These are some of the most striking images of the year from RFE/RL's photographers.
The Best Of 2019 From RFE/RL's Photographers
- By Kateryna Oliynyk and
- Lucie Steinzova
1
Ukrainian soldiers mark the fourth anniversary of the defense of Donetsk airport in Ukraine. Kyiv, January 20. (Serhii Nuzhnenko, RFE/RL)
2
Experts investigate the site of a car-bomb explosion in Podgorica, Montenegro, on February 3. (Savo Prelevic, RFE/RL)
3
A woman stands before a memorial to those killed in the 2014 Euromaidan uprising on the Alley of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 18. (Serhii Nuzhnenko, RFE/RL)
4
A so-called supermoon rises over the Monument of Independence in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 19. (Pyotr Trotsenko, RFE/RL)
5
The village of Biertan and its fortified church are seen under a dusting of snow in Romania on February 20. See more of Romania From Above. (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
6
A man maintains the sewer system in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on February 23. (Gulzhan Turdubaeva, RFE/RL)
7
A boy climbs on a horse in Kyrgyzstan's Chui region on February 23. (Gulzhan Turdubaeva, RFE/RL)
8
A participant before the start of of the "Real Men Race" in Minsk. About 3,000 men took part in the men-only event on Belarus's Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23. (Uladz Hrydzin, RFE/RL)
9
Participants are seen during a K-1 kickboxing tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on February 25. (Gulzhan Turdubaeva, RFE/RL)
10
Local women in the village of Tonyezh in Belarus join the Chyrachka celebrations on March 10. The old custom celebrates spring and is associated with the arrival of a small waterfowl duck, which in this area is called "chyrachka." (Svaboda.org, RFE/RL)
11
A firefighter helps put out a large fire at the Diglas shopping center in Baku, Azerbaijan, on March 26. (Azadliq Radiosu, RFE/RL)
12
A yard full of lost toys in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 4. This typical urban courtyard in one of Lviv's oldest neighborhoods has become a makeshift museum, and home to an unlikely exhibition of toys. Find out more about the 'Toy Orphanage' Of Ukraine. (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
13
A woman films protesters during the "1 Out Of 5 Million" Serbian anti-government protests in Belgrade on April 6. (Aleksandar Anđic, RFE/RL)
14
Reflections in a puddle are seen on a street in Kazan in Russia's Tatarstan region on April 8. (Andrey Grigorev, RFE/RL)
15
A horse race takes place during the celebration of the first furrow in the village of Balkhar in Russia's Daghestan region on April 6. The holiday is a celebration of spring by the people of western and central Daghestan -- Avars, Dargins, and Laks. See more of the holiday celebrations in 'The First Furrow': Daghestan's Spring Festival. (North Caucasus Service, RFE/RL)
16
Cars burn during a rally held by residents of the Pankisi Gorge who protested against the planned construction of a hydropower plant near the village of Birkiani, Georgia, on April 21. (Giorgi Aladashvili, RFE/RL)
17
Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy celebrates in Kyiv after exit polls showed he was on his way to a landslide victory in the April 21 presidential runoff vote. (Serhii Nuzhnenko, RFE/RL)
18
A girl gives a flower to a police officer during a protest in Almaty on the Day of Unity of the People of Kazakhstan in Almaty on May 1. (Pyotr Trotsenko, RFE/RL)
19
Radek, a shepherd in the village of Lernavan on April 18, was one of eight working Armenians who opened up about how their country's 2018 "velvet revolution" had affected their lives in What’s Changed? Armenia One Year After Revolution. (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
20
Charlottenburg is a circular village built by Germanic settlers in the late 1700s, shown here on May 20. The manager of a website dedicated to the Romanian village told RFE/RL that the region was "designed" in the Habsburg empire's late baroque style, wherein "everything possible was planned, mainly in rectangles and squares. The only exception in the Banat area is this round village. I do not know the reason, but it worked." (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
21
An elderly man looks at the site owhere the Brest ghetto victim remains were reburied in Brest, Belarus, on May 22. (Uladz Hrydzin, RFE/RL)
22
An elderly resident of the abandoned village of Opytne near the Donetsk airport is seen in the Ukrainian war zone on June 4. (Serhii Nuzhnenko, RFE/RL)
23
Police detain a man in the center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, before an illegal rally on June 10. Find out more details on how police detained bystanders in 'I Was Just Passing By!': A Second Day Of Detentions In Almaty. (Petr Trotsenko, RFE/RL)
24
An underground chamber is seen at the Artyomsalt salt mine, created after thousands of tons of rock salt were extracted. Geologists working for the mine say less than 5 percent of the salt seam has been removed since operations began in 1881. See the full story of a massive salt-mining operation in Salt Of The Earth: Inside Ukraine's Artyomsol Mine. (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
25
A priest holds a cross over a crowd of protesters during a rally against a Russian lawmaker's visit in Tbilisi, Georgia, on June 21. (Dato Koridze, RFE/RL)
