Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's coverage area and beyond for the 51st week of 2018. For more photo galleries, see our photo gallery archive.
Photos Of The Week #51
1
Muslims pray outside the shrine of a Sufi saint in Srinagar, Kashmir on December 21.(Reuters/Danish Ismail)
2
Ukrainian nationalists burn smoke grenades at a rally in downtown Lviv on December 21. (EPA/Pavlo Palamarchuk)
3
Acehnese Muslims take part in a protest rally in support of Muslims in China, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (epa-EFE/Hotli Simanjuntak)
4
Security hold opposition lawmaker Endri Hasa (foreground center) as he throws an egg at Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (background left) during a debate in parliament in Tirana on December 20. (AP)
5
Ukrainian members of parliament scuffle during a session in Kyiv on December 20. (AFP/Oleksandr Kosmach)
6
The new Russian icebreaker ship Andrei Vilkitsky makes its way on the Neva River. (TASS/Anton Vaganov)
7
People dressed as Santa Claus stand next to Christmas lights in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev )
8
A man drinks coffee in front of screens broadcasting Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference, at a bar in Moscow on December 20. (AFP/Vasily Maksimov)
9
The parachute of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft shortly after the capsule landed with Expedition 57 crew members in a remote area of Kazakhstan on December 20, 2018. Three astronauts landed back on Earth after a troubled stint on the ISS marred by an air leak and the failure of a rocket set to bring new crew members. (AFP/NASA/Bill Ingalls)
10
Lamplighter Jan Tater lights an antique gas lamp on Charles Bridge in Prague, (epa-EFE/Martin Divisek)
11
A man with a bag walks under a seasonal New Year Tree on a winter's day in central Minsk, Belarus. (epa-EFE/Tatyana Zenkovich)
12
A church stands above a layer of fog in the village of Soshartyan, 115 kilometers northeast of Budapest. (MTI via AP/Peter Komka)
13
Rare ice formations called "ice flowers" are seen on Lake Valdai in Russia's Novgorod region, northwest of Moscow. (Valday.com/Timofey Shutov)
14
Giant waves at Shore Acres State Park in Oregon in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. (Wright Aura Photography via Reuters)
15
A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume swims in a large fish tank during an underwater performance at the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo. (Reuters/Issei Kato)
16
Prisoners having a meal in a canteen at the maximum security correctional colony No. 2 in the village of Shara-Gorokhon, Karymsky District, in Russia's Transbaikal region. (TASS/Yevgeny Yepanchintsev)
17
Free divers pose with a Christmas tree near the surface before diving to place it on the seafloor off the coast of the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli. (AFP/Ibrahim Chalhoub)
18
A frosty sunset is seen through icicles in the village of Peremilovo, 65 kilometers north of Moscow (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
19
The Russian cargo ship Kuzma Minin is shown after she ran aground off the southwestern English coast near Falmouth in Cornwall. Reuters says the 180-meter ship, with 18 Russian crew on board, dragged its anchor in strong winds and then ran aground. There is no cargo on board. (Twitter @Alexandriapesic via Reuters)
20
A woman walks amid snow-covered trees in Moscow. (epa-EFE/Yuri Kochetkov)
21
A man passes by Christmas lights in Belgrade. (epa-EFE/Srdjan Suki)
22
A bodybuilder performs during a competition in Bishkek. (AFP/Vyacheslav Oseledko)
23
Anna Donath, vice president of the opposition party Momentum Movement, holds a flare during a protest against a proposed new labor law, billed as the "slave law," in Budapest. (Reuters/Bernadett Szabo)
24
The Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka speeds down the course during training for the women's World Cup downhill in Val Gardena, Italy. (AP/Alessandro Trovati)
25
A mother holds her daughter who was injured in an air strike in Kunar Province as she receives medical treatment at a hospital in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. According to local officials, at least 20 Afghan civilians, including 12 children, were killed in an air strike targeting a Taliban commander. (epa-EFE/Ghulamullah Habibi)