Russia – Iran
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. While Bushehr, Iran’s first operating nuclear power station, has long been the centerpiece of their relationship, Moscow and Tehran are planning new nuclear facilities and cooperation in other areas of technology, raising questions about the ability of international agencies to monitor Iran’s nuclear activities. Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has played a key role in completing and operating Bushehr, on Iran’s southern coast. A contract to complete the plant’s first reactor was signed in 1995, but the unit did not begin full commercial electricity generation until 2013. Rosatom has continued work at the site despite the military escalation in the Middle East. After the start of the US-Iran war in February, Rosatom evacuated most of its workers from Iran. But many of the personnel have since returned; by October 11, the Russian nuclear body reported that 135 engineering and technical specialists were back working at the site. Construction is also continuing on two additional reactor units at Bushehr. Work on a second unit has progressed beyond 60 percent completion, with a target of starting operations in 2029, while construction of a third unit is also under way, according to Rosatom. – RFE/RL Russia And Iran Expand Nuclear Cooperation As International Oversight Weakens
Russia – Ukraine
The US-negotiated cease-fire aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the eastern 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. The start of the cease-fire, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump last week and confirmed by Moscow and Kyiv, comes amid what she described as a dire situation in Oleshky, a frontline city on the brink of disaster, where the remaining population consists primarily of elderly residents urgently in need of medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water. “The cease-fire has begun, and the Ukrainian side is honoring its commitments,” Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, wrote on Telegram on October 27. “Today, at 3:00 a.m. Kyiv time and 4:00 a.m. Moscow time, a cease-fire was introduced in designated areas associated with the humanitarian mission,” he added. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had halted fire in the Kherson direction and introduced a “cease-fire regime” ahead of a planned humanitarian operation in Oleshky. Oleshky lies on the Russian-occupied bank of the Dnipro River, opposite the regional capital of Kherson. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the city had approximately 24,000 residents. Melania Trump’s office estimates that between 1,700 and 2,000 people remain, including about 50 children. Most are believed to be elderly residents who have been unable or unwilling to leave. There has been no formal demographic count since 2022. The city has endured years of fighting, displacement, and isolation. The destruction of the nearby Kakhovka Dam in June 2023 compounded the devastation, with an estimated 90 percent of Oleshky’s territory flooded. – RFE/RL Cease-Fire Takes Effect Near Oleshky As Russian Strikes Hit Kyiv
Serbia
For two years, a student-led protest movement tried to push Aleksandar Vucic, who led Serbia as either president or prime minister since 2014, from power. Over the weekend, they achieved their goal. But with no identifiable leader and no sharp policy focus, analysts say their real battle is just beginning. Students’ List focused its election platform on fighting corruption, strengthening independent institutions, education, and improving living standards. Despite the uncertainties surrounding the new political movement’s future course, voters placed their trust in it, disappointed with what established political parties had achieved. That culminated in a resounding win at the polls, with the movement taking 139 of parliament’s 250 seats. Once parliament starts after the official announcement of the results, the Students’ List candidates have 90 days to form a government. The student-led electoral list will enter parliament for the first time. It has no obvious leader and is made up largely of experts and academics from various fields. The movement may have enough seats to form a government on its own, but it has no clear candidate to become prime minister. Cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Novi Sad, was at the top of the electoral list, which also included well-known figures such as former central bank Governor Dejan Soskic and former basketball star Dejan Bodiroga. None, however, have been publicly presented as a candidate for prime minister. Nor have any names come to the forefront for ministerial candidates. “They were born out of frustration with everything within the state that they are dissatisfied with,” Balkan expert Nikola Xaviereff-Weckwerth told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service. “Their strategy was not to have a single figure leading the movement, so that the other side — Vucic’s party — would not have an individual to target,” he added. – RFE/RL After More Than A Decade Of Vucic, What Comes Next For Serbia?
The Students’ 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, RFE/RL publishes some of the high-profile Serbians representing the movement. – RFE/RL Who’s In Charge? The Faces Of Serbia’s Student-Backed Political Movement
