Kyrgyzstan's civil society and free press have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia. But that has changed in recent years amid a deepening government crackdown.
Amid an ongoing crackdown on civil society in Kyrgyzstan, the Oktyabr (October) district court in Bishkek on February 9 issued a ruling to liquidate the Kloop Media Public Foundation, the main owner of the Kloop news agency, one of the leading independent media outlets in the country.
A Siberian court sentenced former customs officer Vitaly Alekseyev to 12 years in prison on February 9 on a charge of collaborating with the Freedom of Russia legion, which consists of Russian citizens who fight alongside Ukrainian armed forces against Moscow's invasion.
Finland will provide Ukraine with a new package of military aid worth 190 million euros ($205 million), the Nordic country's Defense Ministry announced on February 9.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on February 9 that a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers led by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Mike Turner (Republican-Ohio), has arrived in Kyiv.