УКРОПИ

Russian court sentences 72-year-old American to nearly 7 years in prison for fighting in Ukraine 

MOSCOW — A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American in a closed trial to nearly seven years in prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. 

Prosecutors said Stephen Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and he fought alongside them until being captured two months later. 

He was sentenced to six years and 10 months in a general-security prison. Prosecutors had called for a sentence of seven years in a maximum-security prison. 

Hubbard, from the state of Michigan, is the first American known to have been convicted on charges of fighting as a mercenary in the Ukrainian conflict. 

The charges carried a potential sentence of 15 years, but prosecutors asked that his age be taken into account along with his admission of guilt, Russian news reports said. 

Arrests of Americans have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years. Concern has risen that Russia could be targeting U.S. nationals for arrest to use later as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the U.S. and Europe. 

Also on Monday, a court in the city of Voronezh sentenced American Robert Gilman to seven years and 1 month for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers while serving a sentence for another assault. 

According to Russian news reports, Gilman was arrested in 2022 for causing a disturbance while intoxicated on a passenger train and then assaulted a police officer while in custody. He is serving a 3 1/2-year sentence on that charge. 

Last year, he assaulted a prison inspector during a cell check, then hit an official of the Investigative Committee, resulting in the new sentence, state news agency RIA-Novosti said. 

The U.S. and Russia in August completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries, which released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. Several U.S. citizens remain behind bars in Russia following the swap. 
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Kosovo lifts ban on entry of products from Serbia at border

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s government said Monday it would lift a ban on the entry of products from Serbia at one border crossing, 16 months after it halted imports to prevent what it said could be hidden shipments of weapons for Serb separatists. 

The reopening is in line with efforts by Western partners to promote reconciliation and cooperation between the two neighboring Balkan nations. Tensions between them flared in May 2023 when Kosovo police seized municipal buildings in Serb-majority communities in northern Kosovo where residents rejected the ethnic Albanian mayors elected in a vote boycotted by Serbs. 

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the Merdare border crossing would reopen with stepped-up, hands-on monitoring of goods by customs agents at a location just 300 meters from the border. 

The other five border crossings would open once they can be equipped with new scanners, he said. 

Kosovo has cited the seizure of four large caches of weapons that Kurti says could have been brought through the border disguised as trade, as well as the movements of troops by Serbia near the border, as reasons for its move in June 2023 to curb cross-border trade. 

“These were steps of security, never commercial ones,” Kurti told journalists Monday. 

Local media in Kosovo have reported that Germany warned Kosovo that unless it reestablished trade it could be excluded from the Central European Free Trade Agreement and the Berlin Process, aimed at boosting cooperation among six western Balkan nations and the European Union. 

Kosovo was a Serbian province until NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, which Serbia doesn’t recognize. 

The European Union and the United States are pressing both sides to implement agreements that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kurti reached in February and March last year. They include a commitment by Kosovo to establish an Association of the Serb-Majority Municipalities. Serbia is also expected to deliver on the de-facto recognition of Kosovo, which Belgrade still considers its province. 

The NATO-led international peacekeepers known as KFOR have increased their presence in Kosovo after last year’s tense moments.
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Ukrainian forces strike oil terminal in Crimea

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973 migrants cross Channel into UK on same day 4 die

London — A record 973 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats on the same day in which four died while attempting the journey from France to England, U.K. Home Office figures showed Sunday.

The figure for Saturday is the highest single-day number of migrants making the cross-Channel journey this year, surpassing the previous high of 882 set on June 18.  

On the same day, a two-year-old boy and three adults died after overloaded boats got into trouble during the dangerous crossing attempted by several thousand every year.

The tragedies bring the number of migrants who have died attempting Channel crossings this year to 51, according to Jacques Billant, France’s prefect for the Pas-de-Calais region.  

Over 26,600 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats in 2024 according to U.K. Home Office figures.

Saturday’s deaths were likely caused due to the victims being crushed in overloaded dinghies, according to authorities and prosecutors.

U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Saturday that it was “appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel.”  

“Criminal smuggler gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“The gangs do not care if people live or die — this is a terrible trade in lives.”

Keir Starmer’s new Labour government has been at pains to reduce cross-Channel arrivals in small boats, a key issue in this year’s general election in July.

The government has repeatedly pledged to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers who organize the perilous journeys.
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Dutch defense minister pledges $440M for drone action plan with Ukraine

Kyiv, Ukraine — Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday that his country will invest 400 million euros ($440 million) in advanced drone development with Ukraine and deliver more F-16s in the coming months. 

More than 2-1/2 years since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine is fighting to thwart Russia’s troops as they inch forward in the east and attack critical infrastructure ahead of the winter months. 

“The war, of course, is intensifying every day, and Ukraine is setting up more brigades who all need support, who all need military equipment. We need to have this continuous flow of support,” Brekelmans told Reuters in Kyiv. 

The drone action plan will combine Ukraine’s innovation and Dutch knowledge to improve technology used on the battlefield, he said. 

“We will focus on different types of drones, so both surveillance drones, more defensive drones, but also the attack drones, because we see that Ukraine needs those more offensive drones also to target military facilities,” Brekelmans said. 

Around half of the investment will be spent in the Netherlands, while the rest will be split between Ukraine and other countries, he added. 

If the developed drones are successful, more funding will be available to scale up production, according to the defense minister. 

The Netherlands has pledged 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in military support for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion and spent around 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) so far. 

Air defense 

After visiting the city of Kharkiv, pummeled by Russian glide bombs Saturday,  

Brekelmans said attacking military targets in Russia was the only way to defend the city. 

Ukraine has asked its partners to give it permission to use their weapons to strike targets deep in Russia and provide it with more air defenses. 

The Netherlands has contributed to its air defense support by driving international partners to supply Ukraine with F-16 jets and pledging 24 of them. 

The first batch of planes from the Netherlands is already operating in Ukrainian airspace, according to the minister, while the others will be delivered “in the upcoming months and maybe beginning of next year.” 

The country is also delivering reserve parts, ammunition and fuel for jets as it seeks to expand pilot training opportunities through meeting with partner countries and private sector players like Lockheed Martin to keep jets operational, he said. 

The Netherlands has also announced a plan to assemble a Patriot air-defense system for Ukraine relying on parts from different countries, but Brekelmans said it had struggled to source some parts. 

He said Ukraine was already using one Dutch-supplied Patriot radar and “three launchers are going to be delivered very soon.” 
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Pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli crowds rally globally on eve of Oct. 7 anniversary 

Paris — Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across the world Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Sunday’s events follow massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. Other events are scheduled through the week, with an expected peak Monday, the date of the anniversary.

In Australia, thousands of people protested Sunday in support of Palestinians and Lebanon in various cities, while a pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne.

Samantha Gazal, who came to the rally in Sydney, said she was there “because I can’t believe our government is giving impunity to a violent extremist nation and has done nothing. … We’re watching the violence play out on livestream, and they’re doing nothing.”

In Melbourne, supporters of Israel held up posters showing Israeli hostages who are still missing.

“We feel like we didn’t do anything to deserve this,” said Jeremy Wenstein, one of the

participants. “We’re just supporting our brothers and sisters who are fighting a war that they didn’t invite.”

At a rally in Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate, hundreds of pro-Israeli demonstrators set off up the famed Unter den Linden behind a banner that read “Against all antisemitism,” accompanied by a police escort.

With many Israel flags waving overhead, some Jewish leaders led a song about “shalom” — peace — while marchers chanted “Free Gaza from Hamas!” and “Bring them home,” referring to hostages still held in the Gaza strip.

Some in the crowd held up photos of hostages still held by Hamas. Photos of several women featured the word “Kidnapped” in German.

Memorial events organized by the Jewish community for those killed in the Oct. 7 attack and prayers for those still in captivity were also to be held in Paris and London on Sunday afternoon.

Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that some of the protests could turn violent.

On Sunday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “full solidarity” with police, the day after security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Rome.

Meloni firmly condemned clashes between a few pro-Palestinian demonstrators and law enforcement officers, saying it was “intolerable that dozens of officers are injured during a demonstration.”

Thirty police officers and four protesters were hurt in clashes at the pro-Palestinian march in Rome Saturday, local media said. In Rome’s central Piazzale Ostiense, hooded protesters threw stones, bottles and even a street sign at the police, who responded using water cannons and tear gas.

Pope Francis, celebrating his Sunday Angelus prayer from the Vatican, issued a new appeal for peace “on every front.” Francis also urged his audience not to forget the many hostages still held in Gaza, asking for “their immediate liberation.”

The pope called for a day of prayer and fasting for Monday, the first anniversary of the attack.

On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis, taking 250 people hostage and setting off a war with Israel that has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. It says more than half were women and children.

Nearly 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive. Israelis have experienced attacks — missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, explosive drones from Yemen, fatal shootings and stabbings — as the region braces for further escalation.

In late September, Israel shifted some of its focus to Hezbollah, which holds much of the power in parts of southern Lebanon and some other areas of the country, attacking the militants with exploding pagers, airstrikes and, eventually, incursions into Lebanon.
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International rescue teams arrive in Bosnia after devastating floods and landslides 

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Rescue teams from Bosnia’s neighbors and European Union countries on Sunday were joining efforts to clear the rubble and find people still missing from floods and landslides that devastated parts of the Balkan country.

Bosnia sought EU help after a heavy rainstorm overnight on Friday left entire areas under water and debris destroyed roads and bridges, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens.

Officials said that at least 10 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the village of Donja Jablanica, in southern Bosnia, which was almost completely buried in rocks and rubble from a quarry on a hill above.

Residents there have said they heard a thundering rumble and saw houses disappear before their eyes.

Luigi Soreca, who heads the EU mission in Bosnia, said on X that the EU stands with Bosnia and that teams are arriving to help. Bosnia is a candidate country for membership in the 27-nation bloc.

Authorities said Croatian rescuers have already arrived while a team from Serbia is expected to be deployed in the afternoon, followed by a Slovenian team with dogs. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Czechia and Turkey have also offered help, a government statement said.

Sunday is the date of a local election in Bosnia. Election authorities have postponed voting in the flood-hit regions, but the flooding has overshadowed the vote across the country.

Ismeta Bucalovic, a resident of Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, said, “We are all overwhelmed by these flooding events. We all think only about that.”

Impoverished and ethnically divided, Bosnia has struggled to recover after the brutal war in 1992-95. The country is plagued by political bickering and corruption, stalling its EU bid.
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Pope Francis to appoint 21 new cardinals on Dec. 8

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday announced he will appoint 21 new cardinals of the global Catholic Church, in an unexpected push to influence the powerful group of churchmen that will one day choose his successor.

The ceremony to install the new appointees, known as a consistory, will be held on December 8, the 87-year-old pope announced during his weekly noon-time prayer with pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square.

It will be the tenth consistory called by the pope since his election 11 years ago as the first pontiff from Latin America.

Although popes may choose to appoint cardinals at any time, Francis’s decision to make new appointments now comes as something of a surprise.

As of the pope’s announcement there were 122 cardinals under 80 and able to vote in a future conclave. Church law technically limits the number of such cardinals to 120, but recent popes have frequently gone above that number.

Two of the cardinals currently able to vote in a conclave will age out by the end of the year. A further 13 will cross the threshold through the end of 2025.

All cardinals, regardless of their age, are allowed to take part in pre-conclave meetings, known as General Congregations, giving them a say in the type of person they think the younger cardinals should choose.

Cardinals rank second only to the pope in the Church hierarchy and serve as his closest advisers. Due to their historical power and influence, they are still called the princes of the Church, although Francis has told them not to live like royalty and to be close to the poor.
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1 dead as Russia strikes Ukraine with drones and missiles

KYIV, Ukraine — One person has died after Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with 87 Shahed drones and four different types of missiles, officials said Sunday.

A 49-year-old man was killed in the Kharkiv region after his car was hit by a drone, said regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. A gas pipeline was also damaged and a warehouse set alight in the city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials reported.

Ukraine’s air force said in a statement that air defenses had destroyed 56 of the 87 drones and two missiles over 14 Ukrainian regions, including the capital, Kyiv.

Another 25 drones disappeared from radar “presumably as a result of anti-aircraft missile defense,” it said.

The barrage comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he will present his “victory plan” at the October 12 meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy presented his plan to U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington last week. Its contents have not been made public but it is known that the plan includes Ukrainian membership in NATO and the provision of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

In a statement Sunday, the Ukrainian leader paid tribute to the country’s troops, which he also described as “preparing [for] the next Ramstein.”

“They demonstrate what Ukrainians are capable of when they have enough weapons and sufficient range,” he said in a statement on social media. “We will keep convincing our partners that our drones alone are not enough. More decisive steps are needed — and the end of this war will be closer.”
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Hungarians protest state media ‘propaganda factory,’ demand unbiased press

budapest, hungary — Thousands of protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Hungary’s public media corporation Saturday to demonstrate against what they say is an entrenched propaganda network operated by the nationalist government at taxpayer expense. 

The protest was organized by Hungary’s most prominent opposition figure, Peter Magyar, and his upstart TISZA party, which has emerged in recent months as the most serious political challenge for Prime Minister Viktor Orban since he took power nearly 15 years ago. 

Magyar, whose party received nearly 30% of the vote in European Union elections this summer and is polling within a few points of the governing Fidesz party, has been outspoken about what he sees as the damage Orban’s “propaganda factory” has done to Hungary’s democracy. 

“What is happening here in Hungary in 2024, and calling itself ‘public service’ media, is a global scandal,” Magyar told the crowd in Budapest on Saturday. “Enough of the nastiness, enough of the lies, enough of the propaganda. Our patience has run out. The time for confrontation has come.” 

Observers say press freedom under threat

Both Hungarian and international observers have long warned that press freedom in the Central European country was under threat, and that Orban’s party has used media buyouts by government-connected business tycoons to build a pro-government media empire. 

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders estimates that such buyouts have given Orban’s party control of some 80% of Hungary’s media market resources. In 2021, the group put Orban on its list of media “predators,” the first EU leader to earn the distinction. 

On Saturday, Balazs Tompe, a protester who traveled several hours to attend the demonstration, called the state media headquarters a “factory of lies.” 

“The propaganda goes out at such a level and is so unbalanced that it’s blood boiling, and I think we need to raise our voices,” he said. “It’s nonsense that only government propaganda comes out in the media that is financed by the taxpayers.” 

‘Public only hears from one side’

A retired teacher from southern Hungary, Agnes Gera, said dissenting voices were censored from the public media, limiting Hungarians’ access to information about political alternatives. 

“It’s very burdensome and unfortunate that the system works this way where the public only hears from one side and don’t even know about the other side,” she said. 

Magyar demanded the resignation of the public media director, and echoed complaints from many opposition politicians that they are not provided the opportunity to appear on public television to communicate with voters. 

He called his supporters to another demonstration on October 23, a national holiday commemorating Hungary’s failed revolution against Soviet domination in 1956.  
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Russia prosecutes US citizen accused of fighting as mercenary in Ukraine

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Several die trying to cross English Channel, says French minister

paris — Several people, including a child, died while trying to cross the English Channel from France to England, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday. 

Attempts to cross the channel in small, overloaded boats are frequent despite strong currents in what is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. 

“Smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will step up the fight against these mafias that organize these deadly crossings,” Retailleau said on social media platform X. 

Fourteen people were on the boat. One was flown by helicopter to a hospital after a search and rescue operation was conducted Saturday morning, local maritime authorities said. 

The incident was the latest in a series this year, including one last month in which 12 migrants died when their boat capsized in the channel. 
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China: EU plan to press ahead with Chinese EV tariffs bad for ties

beijing — The European Commission’s decision to press ahead with tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles threatens to undermine decades of cooperation between China and the EU, and endangers climate-change goals, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

On Friday, the EU said it would push forward with hefty tariffs on China-made EVs, even after the bloc’s largest economy Germany rejected them. The dispute is its biggest trade row with Beijing in a decade.

State-run Xinhua said the move revealed a “deep-seated protectionist impulse.”

“Instead of fostering co-operation, these tariffs risk sparking a trade conflict that could harm not only China-EU relations but also Europe’s own ambition for a green transition,” it said.

“The path forward is clear: Protectionist tariffs must be abandoned in favor of continued negotiations.”

European imports of Chinese-made EVs have soared in recent years, raising concerns among some domestic EV producers that they could suffer significant losses from a wave of cheap Chinese electric vehicles.

The proposed duties on EVs built in China of up to 45% would cost carmakers billions of extra dollars to bring cars into the bloc and are set to be imposed from next month for five years.

The Commission, which oversees the bloc’s trade policy, has said the tariffs would counter what it sees as unfair Chinese subsidies after a yearlong anti-subsidy investigation. It said on Friday, however, that it would continue talks with Beijing.

A possible compromise could be to set minimum sales prices.

China’s Commerce Ministry has expressed strong opposition to the planned tariffs, calling them “unfair, non-compliant and unreasonable.” It has launched a challenge to them at the World Trade Organization.

In what has been seen as retaliatory moves, Beijing this year launched probes into imports of EU brandy, dairy and pork products.

The U.S. imposes a 100% duty on imported Chinese EVs.
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