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.

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.

Former President Aleksandar Vucic, who dominated Serbian politics for the past 14 years, conceded defeat in the country's parliamentary elections after polls closed on October 25. Preliminary results showed the movement called Students' List taking a decisive lead.

As Russian forces intensify attacks on Ukraine’s Donetsk region, evacuations are accelerating in Kramatorsk, a key city still held by Kyiv. As Moscow seeks to seize all of the Donetsk region, Ukraine has issued a mandatory evacuation order for families with children in Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 24 that the Starshield and Starlink satellite systems were back to normal operations. Disruptions in the communications systems, developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, had limited Ukraine's defensive operations for over a week.

RFE/RL joins Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade on a dangerous route to Druzhkivka where Russian drones target vehicles and troops. Only a few thousand civilians remain inside the battered frontline city as Russian bombs devastate homes and Ukrainian forces hold the line.

Russia has released 74-year-old US citizen Stephen Hubbard, who had been detained since 2022. He had been sentenced to prison for allegedly acting as a mercenary in Ukraine, charges his family disputed. President Vladimir Putin announced Hubbard’s release during talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff.

In what Ukraine's military is calling a historic first, a soldier who suffered injuries to both legs on the battlefield was evacuated by an unmanned aerial drone. His fellow servicemen say the soldier is "a hero" who didn't hesitate to strap himself to the hexacopter drone and fly back to his unit.

Ukraine’s forces have retaken 26 settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk region, but the villages are largely destroyed and uninhabitable. As Russian troops are pushed back, Ukrainian forces face the challenge of holding the reclaimed territory under constant threat from drones.

A funeral was held in Radushne in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Region on October 19 for five children from one family who were killed in an air strike on July 30. Their burial was delayed as investigators used DNA analysis to identify the victims. Five other family members had already been laid to rest.

Iran’s Islamic republic has survived war, economic crisis, and widespread protests. So why is the system still standing? Vahid Pourostad of RFE/RL's Negah-e-Farda (Iran Tomorrow) program explains that its survival rests on entrenched networks of power and a fractured opposition.

The popular Iranian music group Pallett is refusing to play concerts in Iran after authorities barred a female band member from performing on stage. Iranian authorities continue its harsh repression of women, enforcing rules that limit their freedom to sing and perform in public.

Christopher Walker, vice president of the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis, speaks to RFE/RL Senior International Correspondent Ray Furlong in Prague on October 14.

A new dress-code dispute in Azerbaijan’s public schools has sparked protests by parents and students after reports that girls wearing hijabs, or Islamic headscarf, were turned away from classes. The protests come after a new ban on clothing deemed incompatible with the secular nature of education.

Ukraine is increasingly using artificial intelligence in drones and other battlefield systems to track, identify, and attack targets. Military officials say humans still remain in control of lethal decisions, but developers warn that fully autonomous weapons are moving closer to reality.

Moscow launched a wave of ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv overnight, killing at least three people and injuring more than 20. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country once again received no advance warning from its Western partners about the Russian attack.

Ukraine has struck three of Russian tech giant Yandex’s data centers in four days. Known as "Russia's Google," Yandex said it shut down a facility in the country's Vladimir region following an attack on October 11. The strikes have reportedly caused huge disruptions to digital services in Russia.

Is Russia about to attack the Baltic states? There are no signs of an imminent conventional invasion, but concerns are growing that Moscow could test NATO in other ways.

A Starlink trial on an Italian hilltop connected an ordinary smartphone to the Internet without mobile coverage, a satellite dish, or an external antenna. It drew attention in Iran, where Internet access is heavily filtered and authorities imposed a near-total blackout during the January protests.