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.
'If You Laugh, You're A Winner': Ukrainian Artist Mocks Russian Invaders, Odesa-Style
Before February 24, Ihor Husev found considerable success with his dreamlike, apolitical paintings. But that’s “all irrelevant now,” says the Odesa artist, who’s mixing black humor and biting commentary in a series of drawings that take aim at the Russian invasion. By Aleksander Palikot
Dungeon Of Death: Survivor Describes Deprivation, Dire Conditions For Captives Of Russian Soldiers In A Basement In Ukraine
Russian soldiers kept hundreds of residents of a northern Ukrainian town – from a 6-week-old infant to a frail 93-year-old -- in a dark, stifling school basement with no toilet, a survivor says. Ten people died, and Kyiv has charged the suspects with war crimes. By Mark Krutov
'Slaughtered': Eyewitnesses Recount Killing Of Three Ukrainian Teenagers
Russian soldiers opened fire on them with a cannon, machine guns, and assault rifles. Twins Yevhen and Bohdan Samodiy and their friend Valentyn Yakymchuk were killed while walking down the street in their home village of Mokhnatyn, in northern Ukraine, on March 14. By Dmytro Dzhulay with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
The Brutal Killing Of A Reporter Who Probed Putin's Past
As Vladimir Putin’s political star rose, journalist Anatoly Levin-Utkin was a key researcher behind one of the first Russian media reports digging into the former KGB officer's past. Then he was beaten to death. By Andrei Soshnikov and Carl Schreck
No Shirt Buttons, No Air Bags, Buggy Smart Phones: Russia’s Economy Enters The 'Twilight Zone'
The Kremlin is optimistic the Russian economy can withstand the pounding from Western sanctions imposed in response to the Ukraine invasion. Some pragmatic voices within Russia are so sure. By Mike Eckel
With All Eyes On Ukraine, Toqaev Navigates New Fault Lines Between Russia And Kazakhstan
The Kazakh president’s surprising comments next to Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in which he declined to support Moscow’s war shows that it's not business as usual for Central Asia after the Ukraine war. By Reid Standish
'Entire Families Were Wiped Out': Afghan Survivor Loses 27 Family Members In Devastating Earthquake
Survivors of the devastating earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan have offered harrowing details of their losses. Entire families have been wiped out by the tremors that wreaked havoc on remote villages. At least 1,000 people were killed in the worst earthquake in the country in two decades. By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi
'A New Low': Iran Blasted For Jailing Activists Who Wanted To Sue Supreme Leader Over COVID
A group of Iranian campaigners who were planning to sue authorities, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for their mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic have been sentenced to prison. The five lawyers and rights defenders were convicted of threatening national security. By Golnaz Esfandiari
'We Can Be Your Mom And Dad': Ukrainian Couple Offers To Adopt Child Orphaned By War
Six-year-old Ilya lost his mother and father when they were killed during Russia's attack on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Volodymyr and Maria Bespaliy started taking care of Ilya after he was orphaned and have offered to adopt him as their own son. By Yuliia Zhukova
Heart Of Stone: Armenia’s First Female Khachkar Carver
A Lebanese-Armenian is helping to preserve Armenian culture by making ornately carved traditional stones known as khachkars. Narine Poladian is the first woman to take up the craft professionally. By Amos Chapple
