Here are some of the most compelling photographs from the 38th week of 2021 from around RFE/RL's region. For more photo galleries, see our photo gallery archive.
Photos Of The Week No. 38
- By RFE/RL

1
Separatist reservists in Ukraine's Luhansk region take part in exercises at a training ground outside the city of Luhansk.

2
Russian servicemen display the latest in camouflage during military exercises of the armed forces of Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states at the Donguz training ground in the Orenburg region.

3
Demonstrators shout slogans during a rally by entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses against plans to approve changes to Ukraine's Tax Code, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv on September 23.

4
Kyrgyz men assemble a yurt in preparation for a cultural festival on the central square of Bishkek. The yurt is a traditional round tent used by the nomads of Central Asia's steppes and consists of a wooden frame covered with felt or skins.

5
Artists perform on stage during the fourth Budapest Demographic Summit in Budapest.

6
A serviceman of Russia's Emergencies Ministry, wearing protective gear, disinfects the Kievsky railway terminal amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Moscow.

7
A health worker administers polio vaccine drops to a child in Karachi, Pakistan.

8
A lightning bolt is captured over the Black Sea close to Sochi, Russia.

9
A fruit vendor pushes his cart through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Lahore, Pakistan.

10
A motorcycle and other vehicles drive with headlights during heavy rainfall in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

11
An Afghan potter sits among tandoor ovens in Kabul.

12
A young Afghan student jumps over her skipping rope outside a school in Herat on September 20.

13
Supporters of the soccer club Red Star Belgrade light flares during a game against archrivals Partizan on September 19.

14
A child follows a woman on a beach in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta.

15
Boris Vishnevsky of the Yabloko party, who is running for both the State Duma and the regional legislature, looks at a list of candidates at a polling station in St. Petersburg on September 19. Vishnevsky faced rival candidates who not only had the same name, but even looked like him.

16
People take part in the annual Gay Pride parade under the protection of riot police in Kyiv on September 19.

17
An Afghan woman talks to young people in need after giving them bread in front of bakery in Kabul.

18
A man looks at a screen showing polling stations at the headquarters of Russia's Central Election Commission in Moscow during voting for the State Duma on September 19.