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Tajikistan's accusations about alleged persecutions of ethnic Tajiks in Kyrgyzstan comes amid high tension between the two neighboring nations following deadly clashes along the border last week. 'The statement of the Tajik side about the existence in Kyrgyzstan of some kind of 'policy of persecution of citizens of Tajikistan and ethnic Tajiks' is completely inappropriate and indicates that representatives of the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan are out of touch with reality and have no idea about the state of affairs in the Kyrgyz Republic,' it said. The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry condemned the Tajik statement, calling it 'provocative.' The ministry removed the sentence in question from the statement shortly afterward. However, RFE/RL does not have any correspondent in Kyrgyzstan or elsewhere by that name. In its September 22 statement, the ministry accused the Kyrgyz government of persecuting its ethnic Tajik community, mentioning among alleged cases of such persecutions 'an ethnically motivated attack in Kyrgyzstan's Osh region on September 18 against a Tajik woman, Nasibakhon Davronbekova, who is a correspondent for RFE/RL.' Harding and Hill had been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces and all three had denied being mercenaries in the Russian proxy court.Īn official statement by Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry alleging that an RFE/RL correspondent was beaten in Kyrgyzstan has turned out to be false. Healy, a Briton providing humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, was detained in April alongside Paul Urey, who later died in detention. The swap is the biggest exchange between the two sides since the start of Russia's invasion in February.Īslin and Pinner were captured by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine's coastal city of Mariupol in April and were sentenced to death by a court in one of the Russia's proxies in eastern Ukraine.Īslin and Pinner, along with Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, were found guilty of 'mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power' - a sentence condemned by Ukraine and Britain. Ukraine earlier in the day announced the release of 215 of its soldiers, including fighters who led the defense of Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks, in exchange for dozens of Russian prisoners and a pro-Moscow politician. Presidium Network, a nonprofit organization that does relief work in Ukraine, including evacuations, confirmed their arrival. The five are Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy, and Andrew Hill. Based on reporting by AFPįive British prisoners of war released by Russia as part of an exchange with Ukraine arrived back in the U.K. Each of those countries have much smaller economies than Russia's. The United States has only branded four nations - Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba - as state sponsors of terrorism.

Those actions and others by Moscow, including the poisonings of several Kremlin-critics and Russia’s military activities in Syria, were enough to prompt Latvia's parliament in August to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

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Zelenskiy has said the move would be justified following a series of attacks by Russia on civilian places such as shopping centers and train stations that killed dozens of Ukrainians. Jean-Pierre said the designation would hamper aid delivery to parts of Ukraine and prevent aid groups and companies from participating in a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to ship grain from Ukraine's blockaded ports. President Joe Biden, asked a day earlier if he would blacklist Russia as a terrorist state as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly requested, said simply 'no.'

'It would also undercut our unprecedented multilateral that has been so effective to holding Putin accountable and could also undermine our ability to support Ukraine' in negotiations, she told reporters at a briefing on September 6. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said a terrorism designation was 'not the most effective or strongest path forward' to hold Russia accountable for its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The White House says it would be counterproductive to brand Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, rejecting calls from Ukraine and some U.S.

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