the opposition’s weaknesses. Because of internal conflicts, a lack of coherent policies, and shifting political allegiances, opposition parties failed to offer a compelling alternative to the ruling party.

“I voted for a change … by a process of elimination,” a 20-year-old first-time voter told VOA on the condition of anonymity. It was a sentiment many echoed.

“The opposition appears bankrupt, having relied on the hope that a) Georgian Dream would collapse on its own, or b) the West would ultimately bring down Ivanishvili’s regime. Consequently, they failed to conduct a genuine campaign, with even fewer events than in previous elections,” said Levan Ramishvili, associated professor of political philosophy and international relations at Tbilisi-based Free University.

“Adding to this is the West’s lack of moral clarity, characterized by hesitation, ambiguity, and a ‘leading from behind’ approach — granting EU candidate status one moment, suspending it the next; imposing sanctions, but only on marginal figures,” he said.

Leading up to the election, the United States and European Union voiced concerns, citing a perceived drift from democratic principles and closer ties to Russia.

“The picture is very clear now — despite pressure, intimidation, violence and vote-buying, they lost the capital and Rustavi and lost by catastrophic landslide abroad. But in regions where there were less oversight and people are more vulnerable and dependent on the state won with Kadyrov-style numbers of 80-90%. [The] international community cannot possibly agree that this is fair and square. Legitimizing this would mean granting major geopolitical victory to Russia,” said Giorgi Kandelaki, project manager at the Soviet Past Research Laboratory.

Analysts and opposition figures warned that Ivanishvili is guiding the country toward Russia, tightening control over the media and independent institutions.

Earlier this year, the government passed a controversial “foreign agent” law, modeled on Russian legislation. It targets NGOs and media outlets that receive foreign funding, mainly from the West. The law led to widespread protests in the country and a subsequent brutal response from the government.

Like their leaders, many of the opposition voters question the legitimacy of Georgian Dream’s lead.

“Nobody around me voted for them. How did they get a million votes?” asked Davit, a man in his 30s. Another said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve,” expressing frustration with fellow Georgians, while a third added, “They’ve sold out the country for a 300 GEL [around $120] salary.”

Georgian Dream’s core supporters include “budget voters,” public sector workers and social assistance recipients, especially in rural areas where employment options are limited. The party relies on these voters, many of whom fear the loss of a job or benefits if the party loses.

“The election that was held was neither fair nor free,” said the Free University’s Ramishvili. “Since the 2018 presidential election, Georgian Dream has built a powerful electoral machine that relies heavily on bribery, intimidation of vulnerable voters, and fear of war. This machine operates by using both administrative and budgetary resources for partisan purposes, as well as outright bribery.”

Over the years, Georgian Dream has forged strong alliances with wide range of political actors and groups, from pro-Russian socially conservative groups to street hooligans, and chiefly with the highly popular, Georgian Orthodox Church.

“Last week, my priest officially asked us from the pulpit to vote for Georgian Dream,” said Rusudan, a middle-aged voter. “He even said anyone voting for the opposition would lose the right to communion.”

This message, repeated in the churches across the country, has bolstered Georgian Dream’s support among religious and traditionalist voters over the years.

The ruling party framed the election as a choice between war and peace, labeling critics at home and abroad as part of a “global war party,” a term borrowed from Kremlin narratives. For a country scarred by wars with Russia in the 1990s and again in 2008, this message resonated strongly.

Meanwhile, the opposition cast the election as a referendum on ending up under Russian influence.

“Amid rising Russian aggression and a hesitant West unable to defend its values, anti-Western and anti-liberal forces are growing stronger in our region. These groups skillfully exploit the West’s failure to protect its principles, citing Russia’s unpunished aggression against neighboring countries as an example,” Ramishvili said.

For now, Georgian Dream celebrates its apparent victory. But many Georgians, particularly younger urbanites, feel increasingly disillusioned. As results are confirmed, Georgia faces deep divisions and an uncertain path forward.
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Bulgarians’ 7th vote in 3 years unlikely to break political deadlock

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarians were voting Sunday in the seventh general election in more than three years with little hope that a stable government will be formed to stop the country’s slide into political instability. 

Voter fatigue and disillusionment with politicians have created an environment where radical political voices, aided by Moscow’s widespread disinformation, are successfully undermining public support for the democratic process and boosting the popularity of pro-Russian and far-right groups. 

The never-ending election spiral has a serious impact on Bulgaria’s economy and its foreign policy. The country risks losing billions of euros in EU recovery funds because of the lack of reforms. Full integration into the open-border Schengen area and joining the eurozone are likely to be delayed further. 

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time Sunday. Initial exit poll results will be announced after polls close at 8 p.m., and preliminary results are expected on Monday. 

According to latest opinion polls, Bulgarians’ lack of confidence in elections will result in record low voter turnout. Gallup World Poll data show only 10% of Bulgarians trust the integrity of their elections, the lowest proportion in the EU, where the average is 62%. 

Some observers have called the past few years a period of “revolving-door governments,” which has additionally fueled voters’ apathy. 

There was no clear winner in the latest vote, held in June, and the seven groups elected to the fragmented legislature were unable to put together a viable coalition. Observers suggest that Sunday’s vote will produce more of the same. 

These early elections are not expected to break a protracted political stalemate, Teneo, a political risk consultancy, said in a report last week. 

Although former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s center-right GERB party is set to win a plurality of seats, it will likely struggle to form a majority government in a fragmented parliament, Teneo predicted. 

“As a result, a technocratic government or another early election are the most likely outcomes. Political instability and a surging budget deficit are key challenges to Bulgaria’s accession to the eurozone,” the consultancy said. 

The Balkan country of 6.7 million has been gripped by political instability since 2020, when nationwide protests erupted against corrupt politicians that had allowed oligarchs to take control of state institutions. 

Bulgaria is one of the poorest and most corrupt European Union member states. Attempts to fight graft are an uphill battle against an unreformed judiciary widely accused of serving the interests of politicians. 

Despite a fall in support for GERB in recent elections, it is tipped to finish first with a quarter of the votes. It will be a hard task for Borisov, however, to secure enough support for a stable coalition government. 

Analysts believe that the main pro-Russia party in Bulgaria, Vazrazhdane, could emerge as the second-largest group in parliament. The far-right, ultra-nationalist and populist party demands that Bulgaria lift sanctions against Russia, stop helping Ukraine, and hold a referendum on its membership in NATO. 

The reformist, pro-EU We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria bloc is likely to come in third. 

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which traditionally represented Bulgaria’s large ethnic Turkish minority, recently split into two rival factions, one around party founder Ahmed Dogan, and the other behind U.S.-sanctioned businessman and former media tycoon Delyan Peevski. Both factions are likely to enter parliament, gaining between 7% and 9% each. 

Up to four smaller groups could also pass the 4% threshold for entering parliament, which would even more complicate the forming of a government.
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Russian forces advance toward strategic Ukrainian city, military bloggers say

Russian forces have advanced further into several eastern Ukrainian towns, bringing them closer to capturing the strategic city of Pokrovsk, Russian and Ukrainian bloggers said. 

“The enemy advanced in Selydove,” DeepState, a group with close links to the Ukrainian army that analyzes combat footage, wrote on the Telegram messaging app late Saturday. It posted a map indicating Russian troops in the town’s southeast. 

Russian forces have been storming the coal mining town of Selydove in Ukraine’s Donetsk region for the past week. Capturing it would pave the way for a Russian advance on the logistical hub of Pokrovsk 20 km northwest.  

The Russian news outlet SHOT said on Telegram that Moscow’s troop control 80% of Selydove. 

The Russian-installed head of Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said Russian forces had hoisted their unit’s flag on the roof of one of the buildings in the town of Hirnyk, about 14 km south of Selydove, Russia’s state news agency RIA reported.  

Russian military bloggers also reported that Russian forces were close to taking over the town of Kurakhove, just southwest of Hirnyk. 

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Ukraine has not commented on them. 

Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its evening report on Saturday that Kyiv forces had repelled 36 Russian attacks along the Pokrovsk front-line in the previous day, including in the area of Selydove, while several battles were still ongoing. 

After Moscow’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine in February 2022 failed to seize the capital, Kyiv, and win a decisive victory, President Vladimir Putin scaled back his war ambitions to taking the old industrial heartland in Ukraine’s east known as Donbas, which covers the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. 

Last month Russian forces advanced there at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open-source data, despite Ukraine taking a part of Russia’s Kursk region. 

Early Sunday, Russia’s air defense units reported destroying at least 30 Ukrainian drones overnight across the southern regions of Voronezh, Bryansk, Oryol, Lipetsk and Belgorod, the Russian defense ministry wrote on Telegram.  

One woman was injured as a result of the drone attack on the border region of Belgorod, the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Telegram. He added that a few cars were also damaged.  

Maxim Yegorov, governor of the Tambov region, about 450 km southeast of Moscow, said a Ukrainian drone fell onto the Michurinsky district of the region, sparking a short-lived fire but causing no injuries or material damage.  

The Russian defense ministry reports only how many drones its units destroy, not how many Ukraine launches. Russian officials also rarely disclose the full scale of damage inflicted by the attacks, especially when they involve military or energy infrastructure.  

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
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BRICS’ de-dollarization agenda has a long way to go

New Delhi — BRICS leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, have publicly voiced their commitment to jointly introduce an alternative payment system that would not be dependent on the U.S. dollar.

Independent analysts, however, question the feasibility of implementing the idea anytime soon.

The recently concluded meeting of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India. China and South Africa — discussed ways to establish an alternative to SWIFT, the international payment system. Russia was removed from the SWIFT system after the start of Ukraine war in 2022 and has been particularly keen to find an alternative.

“We are looking into the possibility of expanding the use of national currencies and settlements and want to establish the tools that would make this safe and secure enough,” Putin said. BRICS will work out a payment arrangement with the cooperation of central banks affiliated with the group’s member countries, he said.

Analysts assert this is easier said than done. But some experts, like Gregory Zerzan, former deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, have warned about the danger of ignoring the BRICS’ efforts. He said that’s because its members, some of whom are less friendly toward the U.S., appear determined to achieve their goal.

“There is still a long way to go before BRICS will ever launch a payment system that could be treated as a serious alternative to the SWIFT,” Eva Seiwert, analyst at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies, told VOA.

She pointed out that the Kazan Declaration, which was adopted after the two-day BRICS meeting this week, was vague about even the milder version called the BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative, or BCBPI, which is supposed to strengthen corresponding banking networks within BRICS and enable settlements in local currencies of BRICS members.

The declaration said that participation by member countries in BCBPI would be “voluntary and non-binding.”

The BRICS plan is taken seriously in some quarters because China and India have shown it is possible to defy the economic sanctions and buy Russian oil using local currencies. Some analysts think that provision may be extended to oil-rich Iran, which has joined the BRICS club.

At the same time, bankers are not convinced that BRICS has been able to come up with a technical support system for creating and sustaining an alternative to the SWIFT system.

“How do you account for currency fluctuations if the alternative payment system is established?” asked Gopal Tripathy, head of Treasury at Jana Small Finance Bank based in Bengaluru, India. “They might use the USD [U.S. dollar] as a reference currency. In that case, the whole purpose of moving away from the dollar is lost.”

Companies in India, China, South Africa and Brazil may find it difficult to make and receive payments with business partners in countries outside the BRICS club.

“There is no moving away from the U.S. dollar unless you can create a parallel ecosystem,” he said.

Though the BRICS do not appear ready with the mechanism to implement the idea, there are concerns in Washington about the de-dollarization campaign launched by some countries.

Speaking with the House Financial Services Committee in July, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. economic sanctions have led to BRICS trying to kickstart the de-dollarization agenda.

“The more sanctions the U.S. imposes, the more countries [BRICS] will seek financial transaction methods that do not involve the U.S. dollar,” she said.

Washington appears to have amended its view on the subject since July 2023, when Yellen said there was not much to worry about.

“We have deep liquid open financial markets, strong rule of law and an absence of capital controls that no country is able to replicate,” she said at that time.

Brazil, one of the group’s members, has gone a step further, suggesting that a BRICS currency should be released into the market. But this suggestion has not been widely accepted by other members of the group.

“A BRICS currency would require major political compromises, including a banking union, a fiscal union and general macroeconomic convergence … many experts doubt that a new BRICS reserve currency would be stable or reliable enough to be widely trusted for global transactions,” the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said in an October 18 article on its website.
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Curfew extended in French Caribbean territory amid power blackout

paris — French authorities maintained a night curfew amid fresh unrest on the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe on Saturday as they battled to restore power they accused striking energy workers of sabotaging. 

Guadeloupe and the nearby French island of Martinique have seen weeks of often violent protests over the cost of living. A night curfew has been in force in Martinique for 16 days because of unrest there. 

French authorities kept Guadeloupe under curfew for a second night “to guarantee safety and tranquility” after the island’s power was completely cut on Friday. 

But pillagers took advantage of the blackout to ransack Guadeloupe’s commercial center Pointe-a-Pitre. 

Looters busted through the windows of several stores with an excavator, in images filmed and published on social media, with some 50 people then piling in to snatch the contents.  

“This is the second time in three years that my shop has been gutted,” said jewelry shop owner Carole Venutolo, her voice choked with grief and anger. 

Police said they were fired on with live ammunition, with bullets twice hitting one of their vehicles. 

The EDF power company said that two-thirds of the 380,000 people hit by a blackout had electricity again. Authorities accused striking workers of blocking the Jarry power station’s engines and cutting electricity to the island. 

Regional government chief Guy Losbar said he was “outraged” by the workers’ actions. 

Authorities in Martinique, which has a population of about 350,000, said that despite the curfew around 50 masked “troublemakers” had set up burning roadblocks in two districts. 

On previous nights, shots have been fired, trucks stolen and petrol stations looted, authorities said. 
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Zelenskyy says North Korean troops poised to join war, cancels UN chief’s visit

KYIV, Ukraine — North Korean troops are poised to be deployed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine as early as this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Friday. 

Western officials have warned that North Korean units joining the fight would stoke the almost three-year war and bring geopolitical consequences as far away as the Indo-Pacific region. 

The possibility has alarmed leaders and deepened diplomatic tensions. 

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday that the top national security advisers for the United States, Japan and South Korea met and “expressed grave concern” about North Korea’s troop deployments for potential use with Russia on the battlefield against Ukraine. 

Kirby said that the national security advisers from the three countries “call on Russia and the DPRK to cease these actions that only serve to expand the security implications of Russia’s brutal and illegal war beyond Europe and into the Indo-Pacific.” 

“It is possible that there are now more than 3,000 troops from North Korea that have been dispatched to Russia for outfitting and for training,” Kirby said on a call with reporters. 

Kirby said the U.S. government did not have firm intelligence assessments on where the troops were going “but we believe it is certainly possible” and “perhaps even likely” that some of the North Korean troops would be deployed to the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukraine has held some territory since capturing it in August. But he cautioned that he did not know in what capacity and to what purpose the North Korean troops would be deployed. 

A senior official in the Ukrainian presidential office told The Associated Press on Friday that Zelenskyy had canceled a planned visit to Kyiv by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, said the visit was supposed to come after this week’s summit in the Russian city of Kazan of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, which Guterres attended. 

A photograph of Guterres shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit triggered an outcry in Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy, in a post on Telegram, said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that “the first North Korean military will be used by Russia in combat zones” between Sunday and Monday. 

He said on Telegram that the deployment was “an obvious escalating move by Russia.” He didn’t provide any further details, including where the North Korean soldiers may be sent. 

Russia has been conducting a ferocious summer campaign along the eastern front in Ukraine, gradually compelling Kyiv to surrender ground. But Russia has struggled to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk border region following an incursion almost three months ago. 

North Korean units were detected on Wednesday in Kursk, according to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, known by its acronym GUR. 

The soldiers had undergone several weeks of training at bases in eastern Russia and had been equipped with clothes for the upcoming winter, GUR said in a statement late Thursday. 

It estimated the number of North Korean soldiers sent by Pyongyang to Russia at around 12,000, including some 500 officers and three generals. 

GUR provided no evidence for its claims. 

Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said Friday on the social platform X that intelligence reports indicated the North Korean soldiers “will probably first be deployed in Kursk.” 

The deployment of North Korean forces under a military pact between Moscow and Pyongyang brings a new dimension to the conflict, which is Europe’s biggest war since World War II and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including many civilians. 

The U.S. said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious. 

Zelenskyy said a week ago that his government has intelligence information that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being readied to join Russian forces fighting against his country. He said that a third nation wading into the hostilities would turn the conflict into a “world war.” 

North Korea had already been supplying ammunition to Russia under a defense pact, but putting boots on the ground could severely complicate a war that has inflamed international politics, with most Western countries supporting Kyiv. 

Putin, meanwhile, has looked for support among BRICS countries. 

He has neither confirmed nor denied that North Korean troops were in Russia. 
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Experts: Apple’s removal of news apps in Russia sets ‘dangerous precedent’

WASHINGTON — Analysts warn that Apple’s removal of two apps from an independent media site from its Russian App Store sets a “dangerous precedent.”

The affected apps are for Current Time, a Russian-language network produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL, in cooperation with VOA, and a Kyrgyz-language news app.

RFE/RL and VOA are independent media outlets funded by the U.S. Congress.

In a letter to RFE/RL, Apple said the action was in response to content that is deemed illegal in Russia. Apple added that in Russia, RFE/RL is labeled an “undesirable” organization.

RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said he is concerned about Apple’s compliance with Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulatory agency.

“We hope this decision — which is part of a trend to deny people in authoritarian countries access to uncensored information — will be reversed,” Capus said in a statement shared with VOA.

Digital rights experts condemned the move.

“These trends set a dangerous precedent in which tech companies could inadvertently aid state-sponsored information censorship,” Matt Mahmoudi of Amnesty Tech told VOA.

When tech companies comply with foreign government requests, it could be because they “place profit margins over their obligations under international law,” according to Mahmoudi. These bans violate the U.N. right to free expression, he said.

Apple did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, called on Apple to reinstate the apps.

Such bans “restrict access to vital information and embolden authoritarian regimes seeking to silence independent media in countries like Russia,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, analysts have documented how Moscow has used internet blocks along with laws around false information about the war and so-called “undesirable” organizations to block independent media.

Access to independent news is limited, with websites, including RFE/RL and VOA, blocked. In February, Russia also designated RFE/RL an “undesirable organization.” The designation means that an entity is seen as a threat to national security. These organizations and their audiences can face penalties as a result.

Separately, Russia experienced a mass YouTube outage in August. The platform is one of the few remaining sites where audiences can access independent information.

The country has long experienced slow playback speeds, making video-watching nearly impossible.

Russia at the time blamed YouTube’s parent company Google. But investigative reporters found Russia’s state regulator responsible. YouTube also rejected claims that it was responsible for the slowdown.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.

To circumvent censorship, audiences often rely on Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, to access banned apps, according to Anastasia Zhyrmont of the digital civil rights group Access Now.

Last month, Apple was criticized after it banned 98 VPN services from its Russian App Store. The media regulator in July had publicly requested 25 be removed.

“The trend is very concerning,” Zhyrmont told VOA. “VPNs are essential for users in restrictive environments, especially in Russia.”

Some media sites that Russia has banned use technologies embedded in apps to circumvent the firewalls and bans. The news website Meduza, which is blocked inside Russia, uses data obfuscation technology to reach Russian audiences without a VPN, according to a representative from their tech team.

“It is cat-mice game — they’re trying to block our tech, and we’re trying to come up with something new,” the representative, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told VOA in an email.

Zhyrmont wants Apple to offer transparency on its decision to remove the news apps from the Russian market and on what Roskomnadzor’s requests looked like.

Until then, she said, “There’s an agreement between digital rights experts and human rights defenders that all that is happening is an act of censorship.”

Russia scores 20 out of 100 on the Freedom on the Net index, where 0 shows the most restrictive digital environments.
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