A US-brokered mission, which would allow humanitarian aid to enter the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky and residents to leave safely, is in its final phase, Kyiv announced.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells RFE/RL that Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness to end the war in Ukraine and warns of growing cooperation between Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. He also discusses prospects for peace and the risks of negotiating with Moscow.

Intermediaries on Iranian Telegram channels are offering newborns for up to $1,100 under the guise of charity, with some promising to falsify birth records and others arranging placements with Iranian families abroad, despite a ban on the sale of babies.

Amid the swirl of efforts to end to the Ukraine war and normalize US-Russian ties, one idea under consideration: lifting sanctions on a massive Russian investment fund, whose chief is the Kremlin’s main go-between with White House negotiators. What is the Russian Direct Investment Fund anyway?

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has called a national security meeting after a major cyberattack exposed personal data linked to some 750,000 people. Authorities are investigating possible foreign involvement in the attack, which may have been aided by artificial intelligence.

A Russian drone struck a railway station in Dnipro, killing at least 14 people and injuring others, Ukrainian officials said. The attack hit a platform where a passenger train bound for Zaporizhzhya was standing.

Serbian voters dealt Moscow a blow, while rising tensions with Kyiv cast a shadow over expected trilateral talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Doubts about the Kremlin’s intentions and deep divisions over territory in the Donbas cloud prospects for progress.

A Russian attack on Ukraine's eastern city of Dnipro killed at least 14 people and injured more than 10 others, according to Ukrainian officials, as a fragile cease-fire around Russian-occupied Oleshky entered its third day on October 29.

A US-brokered cease-fire went into effect on October 27 to let aid arrive in the Russian-occupied suburb of Oleshky and allow civilians to leave. On the opposite side of the Dnieper River, in the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, locals said the pause in fighting produced a rare sense of normalcy.

Russian bombs and artillery have devastated the city of Bilozerske in Ukraine's Donetsk region. With the city in ruins and colder temperatures approaching, remaining residents are bracing for a rough winter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that technical-level talks involving Ukraine, Russia, and the United States aimed at ending the war will take place in Abu Dhabi between November 6 and 10.

A military airfield in Crimea has been transformed into a hub for drone launches, new satellite images sourced by RFE/RL show. We spoke to one Crimean military insider about why Ukraine has been unable to take the site out of action.

Aleksandar Vucic’s election defeat has ended more than a decade of political dominance and handed victory to Serbia’s student-led opposition movement. RFE/RL's Balkan Service spoke with Ilija Srdanovic, the top candidate for the Student List party on what comes next for the country.

In an interview with RFE/RL, Ilija Srdanovic, the lead candidate for Serbia's Student List -- which ousted longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic in recent elections -- pledged to pursue EU integration and said Belgrade's stance on sanctions against Russia could be reconsidered through public debate.

Residents fleeing Russian-occupied Oleshky describe hunger, soaring food prices, and threats from Russian soldiers. Cut off from supplies, civilians risk mines and drone attacks to escape. Now, a proposed cease-fire could open a humanitarian corridor for those still trapped in the Ukrainian city.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers have warned American banks, port authorities and fuel-industry groups against facilitating imports of Russian diesel, raising the prospect of congressional investigations and legal action over President Donald Trump’s decision to ease restrictions on Russian fuel.

In this week's briefing, Rikard Jozwiak drills down on two issues: Can the EU add Russia's GRU to its terror list? Plus, more rolling EU sanctions on Moscow.

The US-negotiated cease-fire aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky took effect in the early hours of October 27, shortly after Russian air attacks struck Kyiv, hitting a university dormitory and other civilian sites and killing at least one person.

Russia and Iran are expanding their nuclear cooperation as both countries face Western sanctions and international isolation. Their partnership includes the construction of nuclear power plants, fuel supplies, and broader technological cooperation.

The Student List, a political grouping of 250 representatives that just won Serbia’s parliamentary elections, has deliberately avoided having a clear leader. While it remains uncertain who Serbia’s prime minister will be, here are some of the high-profile Serbians representing the movement.