Highlights of The Week

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 28.

Ukrainian military pilot Nadezhda Savchenko gestures inside a glass-walled cage as she attends a court hearing in the southern border town of Donetsk in Rostov region, Russia, Sept. 29. Savchenko faces up to 25 years in jail if found guilty of complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine last year and of crossing into Russia illegally. She denies any wrongdoing, saying she was spirited into Russia by rebels after being captured in a day-long battle in June, 2014.

A man stands outside the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, in Moscow, Sept. 30. The Federation Council voted unanimously to give President Vladimir Putin approval to deploy the country's military in Syria, Sergei Ivanov, the head of the presidential administration, said on Wednesday.

Syria's ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Oct. 1.



Russian air strikes in Syria are targeting a list of well-known militant organizations, not only Islamic State, the Kremlin said on Thursday, a day after the launch of its aerial campaign opened up a volatile new phase in the conflict.



Moscow had previously framed its campaign as primarily aimed at Islamic State militants, saying it feared Russian and other ex-Soviet citizens who belong to the group would shift their focus to their home countries if they were not stopped in Syria.



But on Thursday, after the United States and rebels on the ground suggested Russian strikes had so far not focused on Islamic State, it said its operation was pitched more broadly.

Russian President Vladimir Putin cups his ear to listen to a question as he departs after a summit on the Ukraine crisis at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, October 2, 2015. France hosted a meeting with leaders of Russia, Germany and Ukraine in Paris for talks about Ukraine which were likely to be overshadowed by the conflict in Syria.

A man stands between ornamental sunflowers in Moscow State University's botanic garden in central Moscow

A member of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) forces sits on a tank as they withdraw it further from the frontline outside Luhansk, Ukraine. Rebel leaders this week signed an agreement to extend a withdrawal of weapons to include tanks and smaller weapons systems. A rebel representative said on Wednesday the agreement could mean an end to the conflict.