Here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's vast 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.
'Cut Off One Of Their Ears': In New Investigation, A Russian Soldier Describes Atrocities In Ukraine
In recorded calls obtained by Schemes, a Russian soldier described an assault on a village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in grisly detail. The investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service then reached the soldier himself, obtaining a denial – and further evidence of possible war crimes. By Valeria Yehoshyna
'We Don't Have An Army': Russian Father Volunteers After His Son Killed In Ukraine, But Returns Disillusioned
After his son, a Russian soldier, was killed in Ukraine, Rinat Sadykov volunteered to join the Russian forces. Back at his home in Siberia, he discusses the loss of his son and his disappointment with the state of the Russian military in eastern Ukraine. By RFE/RL
What It's Like To Survive A Russian Cluster-Bomb Attack
Award-winning Ukrainian journalist Andriy Dubchak barely escaped with his life as he and his son came under cluster-bomb attack. The weapons are widely banned, but both Russia and Ukraine are accused of using them. The attack blew out his car's windows, ripped through the vehicle, and fragments even tore through his trousers. By Andriy Dubchak, Amos Chapple, and Austin Malloy
Photos Uncovered 45 Years After Deadly Romanian Earthquake
In the winter of 1977, Livia Chereches snapped photos of the aftermath of one of modern Europe's worst earthquakes. Then the historic color slides sat in her closet for nearly half a century. By Amos Chapple
Under The Taliban, Public Employees Must Pass Test Of Faith
Afghan Finance Ministry employees who want to keep their jobs under the Taliban's rule are being subjected to a test that gauges their knowledge of Islam. Sources tell RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that the ministry is handing out booklets that outline the ministry's take on Islam and then quizzing employees to make sure their beliefs are in line with the requirements. By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi
Belarusian Women Train As Soldiers In Poland, Amid Plan To 'Liberate' Their Country
Soldiers from across the Soviet Union left their mark on the walls of a top secret facility built by the Nazis. By Amos Chapple
Living Under The Skyscrapers In Batumi, The Black Sea's Las Vegas
"We were a village before, now it's like London or Paris," jokes an elderly resident. Among the glass and steel of modern Batumi, a small traditional community is fighting to survive – preserving the city's rich history along the way. By Tamuna Chkareuli
The Soviet Graffiti Under A German Forest
Soldiers from across the Soviet Union left their mark on the walls of a top secret facility built by the Nazis. By Amos Chapple
Potola Dondoladze spends hours in the baking-hot sun, harvesting tea leaves in western Georgia. She's among the teams of women driving the revival of tea plantations in the south Caucasus nation. Georgia once supplied 95 percent of all the tea in the Soviet Union and was among the top five tea-producing regions in the world. But when the U.S.S.R. collapsed, so did Georgia's tea industry. Now, it's now making a comeback. By RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Eka Kevanishvili, Toma Begiashvili
Hungarian Film Buff Turns Back Time In Garden Cinema
A Hungarian film buff has built a vintage cinema projection room in an outbuilding in his garden on the outskirts of Budapest. Dezso Racsik would like to open up his projection room to the public so they can share in his passion for the golden age of cinema. By RFE/RL's Hungarian Service and Miklos Barna-Lipkovski
