Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka sometimes seems to find his unofficial title as a "dictator" amusing, telling media that he is, in reality, a freedom-loving man. Ahead of Belarus' August 9 presidential election, Current Time took a look at why this sobriquet is no joking matter.
The makers of a new Kyrgyz movie say they were denied a distribution license after a film commission objected to scenes showing corrupt government officials. Motherland, by director Mederbek Jalilov, tells the story of a conflict between Kyrgyz villagers and a Chinese investor.
Prosecutors in Moscow say they have started an investigation after Current Time reported alleged shortages of medicines and labor violations at a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients set up by a well-known Azerbaijani-Russian businessman Araz Agalarov.
Current Time’s investigation of European Union companies’ links with Crimea has found that a Cyprus-based company, AnRussTrans, played a role in transporting the “little green men” and military equipment that enabled Russia to take control of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014. To date, none of the companies that make up the AnRussTrans group appear to be included in EU, U.S., or Ukrainian sanctions lists.
Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Ruslan Ryaboshapka has confirmed to Current Time that the prosecutor who led investigations into Burisma will be fired. Burisma is the Ukrainian energy company at the center of an impeachment inquiry into the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump. The president faces allegations that he withheld U.S. military aid to Ukraine in a bid to prompt Kyiv to investigate the activities of ex-Burisma board member Hunter Biden and his father, presidential candidate Joe Biden.
A Ukrainian rock star is moving back into politics. Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, frontman of the band Okean Elzy, has launched a new anti-corruption party called Holos (Voice) ahead of July's parliamentary elections. Vakarchuk was previously elected to parliament in 2007, but resigned after a year.
A lawyer for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has disclosed some details of the corruption charges his client is facing in the high-profile case.
