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Moscow accuses Europe of ‘theft’ as frozen Russian assets fund Ukraine defense

Russia on Thursday accused the European Union of “theft” after the bloc transferred the first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to boost Kyiv’s military capabilities. But some fear Western states could cut their own aid, as Henry Ridgwell reports. Camera: Henry Ridgwell.
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Moscow accuses Europe of ‘theft’ as frozen Russian assets fund Ukraine defense   

london — Russia has accused the European Union of “theft” after the bloc transferred the first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to boost its military capabilities in the face of Moscow’s invasion. The G7 group of leading industrialized nations plans a similar scheme.

However, there are concerns that the asset schemes could prompt some countries to cut their own bilateral funding to Ukraine, after Germany indicated it could end bilateral military aid for Kyiv after 2025.

The European Union said Friday that it had so far provided around $48 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion. The bloc has begun providing military and civilian aid to Ukraine using profits from $300 billion worth of confiscated Russian assets, following an EU agreement struck in May.

“We have mobilized the first tranche of windfall profits from Russian frozen assets. It’s 1.4 billion [euros, or $1.55 billion]. Part of it is going directly to Ukraine in order to boost the Ukrainian defense industry. By March, we will have the second tranche of the windfall profits,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told reporters Friday.

Russian anger

Moscow described the transfer of profits from its frozen assets as “theft.”

“These are illegal actions. They will definitely have legal consequences. This is nothing but illegal expropriation — in Russian, theft — of our money, our assets,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a phone call Thursday.

The G7 also agreed in June to use frozen Russian assets to finance a $50 billion loan to provide military aid for Ukraine, although that scheme has yet to be finalized.

Germany indicated this month that it intends to end bilateral military aid for Ukraine from 2026 as it seeks to close a $13 billion budget deficit. Berlin said the G7 asset mechanism could help pay for the shortfall.

Germany is currently Ukraine’s second-biggest bilateral donor, after the United States. The move to end that support has come under widespread criticism, said analyst Liana Fix of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations.

“The political signal that it sends is devastating: that the biggest donor in absolute terms in Europe, Germany, suddenly stops its support for Ukraine, especially as it is unclear when and how exactly this G7 mechanism on the Russian frozen assets will work,” Fix said.

“The idea of the G7 instrument was to communicate to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin that it doesn’t make sense for him to outwait the West, right? That he cannot hope that at some point the West will stop support. And so this is a contradicting sign now — that the moment another financial source has been tapped, suddenly Ukraine funding is cut out of the budget,” Fix told VOA.

Political pressure

Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently insisted Germany would continue to support Kyiv.

“We will support Ukraine as long as it will be necessary and we will be the biggest national supporter of Ukraine in Europe,” Scholz told reporters during a visit to Moldova on August 21.

Amid enduring economic pressures at home, Scholz is facing domestic political difficulties, said Fix.

“Although the foreign policy has not changed, it shows changing priorities. Because before, for the governing coalition, Ukraine support was sacred. Nothing could be changed about that. And it shows how desperate the governing coalition in Berlin is for their political survival, ahead of elections in the autumn in eastern Germany.”

Long-range missiles

Meanwhile, the European Union on Thursday urged member states and Western allies to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to target sites inside Russia.

“The military platform for Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure should not stay off limits for elimination, should not be a sanctuary for Russia attacking Ukraine,” Borrell told reporters.

“To facilitate Ukraine to respond to the Russian aggression inside Russian territory is in accordance with international law. And I don’t see why someone says it is going to war against Moscow. No, we are not going to war with Moscow. We are delivering arms to Ukraine, that’s all,” he added.
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Kremlin has ‘no worries’ about Putin visit to Mongolia despite ICC warrant for his arrest

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Germany repatriates first group of Afghan refugees since Taliban takeover

islamabad — A group of 28 asylum-seekers were repatriated to Afghanistan from Germany on Friday after being deported for criminal convictions.

The deportees, on board a chartered flight, arrived in the capital of Kabul, where Taliban authorities promptly detained them for investigation and blocked journalists’ access to the airport, according to witnesses.

The Taliban did not immediately issue a statement regarding the fate of the Afghan returnees or whether the repatriation resulted from mutual understanding between Kabul and Berlin.

Earlier, a German government spokesperson said in a statement on its website that the Afghan nationals had been “convicted for criminal offenses,” carried “no legal residency,” and “were subject to return orders.”

Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesperson for the government, noted that this was the first time Germany had repatriated Afghan nationals since August 2021, when the Taliban regained control of the country.

“The federal government will continue with such returns,” Hebestreit said. “The security interests of Germany clearly outweigh the claim for protection of criminals and individuals endangering national security.”

The Taliban takeover had prompted Germany to halt deportations to Afghanistan and shut down its embassy in the country amid fears of reprisals against returnees.

Hebestreit did not respond to reports from German media that Friday’s deportation flight resulted from two months of secret negotiations between Berlin and Taliban authorities, with Qatar serving as the intermediary.

He said in a statement that Germany had sought the support of “key regional partners to help facilitate the return” and was “very grateful for this support” without elaborating.

Violent offenders and sex offenders were reportedly among the Afghans sent back Friday, including a man who took part in the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl.

Friday’s resumption of Afghan deportations came a week after a deadly knife attack at a street festival in the city of Solingen that shocked Germany. The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack that killed three people. A 26-year-old Syrian man allegedly carried it out.

Last May, a 25-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker was accused of killing a German police officer in a knife attack on a market square in the city of Mannheim. That incident occurred amid a reported increase in criminal activities involving Afghan nationals in Germany. It revived debate about deporting serious criminals even if they come from countries deemed unsafe, like Afghanistan or Syria.

The Taliban have implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law in Afghanistan, placing restrictions on personal conduct and freedom of the population. They have barred Afghan girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade and women from most jobs in public and private sectors.

The curbs, particularly those on women and girls, have outraged the global community and deterred foreign governments from officially recognizing the de facto Kabul government.
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Georgian law threatens independent reporting, critics say

Media rights are at risk in Georgia as the country once seen as a safe haven for journalists implements a new law. For VOA News, Liam Scott has the story. Camera: Cristina Caicedo Smit, Krystof Maixner, Martin Bubenik, Michael Eckels
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US company helps Ukraine develop nuclear energy capabilities

Russian shelling has destroyed 50% of Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity since late March, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. To make up for the power shortage, the country has turned to U.S. energy giant Westinghouse for help developing next-generation nuclear reactor units. Tetiana Kukurika has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Sergiy Rybchynski
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Russia’s attack kills 1, injures 8 in Ukraine’s Sumy, authorities say

Kyiv, Ukraine — A Russian attack overnight damaged a factory in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy, killing a 48-year-old woman and injuring at least eight people, local authorities said on Friday.

The airstrike caused a fire, prompting regional authorities to ask residents to stay inside and close the windows.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said that the factory manufactured packaging for baby food, juices and household products.

A drone attack hit an industrial facility in Poltava in central Ukraine without causing any casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 12 out of 18 Russia-launched drones overnight over five Ukrainian regions. Four more drones fell over the Ukrainian territory.

Russia also used an Iskander-M missile during the attack, the air force added.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbor in February 2022.
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Russian editor sentenced to 8 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Moscow — A Russian news editor in Siberia was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for publishing critical material on Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, which has been accompanied in Russia by a massive crackdown on dissent.

Sergei Mikhailov, a journalist and editor in the mountainous Altai region, was arrested in the first weeks of the Kremlin launching the military campaign in 2022, shortly after repressive laws that banned criticism of Russia’s actions in Ukraine were adopted.

He had published online posts about civilian deaths in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and in Mariupol.

A court in the city of Gorno-Altaisk sentenced the 48-year-old after finding him guilty of “knowingly spreading fake information” about the Russian army.

Prosecutors said he was “motivated by political hatred.”

Mikhailov ran the small online opposition social media channel Listok in Siberia’s Altai republic — a region that has sent many men to Ukraine.

In a speech in court earlier this week, Mikhailov stood by his reporting and harshly criticized the Kremlin for sending troops to Ukraine.

He said the Russian state narrative of calling the Ukrainian leadership “fascist” had “created a whole virtual universe in the information space, and this fog became stronger and stronger.”

“My publications were aimed against this fog, so that my readers were not seduced by lies, so that they do not take part in armed conflicts, do not become murderers and victims and so that they do not harm the brotherly Ukrainian people,” Mikhailov said, in an audio of the speech published by Listok on social media.

More than 1,000 people have been prosecuted in Russia for criticizing the Russian offensive against Ukraine since the start of the armed conflict in February 2022, according to monitor OVD-Info.
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France charges Telegram boss over illegal content, prompting warnings from Russia 

The arrest in France last Saturday of Pavel Durov, the billionaire boss of the social media platform Telegram, is reverberating around the world as Russia urges France not to turn the investigation into ‘political persecution.’ Durov is under formal investigation over alleged illegal activities on Telegram, as Henry Ridgwell reports.
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Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia building Baltic defense line

Baltic countries are moving to protect NATO’s eastern flank in the face of Russian aggression. The Baltic defense line — a new fortification system along their borders with Russia and Belarus — is meant to shield NATO allies from potential attacks. VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports from the Latvia-Russia border. VOA footage and editing by Daniil Batushchak.
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Alleging illegal content, France charges Telegram boss; Russia gives warning

London — Russia on Thursday warned France not to turn the investigation of Pavel Durov, the boss of Telegram, into a “political persecution” after the billionaire 39-year-old CEO was put under formal investigation relating to activities on his social media platform.

Moscow has implied there are political motivations behind the arrest of Durov, who was detained Saturday as he disembarked his private jet at Paris-Le Bourget airport, near the French capital.

“The main thing is for what is happening in France not to run into political persecution,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday. “Of course, we consider him a Russian citizen and, as much as possible, we will be ready to provide assistance. We will be watching what happens next,” Peskov said.

France strongly denies there are any political objectives behind his arrest and maintains the investigation is being conducted according to the rule of law.

Durov holds joint Russian, French and United Arab Emirates citizenship. He was released from police custody Wednesday evening on $5.6 million bail. He is banned from leaving France and must report to a police station twice a week.

TJ McIntyre, an associate professor at University College Dublin’s School of Law and an expert on technology law and cybercrime, said Durov faces a range of preliminary charges, “ranging from failure to take action on the sale of drugs on Telegram, failure to prevent the distribution of child sexual abuse material on Telegram, failure to provide information on users when requested as part of criminal investigations, going so far as to include accusations of money laundering.”

McIntyre added that it was unusual for the CEO of a social media website to be held liable for the content it hosts. “Now, he has, himself, been indicted, which takes the investigation to the next level.”

The preliminary charges, which were outlined Wednesday in a statement by Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, also appear to concern allegations involving organized crime, including “complicity in the administration of an online platform to enable an illicit transaction.”

Speaking outside the courthouse in Paris on Wednesday, Pavel Durov’s lawyer rejected the allegations. “Firstly, Telegram complies in every respect with European digital regulations and is moderated to the same standards as other social networks,” lawyer David-Olivier Kaminski told reporters.

“I’d like to add that it’s totally absurd to think that the head of a social network could be involved in criminal acts that don’t concern him either directly or indirectly,” Kaminski said.

Durov founded Telegram a decade ago. After reportedly facing regulatory pressures in his native Russia, Durov chose Dubai as the company’s headquarters, gaining UAE citizenship in 2021. Local media report that he was given French citizenship later the same year. His wealth is estimated by Forbes at upwards of $15 billion.

While other social media platforms have frequently been accused of harboring illegal content, French investigators say Telegram repeatedly failed to engage with regulators or to comply with laws on moderation.

“They are widely perceived as being a scofflaw when it comes to taking down illegal content posted by users. And if that’s true, if they were notified of specific content by users that violated the law and they didn’t take it down, then they’ve forfeited immunity under the big EU law on this, the Digital Services Act,” said Daphne Keller, director of the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanford Law School’s Cyber Policy Center.

Telegram made a point of refusing to comply with laws on content moderation, said McIntyre. “You have a lot of aggressive rhetoric from the owner saying in essence that this is a service which is dedicated to freedom of expression, [and] it will set out to refuse a lot of state requests. And that I think has come back to bite him now.”

Other social media platforms will be watching closely, according to Keller.

“I think we should assume that most ordinary big platforms, the Facebooks, the YouTubes, etc., are not endangered by this. They have massive teams operating content moderation systems and … removing illegal content if they’re notified about it. I don’t think they could be subject to charges like this.

“Now it may be that X, Elon Musk’s platform, actually has been dropping the ball on doing these things. Certainly, that’s something that EU Commissioner [for Internal Market and Services] Thierry Breton has alleged.”

Elon Musk, the owner of X — formerly Twitter — posted online in support of Durov this week, reposting comments he made in a March interview that moderation was “a propaganda word for censorship.”

Musk is likely worried about the implications of Durov’s arrest, said McIntyre.

“I think Mr. Musk shares a lot of his views with this particular defendant, and I think he would be rightly worried as to the implications of this for him and for his service in Europe in general. But it might not be as extreme a case as Telegram.

“Certainly, there are issues with Twitter [X] failing to respond to government requests, failing to take proper steps to moderate its content. And it’s not impossible that you’d see a similar action taken against him personally,” McIntyre told VOA.

Telegram has more than 900 million global users, including in Russia and Iran. It is widely used by the Russian and Ukrainian militaries in Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The platform does not use end-to-end encryption.

“To some extent, it gives this defendant a good deal of leverage — in that if he were to promise cooperation on some of these fronts, there would be a lot of very valuable information that he would have that could be made available to, for example, the French authorities. As a lawyer, I can only speak to the judicial procedure, but what happens behind the scenes may be as influential as the judicial procedure itself,” McIntyre said.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that the arrest of Durov was in no way a political decision. “France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship.”

Russia has in the past blocked access to Telegram after it refused to give state security services access to private conversations, and that move prompted large street protests in Moscow in 2018. Additionally, some Russian lawmakers are now accusing France of censorship.
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