MOSCOW (Reuters) - The head of Russia's only independent election watchdog was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison after being found guilty of working for an "undesirable organisation", state news agency TASS said. Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the Golos movement, was arrested in August 2023. He pleaded innocent at his trial.

A court in Moscow has convicted one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on charges of organizing the work of an “undesirable” organization and sentenced him to five years in prison.

The head of Russia's only independent election watchdog was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in a penal colony after being found guilty of working with an "undesirable organisation".

Pre-pandemic, those numbers surged even higher, with Hollywood releases generating nearly $1 billion in box office revenue in 2019, making Russia the top European market that year for American movies, according to Olga Zinyakova, president of the Karo cinema chain.

The ultimatum from Berlin comes as Ukraine said Russia was still carrying out attacks along the front line, despite a ceasefire proposal agreed on the weekend among Kyiv's allies for a 30-day ceasefire to start Monday. The Kremlin said such an ultimatum "is unacceptable for Russia."

Russia has spent most of its National Wealth Fund in the past few years, with liquid funds potentially being depleted in 2025, one economist says.

Burkina Faso’s junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore has sparked a social media debate, with some in Africa praising him and others criticizing him.

The weapon is made with a model aircraft engine available for approximately $16,000, according to the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate.