From oil spills, wildfires, and floods to Victory Day and the World Cup, these photos tell the stories that defined 2010.
2010: The Year In Photos

1
Orthodox Christians bathe in freezing water on Epiphany (Theophany of Christ) Day, January 19, at the New Jerusalem monastery near Moscow.
Photo by RFE/RL
Photo by RFE/RL

2
Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower, the world's tallest skyscraper, is illuminated by lasers during its opening ceremony on January 4.
Photo by Karim Sahib for AFP
Photo by Karim Sahib for AFP

3
A woman is rescued from the rubble in Port-au-Prince after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti on January 12. The Haitian government estimates that more than 200,000 people died as a result of the earthquake and 1 million were left homeless.
Photo by Lisandro Suero for AFP
Photo by Lisandro Suero for AFP

4
The new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Irinej of Nis, was enthroned on January 23 at Belgrade's Cathedral Church.
Photo by Vesna Anđić for RFE/RL
Photo by Vesna Anđić for RFE/RL

5
A cloud of smog and dust lies over the Afghan capital, Kabul, on January 21.
Photo by RFE/RL
Photo by RFE/RL

6
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad visits a laser technology exhibition in Tehran on February 7.
Photo by epa
Photo by epa

7
A supporter of Viktor Yanukovych celebrates the victory of the former Orange Revolution villain in Ukraine's presidential election on February 10.
Photo by Sergei Supinski for AFP
Photo by Sergei Supinski for AFP

8
Georgian athletes carry a flag marked with black at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver on February 12, shortly after their teammate Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a crash during a luge training run.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian for Getty Images/AFP
Photo by Kevork Djansezian for Getty Images/AFP

9
A woman mourns at the Lubyanka metro station in Moscow on March 30 after twin suicide bombings in the subway system killed at least 39 people.
Photo by Alexander Natruskin for Reuters
Photo by Alexander Natruskin for Reuters

10
Protesters try to seize a rocket-propelled grenade from a riot policeman during clashes in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on April 7. The opposition protests and deadly clashes in April led to the ouster of President Kurmanbek Bakiev.
Photo by Vladimir Pirogov for Reuters
Photo by Vladimir Pirogov for Reuters

11
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev exchange the newly signed START Treaty at Prague Castle on April 8. The landmark agreement, reached after months of negotiations and delays, significantly cuts both countries' nuclear arsenals.
Photo by Jewel Samad for AFP
Photo by Jewel Samad for AFP

13
The Northern Lights appear above the ash plume of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano late on April 22. Huge ash clouds from the erupting volcano in March and April caused major air-travel disruptions across Europe.
Photo by Lucas Jackson for Reuters
Photo by Lucas Jackson for Reuters

14
Deputies scuffle during a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv on April 27. Opposition lawmakers hurled eggs and smoke bombs inside the chamber as lawmakers approved an agreement allowing Russia's Black Sea Fleet to stay at Sevastopol until 2042.
Photo by Gleb Garanich for Reuters
Photo by Gleb Garanich for Reuters

15
A riot policeman falls after being hit with a Molotov cocktail near the Greek parliament in Athens during a nationwide strike on May 5, called by civil servants protesting against strict austerity measures.
Photo by John Kolesidis for Reuters
Photo by John Kolesidis for Reuters

16
Military airplanes fly over a Kremlin church during a rehearsal for a military parade on Moscow's Red Square on May 9, marking 65 years since the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
Photo by Maxim Shipenkov for epa
Photo by Maxim Shipenkov for epa

17
A giant sinkhole caused by the rains of Tropical Storm Agatha is seen in Guatemala City on June 1. Agatha caused mudslides and road collapses that left some 175 people dead.
Photo by Luis Echeverria for epa
Photo by Luis Echeverria for epa

18
A gull is covered in heavy oil on June 4 on the banks of East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana. Millions of barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico over several months after an explosion in April at BP's "Deepwater Horizon" oil rig, causing massive environmental and economic damage.
Photo by Win McNamee for Getty Images/AFP
Photo by Win McNamee for Getty Images/AFP

19
A South African soccer fan blows a mini vuvuzela before the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg on June 11.
Photo by AFP
Photo by AFP

21
A Russian Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft before its launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 14.
Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko for AFP
Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko for AFP

22
An Afghan girl sits outside a temporary shelter at a refugee camp in Kabul on July 8. Nearly 300,000 Afghans remain displaced within their own country, and nearly 3 million more are refugees abroad, mainly in Pakistan and Iran.
Photo by RFE/RL
Photo by RFE/RL

23
A Bosnian woman touches gravestones at the Potocari memorial cemetery near Srebrenica, Bosnia. On July 11, Bosnians marked the 15th anniversary of the wartime Srebrenica massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim males by Serb troops.
Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff for AFP
Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff for AFP

24
Residents of Pakistan's Baluchistan Province cling to a rope as they walk through floodwaters on July 23. Heavy monsoon rains throughout much of Pakistan led to severe floods that affected as many as 20 million people.
Photo by Reuters
Photo by Reuters

25
A man sits on the ground as a house burns outside the Russian town of Vyksa, near Nizhny Novgorod, on July 29. The hottest summer temperatures on record in Russia led to deadly wildfires in July and August.
Photo by Mikhail Voskresensky for Reuters
Photo by Mikhail Voskresensky for Reuters

26
Police detain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow on July 31 for attempting to stage an unsanctioned rally to defend the right to freedom of assembly.
Photo by Yuri Timofeyev for RFE/RL
Photo by Yuri Timofeyev for RFE/RL

27
Russian police detain a protester for trying to prevent loggers from cutting down a section of the Khimki Forest. Activists have been trying to keep the forest from being cleared to make way for a highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Photo by Alexander Natruskin for Reuters
Photo by Alexander Natruskin for Reuters