Here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's 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.
A Race Against Time: The Last Days Of Lysychansk
As Russian forces advanced in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, volunteers raced against time under deadly fire to convince the last remaining local residents to evacuate westward to safety. RFE/RL rode along to witness their daily acts of daring and kindness. By Viktoria Ivleva
Russia Filtration Centers Map Society In Ukraine's Occupied Regions Ahead Of 'Referendums'
Russia is gathering data on Ukrainian society in occupied southern regions through “filtration centers” in apparent preparation to hold threatened “referendums” on annexing the territories. By Iryna Romaliyska and Hrihoriy Pyrlik
Ukrainian Farmer Says Russian Occupiers Barbecued 100 Cows And Stole His Equipment
During 21 days of occupation, a Ukrainian farmer says Russian troops inflicted $600,000 worth of damage on his property in Lukashivka in Ukraine's Chernihiv region. He says about 500 Russian soldiers slaughtered almost 100 of his cows for food and stole or destroyed farm equipment. By Current Time
How Viktor Orban Is Using Sports To Expand Hungary's Influence Abroad
The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is spending millions of euros to finance sports clubs of the ethnic Hungarian diaspora in Romania as a soft power play, according to extensive reporting by RFE/RL's Romanian Service. Analysts say Orban is not seeking territory but instead trying to win hearts and minds. By Marian Pavalasc
'We Underestimated The Regime's Cruelty': Exiled Opposition Leader Tsikhanouskaya Remains Confident Change Will Come For Belarus
In an exclusive interview to mark the second anniversary of the fraud-marred 2020 presidential election that sparked a democratic uprising in Belarus, exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya discusses the work that remains to be done. By Aleh Anufryienka
Upheaval In Belarus: How The Opposition Rocked Lukashenka's Regime In 2020 And How The Strongman Struck Back
Two years after a presidential election brought Belarus to the brink of revolution, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service has launched a deep-digging podcast series that provides stark insights into the state clampdown that staved off the challenge from an unprecedented democratic opposition movement. By Dzmitry Hurnievic,Anna Sous, and Siarhiej Supa
Hunger And Love: Soul Mates Escape Lukashenka's Belarus
Former Belarusian political prisoner Zmitser Furmanau and his partner, Volha Karakina, have a love story to tell. In 2020, their lives were upended by Belarusian autocratic Alyaksandr Lukashenka's brutal crackdown. They discussed their reunion as they prep for their wedding in their new home abroad. By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
Bulgaria's 'Graffiti Capital'
A sleepy town is being turned into a giant outdoor art gallery in an attempt to rejuvenate rural life. By Amos Chapple
Why Is Iran Executing So Many Prisoners?
With a long list of crimes punishable by death, Iran put at least 314 prisoners to death last year, second only to China, which recorded more than 1,000 executions. The Iran Human Rights organization actually puts the figure at 333. That’s up from 267 executions in Iran in 2020. By Giovana Faria
Brain Drained: Exodus Of Professionals Since Taliban Takeover Leaves Afghanistan Starting From Scratch Again
The mass exodus of Afghan professionals since the Taliban takoever has depleted the skilled workforce that Afghanistan had steadily built up over two decades as it recovered from its last major "brain drain" brought on by war and insecurity. By Michael Scollon and RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
'Business In Blood': New Reports Of 'Putin's Chef' Trawling Jails For Mercenaries
A businessman known as "Putin's chef" has now developed "a taste for business in blood," according to a leading Russian campaigner for prisoners' rights. Olga Romanova, head of the Russia Behind Bars nongovernmental organization, said she's seen reports from trusted inmates in at least three prisons. They say that Kremlin-connected businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin had visited personally to recruit convicts as mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. Prigozhin is often connected with the shadowy Vagner Group, a mercenary paramilitary organization, as well as catering companies. By Ray Furlong, Aleksei Aleksandrov, and Current Time
Ukrainian Risks Her Life For The Abandoned Animals Of War
Natalya Popova has found a new purpose in life: saving domestic pets and exotic animals that have been abandoned during the war in Ukraine. By AP and RFE/RL
