Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power for 26 years, is facing unprecedented opposition in Sunday's election from a political novice who says she only wants a clean vote.

"I'm tired of being silent. I'm tired of being afraid," said opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who entered the race after her blogger husband was jailed.

After nearly three weeks of protests in Russia's Far East over the arrest of a provincial governor, neither Moscow nor the protesters seem willing to back down.

The arrest of a popular regional governor has led to protests demanding his release. Amid the pandemic and an economic downturn, the protests pose an additional challenge for President Vladimir Putin.

Residents of Khabarovsk, a Russian city on the Chinese border, have held protests against the arrest of a popular governor for more than a week. The demonstrations signal growing discontent in Russia.

The U.S. isn't the only country where statues of controversial historical figures have been swept aside by protesters seeking a clean break with the past.

A bounty program on U.S. soldiers would constitute a "massive escalation" in Moscow's testy relations with Washington, says one Russia expert. A Russian lawmaker asks: "What would we get out of this?"

"It is very important to him to have this popular endorsement, even if it is a farce, even if it is a travesty of popular will," analyst Masha Lipman says of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's President Putin has turned the Soviet Union's costly victory over Nazi Germany into a substitute for a national ideology. A 75th anniversary parade planned for May is now set for Wednesday.

A Russian court has sentenced American Paul Whelan, accused of espionage, to 16 years in prison. He was arrested in 2018 at a hotel in Moscow. The former U.S. Marine says he was set up.

The accident, 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilling into a river, took place at a power plant in a city north of the Arctic Circle. Local officials face criminal charges for their slow response.

Russia's capital, the epicenter of the country's coronavirus pandemic, is lifting restrictions as the Kremlin prepares for a massive military parade and a referendum on term limits.

More than 20,000 tons spilled in a remote Arctic region, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a state of emergency. The company says thawing permafrost may have caused the spill.

Russia and Saudi Arabia, the world's two-largest oil exporters, stopped coordinating their crude production last week, sending oil prices tumbling.

The Kremlin says warnings of Russian interference in November's presidential election are just "American paranoia." Some analysts say there's little the Russians could do in any case.

A Soviet spy has died at the age of 103. Russians claim he saved the Polish city of Krakow from destruction by Nazis. Polish historians tell a different story.

"America used to be a beacon of freedom, liberty and anti-corruption efforts. Now a lot of Ukrainians feel like ... we are by ourselves," says a Ukrainian political commentator.

A week after he said Americans didn't care about Ukraine, Pompeo is in its capital Kyiv. Ukraine continues to be at the center of unflattering attention during President Trump's impeachment trial.

Ukrainians once viewed the United States as a model of democracy and clean government. After their country got wrapped up in the U.S. impeachment scandal, some are having second thoughts.

Vladimir Putin's plan to change the way Russia is governed has caught his opponents off guard. They know he's trying to hang on to power, but they don't agree on how to stop him.