Here are some of the most compelling photographs from the 33rd week of 2023 from around RFE/RL's region. For more photo galleries, see our archive.
Photos Of The Week (August 14-20, 2023)
- By RFE/RL
1
Afghan nationals carry placards in Islamabad on August 15, as they shout slogans during a demonstration against the Taliban-led government on the anniversary of the militants' takeover of Afghanistan.
2
A member of the Christian community holds up a cross during a protest against Faisalabad violence incidents, in Karachi, Pakistan.
3
A Ukrainian soldier attends military exercises at a training ground in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
4
Children play in a fountain on a square in downtown Kyiv.
5
A Christian man looks at a home vandalized by an angry Muslim mob in Jaranwala, Pakistan. Police arrested more than 100 people after a mob angered over the alleged desecration of the Koran by a Christian man attacked churches and homes of minority Christians.
6
Commuters wait in traffic after other commuters blocked a road while sheltering under a bridge during a heavy rainfall in Islamabad.
7
Ukrainian soldiers load flyers urging Russian soldiers to surrender into a Grad multiple-launch rocket system to fire toward Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
8
Ukrainian soldiers ride an armored personnel carrier at the front line near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
9
Riders take part in the traditional Central Asian sport of kok-boru or buzkashi at the Kok-Boru World Cup in Kyrgyzstan.
10
A girl has a national flag painted on her face ahead of Independence Day celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan.
11
Rescuers work at the site of a shopping mall destroyed during a Russian military strike in Odesa, Ukraine.
12
A long-exposure photo shows meteor streaks crossing the night sky over the stone dolls in Kuklica, North Macedonia.
13
A man waves a flag as fireworks explode over Islamabad as part of the Independence Day celebrations ahead of the country's 76th Independence Day, in Islamabad.
14
Lyubov Tolchina, 63, reacts next to the damaged house of her son Vitaly, 40, who was killed the day before by shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine.
15
A bullet hole is seen after an attack at the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz, Iran.
16
A farm worker holds a goat on a private farm in Zhurivka, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine.
17
Armed Taliban security personnel parade on a Humvee convoy as they celebrate the second anniversary of their takeover near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on August 15.
18
Afghan women hold placards reading in Dari "A Muslim can't be against women's education and work," during a protest as they demand their right to education and work in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.
19
Tourists look out to the stormy sea next to a German military bunker from World War II on the northern part of Black Sea beach in the village of Ezerets, Bulgaria.
20
Agricultural workers harvest Oriental tobacco leaves in a tobacco field in Pelagonia, North Macedonia's largest agricultural area, near the city of Prilep.
21
Pensioners take a rest during a pensioner protest for an increase in monthly income and improvement of living conditions in Skopje, North Macedonia.
22
A woman leans against the colonnade of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (also known as the Victory Museum), the largest museum of military history in Russia at Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow.
23
Tatyana Skrypnikova, 60, who sustained light shrapnel wounds, stands among debris of her neighbors' house destroyed following a shelling in the village of Zaoskillya, near Kupyansk, Kharkiv region.
24
People attend military training conducted by volunteers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Lviv region, Ukraine.
