Here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days, including content from Gandhara, the RFE/RL website focusing exclusively on developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine
Activists say hundreds, possibly thousands of Russian soldiers are refusing to fight in Ukraine for reasons including exhaustion, a lack of preparation, and bad leadership. Current Time spoke to soldiers from two separate units about their actions. By Timofei Rozhanskiy
Missing In Action: A Russian Soldier's Mother Desperately Seeks Answers
Olga Sidorenko was born in Kharkiv in the Soviet era but moved to Russia 25 years ago and raised two sons there. One of them is a Russian soldier who went missing in the Kharkiv region, in eastern Ukraine, on March 16. Desperately seeking information, she says the troops were sent there as "cannon fodder." Sidorenko also has a stepson in a government-controlled area of Ukraine. "It's brother against brother in our family," she says. By Vladimir Sevrinovsky and RFE/RL's Russian Service
'My Country Thirsts For Blood': Russian Artist, Jailed For War 'Fakes,' Speaks Out From Custody
St. Petersburg artist Aleksandra Skolchilenko has spent more than three months in pretrial custody for her activism against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In an interview from jail, Skolchilenko describes the conditions behind bars and tells RFE/RL why she won’t stop speaking out. By North.Realities
Cash-Strapped Taliban 'Exploiting' Afghanistan's Natural Resources To Boost Revenue
The Taliban has turned to Afghanistan’s easy-to-extract coal reserves to generate much-needed revenue. Most of the coal has been exported on the cheap to neighboring Pakistan, a move that has triggered a public outcry in Afghanistan. By Abubakar Siddique
Exiled Anti-War Playwright Wishes For Russia's 'Crushing Defeat'
Influential Russian playwright Mikhail Durnenkov fled Russia for Finland shortly after Moscow's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Durnenkov's opposition to Russia's war against Ukraine has had severe personal consequences. Theaters in Russia have stopped showing his plays, and there have been calls to prosecute him for his anti-war position. By Current Time
Was Mom A Communist Informer? How A Film Tore A Bulgarian Family Apart
In 2018, a Bulgarian woman who grew up in France made a documentary about her family's communist past and her shock at discovering that her mother was a secret police informer. Now, her mother, who had misgivings about her daughter's film, has told her own side of the story. By Dilyana Teoharova
As Ukrainian Volunteers Try To Evacuate Siversk, RFE/RL Journalists Come Under Fire
Shells rained down as our team visited a frontline town in eastern Ukraine where volunteers were trying to evacuate civilians. Current Time reporter Borys Sachalko and cameraman Serhiy Dykun ran for cover, but nearby civilians were not fast enough. Two were injured and immediately taken for medical treatment in a safer location. Current Time is a Russian-language TV and digital network led by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in partnership with VOA. By Borys Sachalko
Seeking Asylum, Facing Deportation: A Russian Couple's Hope For U.S. Exile
A Russian journalist and her actor husband who fled their country in the hope of freedom and safety in the United States are now fighting deportation for illegally entering the country via Tijuana, Mexico. Yelizaveta Kirpanova says her parents sold their Moscow apartment to pay for the journey, which involved six flights and buying a used car in Mexico City. She and Georgy Manucharov are now preparing for a court hearing in September. By Anton Benediktov and Current Time
Liza: The Treasured Child Killed By A Russian Missile
A special-needs girl was one of at least 23 people killed in a July 14 missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsya. Until the very day of the attack, the child’s mother had documented the struggles and joy of raising a child with Down syndrome. By RFE/RL
The Nightmare: Parents Mourn Their Children Amid War In Ukraine
Heartbreaking images capture some of the countless tragedies of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as mothers and fathers grieve over their slain sons and daughters. By RFE/RL