U.S. media are reporting that President Joe Biden's administration has lifted restrictions that have prevented Ukraine from using American-provided weapons to strike deeper inside Russian territory.

Reports on November 17 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP, Reuters, and others cited sources familiar with the matter.

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The White House has not commented on the reports and did not immediately respond to requests for comment from RFE/RL. The National Security Council (NSC) also declined to comment.

It was not immediately clear how far-reaching such permission would be. Biden, in remarks made during a trip to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, did not respond to shouted questions about the matter from journalists.

If confirmed, it would represent a major shift in U.S. policy amid long-standing pleas by Kyiv to allow such actions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not directly confirm the reports but said that one of the main points of his "victory plan" presented to allies included the use of long-range weapons by his military.

"Today, many people in the media are saying that we have received permission for appropriate actions. But [militaries] do not strike with words. Such things are not announced. Rockets will speak for themselves," he said on Telegram.

Reuters, citing its sources, reported that Kyiv plans to conduct the first of such long-range attacks in the next few days, but it did not disclose specifics.

Ukraine would likely utilize ATACMS rockets -- which have a range of up to 300 kilometers -- Reuters said, citing three sources familiar with the issue.

The U.S. administration has been seeking ways to shore up support for Ukraine ahead of Biden’s departure on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Trump has criticized the strong support Biden has given to Kyiv and has said he will seek an end to the war as quickly as possible, but with terms that would likely be unacceptable to Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from the Trump transition team, but a key adviser attacked the move in a post on X.

"Escalating the wars before he leaves office," Richard Grenell wrote.

However, Ben Hodges, a retired U.S. lieutenant general and former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, told RFE/RL that such a move would send “a message to the Kremlin that the [the United States] is not just folding up our tents and waiting for Trump.”

Hodges said it would be a “good thing because this policy would be in effect as the Trump administration takes over and, frankly, it’s a good thing for Donald Trump.”

He said the priority for Ukraine in the use of the weapons will likely be in Russia’s Kursk region, using them to strike command-and-control sites, arms depots, and artillery batteries.

The next priority would likely be to target airfields that Russia uses to launch strikes against Ukrainian cities.

Phillips O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said he believes the move was long overdue, but that the concern now was whether Trump would reverse the move once he takes office.

He and other observers said the U.S. move would likely lead other allies -- including Britain and France -- to make similar moves.

Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range weapons has dividend many of Kyiv’s allies, with some fearing it could provoke Russian counter-responses and lead to a wider European war.

Biden himself had been reluctant to allow such actions, although the White House in May granted permission for the use of ATACMS for limited hits just across the Russian border to deter imminent strikes against Ukraine.

AP and other outlets cited sources as saying the latest decision by Biden is likely in response to North Korea sending thousands of troops to Russia amid reports that some have already engaged in fighting in Russia’s Kursk region.

The Kremlin has warned that the allowance by the United States or other Western allies to use long-range weapons targeting Russia would be seen as a major escalation.

Since its February 2022 full-scale invasion, Russia has used its long-range weapons and warplanes to attack deep inside Ukraine, hitting civilian and infrastructure sites along with military targets.

After Russia launched one of its largest air strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure on November 17, Ukraine’s energy authority said all Ukrainian regions will experience temporary restrictions on power consumption on November 18.

The latest Russian attacks were condemned by the European Union, NATO, and other Western allies.

"NATO strongly condemns Russia's large-scale attack against Ukraine that has killed and terrorized civilians and targeted critical energy infrastructure," a spokeswoman said.

"We stand by Ukraine and allies continue to make unprecedented contributions to Ukraine's defenses," she said.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Todd Prince in Washington.

TBILISI – Student groups in the Caucasus nation of Georgia united in a manifesto condemning the disputed October 26 parliamentary elections – which gave the Russia-friendly Georgian Dream party the victory – as anti-government groups vowed a "disobedience campaign" in central Tbilisi for the next 24 hours.

The November 17 manifesto stated that the government's “systematic rigging of elections reveals a gross attempt by the Georgian Dream party to seize control of the state."

"We are not going to give up the freedom of our country. As citizens of Georgia, we remain committed to democratic values and state interests,” it read. “We do not recognize the elections and the parliament seated according to the results of these elections…and are ready to fight for the freedom of ourselves and our country!”

The manifesto also cited what it said were attacks on the educational system through “discriminatory and selective decisions in the process of granting” entry to educational institutions and “the imposition of censorship on the part of the teaching.”

“In light of repressive actions enforcing 'Russian' and censorship laws and other rights and freedoms, the fact of systematic rigging of elections reveals a gross attempt by the Georgian Dream [party] to seize the state," the manifesto stated.

It was signed by 13 groups, including students from at least 13 Georgian universities.

Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) on November 16 validated the results of last month's disputed elections, despite weeks of protests by the opposition and accusations of widespread fraud and Russian interference.

The Moscow-friendly ruling Georgian Dream party won 53.93 percent of the vote against 37.79 percent garnered by an opposition alliance, the CEC announced during an unruly session that was briefly interrupted after opposition representative Davit Kirtadze splashed a black liquid on CEC chief Giorgi Kalandarishvili and called him a "dark spot."

Kirtadze's protest was intended to refer to the ink from voters' pens that was visible through the thin paper on the other side of some ballots. The opposition says this compromised secrecy in the disputed voting on October 26.

Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, is the only party that recognized the election results, with pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili still refusing to acknowledge the outcome, which she said was heavily influenced by Russia.

Georgia's pro-European opposition has boycotted the new parliament, renouncing its mandates from the October 26 vote, alleging widespread fraud and Russian interference.

On November 15, student-led protests were held, with police cordoning off Tbilisi State University's main building as protesters gathered.

EU and other Western officials have expressed serious doubts about the elections and perceived irregularities.

Georgia has been a candidate for EU membership since last year, but the "foreign influence" law and anti-LGBT measures have stalled that effort.

The United States in July announced that it would pause more than $95 million in assistance to the Georgian government, warning it that it was backsliding on democracy.

BERLIN – Nearly 2,000 exiled Russians and other opponents of President Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine marched to the Russian Embassy in Berlin on November 17, with leading activist Yulia Navalnaya declaring that “Putin is a murderer” and others holding signs stating, “No War, No Putin.”

Standing on a table used as a speakers’ platform, Navalnaya told supporters that “if I have to climb up a table and say that Putin is a murderer, then I'll climb up a table and say that Putin is a murderer."

Participants shouted, "Russia without Putin" and "No to war" as Navalnaya and fellow opposition leaders Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin led the procession to the embassy.

The action comes as the opposition is struggling to maintain an influential voice after the unexplained jailhouse death of its most prominent leader, Aleksei Navalny, in February, and a decades-long clampdown that has escalated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and driven many of Putin’s critics out of Russia.

German media cited Berlin police as estimating the crowd at 1,800 people at the beginning of the march, which ran from Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Gate. The event appeared to end peacefully late on November 17 without incident.

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The rally was co-organized by Kremlin critics Navalnaya – who is Navalny’s widow -- and Yashin and Kara-Murza, both of whom were released from Russian custody in a prisoner exchange in August.

"The march aims to unite everyone who stands against Vladimir Putin's aggressive war in Ukraine and political repressions in Russia," the organizers said in a statement prior to the march.

At the event, Yashin told the crowd, "Putin is not Russia. Russia is us. And we are against the war," while march participants chanted, “Russia will be free,” and “Freedom for political prisoners.”

The opposition says it has three main demands: the "immediate withdrawal" of troops from Ukraine, the trial of Putin as a "war criminal," and the liberation of all political prisoners in Russia.

Ahead of the protest, a dispute over whether the Russian flag should be unfurled at the protest erupted on social media.

The protest announcement featured images from a 2014 rally in Moscow against Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. However, critics say Russia's colors have been discredited by the country's brutal war.

As the controversy emerged late last month, Yashin said that “the discussion of flags clearly obscures the essence of the action that we want to hold in Berlin.”

Ukrainian officials and others expressed skepticism ahead of the planned march.

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeev criticized the event as a "walk without dignity and without consequences," adding that it illustrated the opposition's "weakness."

Writing in the Zeit newspaper, Makeev argued that the three opposition figures were not doing enough to support Kyiv and call on their fellow citizens to protest in Russia.

Likewise Vitsche, the association of Ukrainian exiles in Germany, said that the event "failed to deliver a clear message" of support.

Bela Karolyi, the controversial gymnastics coach who is perhaps best remembered for having trained Nadia Comaneci, the first person to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics, has died at the age of 82.

USA Gymnastics said Karolyi died on November 15. No cause of death was given.

Karolyi and his wife, Martha, trained several Olympic gold medalists and world champions in the United States and Romania, including Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.

“A big impact and influence on my life,” Comaneci, who was just 14 when Karolyi coached her to gold for Romania at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, posted on X.

Karolyi was a polarizing and controversial figure, largely due to his strident training methods that came under scrutiny during the height of the Larry Nassar scandal.

The disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor was effectively given a life sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting gymnasts and other athletes. More than a dozen former gymnasts said the Karolyis were part of a system that created an oppressive culture that allowed Nassar’s behavior to run unchecked for years.

The Karolyis denied responsibility, telling CNN in 2018 that they were unaware of Nassar's behavior. But the revelations led to them receding from the spotlight.

The Karolyis defected from Romania to the United States in 1981, five years after his first big, and arguably, greatest success in 1976 at the Summer Olympics in Montreal. It was there that Comaneci mesmerized the world, scoring a perfect 10 not once but seven times, with Karolyi wrapping her in his trademark bear hugs.

Romania, which had won only three bronzes in Olympic gymnastics before 1976, left Montreal with seven medals, including Comaneci’s golds in the all-around, balance beam, and uneven bars, and the team silver. Comaneci became an international sensation, the first person to appear on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time, and Newsweek magazines in the same week.

With reporting by AFP and AP

The situation remained tense on November 17 in Georgia’s Russia-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia, with the self-styled president saying no compromise had been reached with the opposition.

Protesters were still reported to be inside the parliament compound in the capital, Sukhumi, which they stormed on November 15 in protest over an investment deal with Moscow.

The region’s de facto leader, Aslan Bzhania, had said on November 16 that he would resign once protesters left the compound. However, later that day, Bzhania met with his cabinet in his hometown of Tamysh to discuss "ways to stabilize the situation that arose."

There were fears of escalating violence amid the storming of the parliament, which followed weeks of tensions in a region whose independence Moscow has backed since a five-day war against Georgian forces in 2008 over another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia.

Opposition leaders have demanded not only the permanent abandonment of a proposed deal with Russia that opponents say would unfairly open the property market to wealthy Russians, but also Bzhania's resignation and those of his vice president and the breakaway leadership's prime minister.

"The situation will be stabilized. We will return everything to the legal framework,” Bzhania's press service quoted him as saying on November 16.

He reportedly added that "the entire country" -- which is overwhelmingly regarded as Georgian territory internationally -- "is controlled by the legitimate authorities, with the exception of the complex of buildings they have occupied."

Tamysh is about 40 kilometers from the region's capital.

Bzhania, a former chief of Abkhazia's state security service, told his supporters on November 16 that "enormous pressure is being exerted on members of parliament so that the parliament makes an unlawful decision to dismiss the president." But he warned that the "2014 scenario will not be repeated," a reference to one of two instances when Abkhaz leaders resigned due to opposition protests.

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Abkhazia's Interior Ministry and security service issued statements saying they would obey orders from the president.

Protesters said in a statement that the occupation was not aimed at Abkhazia's close ties with Russia but against Bzhania, who they accused of "trying to use these relations for his own selfish interests [and] manipulating them for the sake of strengthening his regime."

Russia's state-run TASS news agency quoted a representative of the protesters, Adgur Ardzinba, as saying they would remain in place until the president resigned.

Moscow said on November 15 that it was following the "crisis situation" with concern and urged Russian citizens to avoid travel to Abkhazia.

With reporting by Reuters

KYIV – Ukraine’s energy authority said that all Ukrainian regions will experience temporary restrictions on power consumption on November 18 after Russia launched one of its largest air strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis

RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Ukrenergo on November 17 said the power cuts would run from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. as crews worked to repair damage from the attacks “as quickly as possible.”

"All regions will be required to apply consumption-restriction measures. The temporary restrictions are due to the damage to power facilities during today's massive missile and drone attack," the Energy Ministry said.

Ukrenergo also said that two employees of a substation it operates were killed as a result of the Russian attacks early on November 17.

Separately, in one of the bloodiest attacks of recent months, at least eight people, including two children, were killed and some 20 injured in a Russian missile strike on a residential building in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy late on November 17, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Overnight, Russia launched massive aerial attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv’s foreign minister said on November 17, with drones and missiles targeting energy infrastructure and other civilian sites in cities across the country, prompting neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets.

“Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure. This is war criminal [President Vladimir] Putin’s true response to all those who called and visited him recently. We need peace through strength, not appeasement,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X.

Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had launched around 120 missiles and 90 drones in what he described as a "massive" combined air strike on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"The enemy's target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from strikes and falling debris," he said in a statement on social media.

Explosions were reported early on November 17 in the capital, Kyiv, as well as other cities across the country, including Odesa on the Black Sea coast and the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhya. Russia's missile attack targeted power infrastructure across Ukraine, forcing the launch of preventive outages, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said.

The massive attack comes as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine grinds toward its 1,000th day. Russia is expending huge amounts of weaponry and human life to make small but steady territorial gains to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is struggling to minimize losses, maintain morale, and convince allies that, with more military aid, it can turn the tide. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said he could quickly end the war, though it is unclear how.

On November 16, the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries reiterated its members' "unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes" in its struggle against invading Russian forces.

WATCH: A barrage of Russian missiles and drones struck across Ukraine on the night of November 16-17. Standing amid destroyed and heavily damaged houses, a man in Mykolayiv told RFE/RL how he was helping to save a neighbor and her child from burning debris. The woman was eventually pronounced dead.

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Russia's attack on Ukraine on November 17 prompted neighboring Poland to scramble jets.

"Due to the massive attack by the Russian Federation using cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles on objects located, among others, in western Ukraine, Polish and allied aircraft have started operating in our airspace," the operational command of NATO member Poland's armed forces posted on X.

It said it had "activated all available forces and resources at his disposal, the on-duty fighter pairs were scrambled, and the ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems reached the highest state of readiness.”

The Polish prime minster, Donald Tusk, wrote on X that the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine won't be stopped through phone calls -- remarks coming days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke by phone with Putin.

"No one will stop Putin with phone calls. The attack last night -- one of the biggest in this war -- has proved that telephone diplomacy cannot replace real support from the whole West for Ukraine," Tusk wrote.

In his social media post, Zelenskiy said Russia deployed various types of drones, including Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic, and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles. Ukrainian defense forces shot down 140 air targets, he said.

The missile attack followed an overnight drone strike on Ukraine's capital. The roof of a residential building caught fire in Kyiv due to falling debris and at least one person was injured, city officials said on the Telegram messaging app.

"Emergency services were dispatched to the scene," Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "is not interested in holding negotiations to end the war but wants to hold talks with foreign leaders to put an end to his international isolation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 16 following a telephone conversation between Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"I think that Putin does not want peace at all, but this does not mean that he does not want to sit down with some of the leaders [at the negotiating table]. Because for him political isolation means destruction. It is quite profitable for him to sit down, talk, and disagree," Zelenskiy said in a radio interview broadcast on November 16.

Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis

RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

"He can't travel, and to negotiate means he would be able to go somewhere.... This would be the end of his isolation for him," Zelenskiy said.

However, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine has to put an end to the conflict as soon as possible and admitted that the situation on the battlefield in the east, where Russia was making incremental advances, was difficult for the outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian Army.

"From our side, we must do everything so that this war ends next year, ends through diplomatic means," Zelenskiy said.

He added that he wants to talk with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump directly, not through intermediaries, but said that is not allowed by U.S. legislation before Trump's inauguration.

"As the president of Ukraine, I will only take seriously a conversation with the president of the United States of America, with all due respect to any entourage, to any people," Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy has criticized Scholz's phone call with Putin on November 15, warning that it had opened a "Pandora's box" that undermined efforts to isolate Putin and end the war in Ukraine with a "fair peace."

WATCH: Ukrainian inventors have developed more than 200 different ground robotic systems in the last year. The devices can lay mines, destroy enemy positions, transport equipment and shells, or fire machine guns.

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Russia, meanwhile, continued to batter Ukraine's cities and infrastructure.

The Russian military launched 83 drones and an S-300 missile at targets in Ukraine, the air force said on Telegram.

Ukraine's air-defense systems shot down 53 Russian drones over 11 of its regions -- Cherkasy, Odesa, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Mykolayiv, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskiy.

Separately, Russian shelling killed one person on November 16 in the city of Slovyansk, in the eastern region od Donetsk, regional Governor Vadym Lyakh reported.

TBILISI -- Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) on November 16 validated the results of last month's disputed elections, despite weeks of protests by the opposition and accusations of widespread fraud and Russian interference.

The Moscow-friendly ruling Georgian Dream party won 53.93 percent of the vote against 37.79 percent garnered by an opposition alliance, the CEC announced during an unruly session that was briefly interrupted after opposition representative Davit Kirtadze splashed a black liquid on CEC chief Giorgi Kalandarishvili and called him a "dark spot."

"Unfortunately, the CEC, under your leadership, your direct involvement, and your unfair decisions, instead of leading the country toward Europe, is moving it towards Russia," Kirtadze told Kalandarishvili after throwing the black liquid on him.

Kirtadze's protest was intended to refer to the ink from voters' pens that was visible through the thin paper on the other side of some ballots. The opposition says this compromised secrecy in the disputed voting on October 26.

Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, is the only party that recognized the election results, with pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili still refusing to acknowledge the outcome, which she said was heavily influenced by Russia.

Georgia's pro-European opposition has boycotted the new parliament, renouncing its mandates from the October 26 vote, alleging widespread fraud and Russian interference.

Representatives of the two main opposition blocs -- the United National Movement (ENM) and the Coalition for Change -- filed an appeal this week with the CEC in a technical move to prevent it from registering the opposition candidates who won seats as lawmakers.

The new parliament is expected to hold its first postelection session by the end of the month, with the makeup of a new government possibly to follow within days.

While the CEC was announcing the validation of the election results, a protest was under way outside the commission's building. The opposition has been holding large daily protests in Tbilisi since Georgian Dream claimed victory.

On November 15, student-led protests were held, with police cordoning off Tbilisi State University's main building as protesters gathered.

WATCH: A student-led protest was held in Georgia's capital on November 15 over elections in October that officials said confirmed the ruling Georgian Dream party's hold on power. Opposition parties and the country's president say results were manipulated with help from the Central Election Commission.

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Students inside a building of Shota Rustaveli State University, in the Black Sea port city of Batumi, were pledging to stay inside for a second night of protest there.

Also on November 15, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze ignored a journalist's question about the protests as he left a downtown meeting with Tbilisi's mayor, saying only, "The opposition is in trouble. The opposition is in trouble."

A presidential election should be held by early January.

Zurabishvili has feuded for years with the governing Georgian Dream, but the crisis has boiled over in the past six months with the enactment of curbs on NGOs and media under a "foreign influence" law that Zurabishvili and other critics call a "Russian law."

Zurabishvili said the voting showed Georgian Dream had "captured" the country.

EU and other Western officials have expressed serious doubts about the elections and perceived irregularities.

Georgia has been a candidate for EU membership since last year. But the "foreign influence" law and anti-LGBT measures have stalled that effort.

The United States in July announced that it would pause more than $95 million in assistance to the Georgian government, warning it that it was backsliding on democracy.

The embattled leader of Georgia's Moscow-backed separatist region of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, was quoted as saying on November 16 that "legitimate authorities" control all of Abkhazia except the parliamentary complex that opposition protesters wrested control of a day earlier to block a controversial Russia-related vote.

The opposition has since demanded Bzhania's and other senior officials' resignations and new elections.

Bzhania's press service said he held an urgent meeting with his cabinet at a school in his home village of Tamysh to discuss "ways to stabilize the situation that arose."

Bzhania had previously said he was "ready" to step down if opposition supporters agreed to leave the parliament compound in the capital, Sukhumi.

There were fears of escalating violence amid the storming of the parliament, which followed weeks of tensions, in a region whose independence Moscow has backed since a five-day war against Georgian forces in 2008 over another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia.

WATCH: The leader of the Moscow-backed Abkhazia region said on November 16 that he would step down if protesters leave the parliament compound. A day earlier, demonstrators against an investment agreement with Moscow stormed the parliament in Sukhumi, the administrative center of the Georgian breakaway territory.

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Opposition leaders have demanded not only the permanent abandonment of a proposed deal with Russia that opponents say would unfairly open the property market to wealthy Russians, but also Bzhania's resignation and those of his vice president and the breakaway leadership's prime minister.

"The situation will be stabilized. We will return everything to the legal framework,” Bzhania's press service quoted him as saying on November 16.

He reportedly added that "the entire country" -- which is overwhelmingly regarded as Georgian territory internationally -- "is controlled by the legitimate authorities, with the exception of the complex of buildings they have occupied."

Tamysh is about 40 kilometers from the region's capital.

The opposition called for a fresh rally on November 16 after protesters the previous day stormed the parliament grounds over a real estate deal with Moscow and demanded Bzhania’s ouster.

"Those who seized the buildings, those who tried to commit a coup d'etat, must vacate the compound, after which I am ready to call elections, ready to resign, and run in fresh elections," Bzhania said from Tamysh.

However, the opposition appeared determined to ignore Bzhania's demands.

"Aslan Bzhania is resorting to desperate attempts to preserve his government," a so-called Coordination Council of the opposition said in a statement, adding, "His reign is over."

The statement accused Bzhania of "enriching his relatives and a narrow circle close to him."

Local media said lawmakers had on November 15 failed to ratify the deal, which opponents fear would allow wealthy Russians to acquire property in the picturesque Black Sea region, pushing real estate prices higher and making it unaffordable for locals.

Bzhania, a former chief of Abkhazia's state security service, told his supporters on November 16 that "enormous pressure is being exerted on members of parliament so that the parliament makes an unlawful decision to dismiss the president." But he warned that the "2014 scenario will not be repeated," an allusion to one of two instances when Abkhaz leaders resigned due to opposition protests.

On June 1, 2014, Abkhaz leader Aleksander Ankvab resigned following opposition protests led by Raul Khajimba, who took his place, only to resign, too, after the Supreme Court overturned the results of the 2019 presidential election. Bzhania then became president after winning a March 2020 vote.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia's rule after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Moscow recognized the independence of the two regions after Russian forces repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war in 2008 that ended with Georgia's defeat.

Most countries still recognize Abkhazia as part of Georgia, but its economy is almost entirely dependent on Moscow, which pays the salaries of public administrators as well as social payments to residents.

Georgian pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili responded to the tensions in what Tbilisi regards as its occupied region by accusing Russia of "taking accelerated steps toward annexation" of Abkhazia.

Tensions have been running high in the region in recent weeks, with opposition activists demanding an end to Russia's dominance over the region and its economy, though opposition parties on November 15 said their protest is not against Russia.

"The actions of the protesters are not directed against relations between Russia and Abkhazia," they said in a joint statement. "In fact, we, the opposition, have always emphasized the importance of fraternal and strategic ties between our countries."

Russia's Foreign Ministry accused the Abkhaz opposition of exceeding legal means and "provoking an escalation." It said through a spokeswoman that Russia was not interfering and expected the situation "will be resolved exclusively by peaceful political means."

Moscow recommended that any Russian citizens in Abkhazia leave "if possible" and that others refrain from traveling there.

European football's governing body is expected to announce a decision following a Nations League match between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest that was abandoned in stoppage time on November 15 after Kosovar players left the field complaining of "racist" abuse.

The Kosovar players headed for the dressing room in the 92nd minute with the game heading for a goalless draw after some spectators chanted, "Serbia! Serbia!" during a scuffle between Kosovo captain Amir Rrahmani and Romanian striker Denis Alibec.

The Football Federation of Kosovo on November 16 warned that it will submit a complaint to UEFA for what it said were "provocations and racist behavior" of Romanian fans during the match.

Kosovo national team manager Bajram Shala said the decision to abandon the match was made by the Kosovar federation, coach Franco Foda, and the players after "racist calls" against their country.

"We, as a federation, coach and team, have decided not to participate in a match where the fundamental values of UEFA are not respected. Not only were the values not respected, but there was racial discrimination, so we decided we couldn't allow that. It's happening for the second time in the same stadium from the fans," Shala said at a press conference in Bucharest.

The captain of the Kosovo team, Amir Rrahmani, said that Romanian fans chanted, "Serbia, Serbia," and, "Kosovo is Serbia," and that he had informed Danish referee Morten Krogh "at least three times" that his team would leave the field.

The Romanian team remained on the pitch for about an hour before the referee decided to abandon the game after the Kosovar players refused to return.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been recognized by more than 100 countries, but not Romania and other four EU states -- Spain, Cyprus, Greece, and Slovakia.

The Romanian team on November 16 thanked their fans for "the extraordinary support and for the behavior they had in the match with Kosovo, a game that will remain in everyone's memory not only as a three-hour one, but also as an example of unity and solidarity."

"It's a regrettable gesture that the visiting team chose to leave the field without the referee's consent, refusing to end the match on the pitch, in the spirit of fair play, which reflects a lack of respect not only for football, but also for the profession of footballers," the Romanian team's message said.

The Romanian Gendarmerie said 13 spectators were fined after the game and another nine were banned from entering a sports competition for a period of up to one year.

The game is not the first one between the two teams to be marred by incidents.

During a previous game in Bucharest in September 2023, Romanian ultras shouted chants at Kosovo players and unfurled a huge banner with the inscription "Kosovo is Serbia" in Romanian and Serbian.

The game was interrupted for 50 minutes, the Romanian Football Federation was fined by UEFA, and Romania played the next match with only children under 14 allowed in the stands.

Kosovar fans responded in kind during the first leg of the League of Nations played in Pristina this fall, which was won by Romania 3-0. They whistled during the Romanian anthem, chanted racist slogans, and even invaded the pitch. The incidents led to the Kosovar Federation also being fined by UEFA.

UEFA said it would communicate "further information in due course."

Romania is top of Nations League Group C with 12 points, followed by Kosovo with nine points, and would have automatically qualified into the upper Group B had the game ended in a draw. A UEFA decision in favor of Kosovo would bring the two teams to the same number of points, with one more game left to play each.