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'Berlin Wall's Lessons For Today'

In an op-ed for "USA Today," Jeffrey Gedmin discusses RFE and the role of free media in societies living under repressive regimes. More
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The Revolutions Of 1989

The dramatic fall of communism across Eastern Europe cannot be traced to one event, one decision, or one person. But there was a singular wind of change sweeping across the continent in 1989, blowing down the Iron Curtain, and revealing the public's yearning for freedom. RFE/RL interviewed key players in the drama, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and former Czech President Vaclav Havel, in this look back at the European revolutions of 1989.

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Mikhail Gorbachev On 1989

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev spoke with RFE/RL Moscow correspondent Lyudmila Telen about his role in the disintegration of the Soviet bloc in 1989 and whether today he feels he made mistakes.

After The Flood

On August 17, a massive blast destroyed a turbine at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station in Siberia, causing major flooding and killing 75 people. A government report found that years of bad decisions and neglect set the stage for the accident. RFE/RL spoke to the survivors who lost friends and family in the disaster.


Stalin Returns To The Moscow Metro

Josef Stalin’s name and image once graced the walls of the Moscow metro, but disappeared during the era of de-Stalinization in the 1950s. Now, Stalin is reappearing underground -- just as his reputation is slowly being restored throughout Russia.

Interview With Vaclav Havel

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel talks in a wide-ranging RFE/RL interview about what he expects to hear from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden when he visits the Czech Republic this week. The man many credit with leading Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution also talks about Russia and NATO enlargement. The interview was conducted by RFE/RL correspondents Jeremy Bransten and Kathleen Moore.


Youthful Dreams In Nagorno-Karabakh

An entire generation of young Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh is reaching adulthood and watching their world change as momentum builds for a final settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It could mean an end to years of isolation and the return of large numbers of Azerbaijanis displaced by the war.

Gorbachev On The Path To Democracy

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev spoke with RFE/RL correspondent Lyudmila Telen at the Moscow offices of his Gorbachev Foundation.


In Istanbul, A Former Soviet Enclave

The Laleli market in Istanbul, Turkey is a place were historical hatreds and animosities don't seem to matter. Immigrants from all over the former Soviet Union come sell their wares at the market enjoy each other's company, and seem thankful that in Turkey they can earn enough money to feed their families.

Kazakhstan's Atomic Lake

In the 1960s, the Soviet Union pursued its own version of the ill-fated U.S. "Plowshare Project," in which scientists used nuclear bombs for infrastructure work. Soviet officials used a peaceful nuclear explosion to blast out a lake in Kazakhstan. But far from being a benefit to the local residents, many fear that the so-called atomic lake has contaminated their environment.


Rosh Hashana In Uman

Every Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana, thousands of Jewish pilgrims come to the Ukrainian town of Uman to dance for joy. Why? Because a famous Jewish rabbi asked them to. Play

Looking Into Ukraine's Secret Service Archives

Volodymyr Perebyjnis was sent to a Soviet labor camp in 1947 for anticommunist agitation. Today, his relatives have turned to the archives of the Ukrainian Secret Service to shed light on their family history -- and on the repression of the Soviet era.


Migrant Express Part 1

In a seven-part video series, RFE/RL travels with a group of Tajik migrants making the four-day train journey from Dushanbe to Moscow in search of a better life. In the first part, judo instructor Muhammed Ali and schoolteacher Jamshed Nabiev bid farewell to their families and friends.

Migrant Express: Full Series

Migrant Express Part 2: Boarding Time

In a seven-part video series, RFE/RL travels with a group of Tajik migrants making the four-day train journey from Dushanbe to Moscow in search of a better life. In the second part, twenty-eight-year-old farmer Umed spends one last dinner with his family in Tajikistan before the start of the long and difficult journey.


Tajik Eid Preparations

The three-day celebration of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, has come to an end. Many Muslim families took part in great feasts to break the month of fasting. Gifts are given to children, and for many, it is a holiday filled with great joy.

Interrogated For A Song

Rovshan Nasirli, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani, was called to the National Security Ministry on August 12 to explain why he voted for an Armenian song in the televised Eurovision Song Contest in May. The officials said Nasirli’s vote for Armenia – Azerbaijan’s long-time rival -- was a matter of national security.


Flash Analysis: Khamenei Derides Vote Critics

Iranian Supreme Leader delivered an eagerly awaited address at Friday Prayers at Tehran University on June 19. In it, he signaled a hard line against public protests and strong backing for the country's "legitimate" president, Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

The Soviet Union's Nuclear Testing Grounds

It was 60 years ago, on August 29, 1949, that the Soviet Union first tested its nuclear arsenal. In the first of many tests, an atomic bomb was detonated at the Semipalatinsk test site, which would become a main hub of the arms race over the next 40 years.


Revisiting Kadyrov's Grozny

Big Brother-like pictures of Chechnya's stocky leader Ramzan Kadyrov hang everywhere in the capital, along with signs of praise and thanks. But as RFE/RL discovered during a recent trip to Grozny, there are signs of deep fear beneath the veneer of devoted optimism.

No Recourse For Kazakh Squatters

Some 4,500 illegally built homes stand in the Shanyraq settlement on the outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city. When authorities decided that those homes should be demolished, there was nothing residents could do.

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