Recent street violence has dealt another blow to its image. Longtime allies in the EU are dismayed and the USA is considering sanctions against those promoting violence against perceived foes

Ukrainian troops have battled Russian-backed separatist forces in the east in a conflict Kyiv estimates has killed 14,000 people since 2014.

The 57-year-old former banker was arrested in June 2020, as was his 31-year-old son who was rounded up on tax evasion charges.

Baku said Shusha, Azerbaijan's "cultural capital" and a historic mountainside city known for producing writers and scholars, and the crown jewel recovered by Azerbaijan after the years of Armenian occupation, came under attack.