Lucy Papachristou

A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old U.S. citizen to six years and 10 months in prison after convicting him in a closed-door trial of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine, a Reuters reporter in the courtroom said.

The European Union delegation to Georgia said on Tuesday that the South Caucasus country would lose 121 million euros ($130 million) in funding from the bloc as a result of "democratic backsliding."

Authorities declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in a western region of Russia where Ukraine said it had struck a weapons arsenal overnight.

A Russian state museum is mounting an exhibit of artwork by the daughter of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, dedicated to her father's memory.

Some experts say Georgia might return to Russia's orbit.

Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party won 53% of the vote in a parliamentary election on Saturday, with 70% of precincts counted, the central electoral commission said.

Russian lawmakers in the Vologda region north of Moscow have proposed restricting the sale of alcohol to a two-hour period on weekdays, as the local governor pointed to "horrific" mortality figures.

A Russian court sentenced a Moscow paediatrician to 5-1/2 years in a penal colony on Tuesday, Russian media said, after the mother of one of her patients publicly denounced her over comments about Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Protesters stormed the parliament of the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on Friday and demanded the resignation of its leader over an unpopular investment agreement with Moscow.

A Russian court jailed a lawyer who has represented critics of Moscow's war in Ukraine for seven years on Thursday after convicting him of spreading false information about the Russian army and of "inciting hatred."