We know you're busy and probably don't have the time to read all of our coverage each and every day. That's why we've put together The Week's Best. Here are some of the highlights produced in English by RFE/RL's vast team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.
Interactive: How The U.S. Claimed Vast New Arctic Territory -- In An Unusual Way
As competition for resources in the Arctic Ocean intensifies, nations are staking claims to swaths of undersea territory where oil, gas, and valuable minerals could someday be found and mined. The United States has just staked its own claim -- and it did so in a way that is raising questions. By Mike Eckel, Wojtek Grojec, and Ivan Gutterman
From Censorship To Solidarity: The Surprising Consequences Of Hungary's LGBT Law
Hungary's so-called anti-LGBT law, which its supporters say is designed to guard minors from LGBT content, has inadvertently sparked increased public support for the LGBT community, fostering a significant rise in both interest and engagement with LGBT-related arts and cultural discourse. By Lili Rutai
Life In The Dirt: Ukraine's Forces Hunker Down Near Kupyansk
RFE/RL correspondent Maryan Kushnir goes into the frigid trenches of northeastern Ukraine, where Kyiv's forces are enduring harsh weather and artillery strikes as they hunker down for a prolonged and seemingly endless war. By Maryan Kushnir and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
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Ukrainian Medic Tortured By Russians Credited With Saving Lives Of Other Prisoners
Ukrainian Medic Tortured By Russians Credited With Saving Lives Of Other Prisoners
In February 2022, Ukrainian Army medic Yuriy Armash was trying to reach his unit as the Russian invasion was advancing fast. He was caught in Kherson, tortured, and held for months. While in captivity, he used his medical training to treat other Ukrainian prisoners. Some say he saved their lives. By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Will Tizard
Another Brick In The Great Kremlin Firewall: Mass Internet Outages Part Of Moscow's ‘Sovereign Internet’ Effort, Experts Say
Broader and wider than previous outages, the disruptions in Russia's Internet were the latest indication that Russian digital regulators are moving forward to create a "sovereign Internet" to wall off Russia's cyberspace and to restrict the free flow of information. By Mike Eckel
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Two Frenchmen, Presumed By Russian Media To Have Been Killed In Ukraine, Speak To RFE/RL
Two Frenchmen, Presumed By Russian Media To Have Been Killed In Ukraine, Speak To RFE/RL
Two French nationals have told RFE/RL they're both very much alive and living in France, despite Russian state media claims they were in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv at the time of a Russian missile strike on January 16. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed 60 "foreign fighters," most of them French, were eliminated in a precision strike on a single building. By Maja Zivanovic, Elitsa Simeonova, and Riin Aljas
'Manuscripts Don't Burn': Film Adaptation Of Russian Classic Faces Possible Ban For Director’s Anti-War Stance
Pro-Kremlin bloggers are up in arms over a new film adaptation of the Russian classic The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The film, funded in part by the Russian state, faces a possible ban after the director’s anti-war stance became known. By Jimsher Rekhviashvili
A Ukrainian Banker Was Arrested On Decade-Old Deal; It Struck A Nerve In Kyiv’s Business Community
Ukrainian investment banker Ihor Mazepa is known for what one competitor called “aggressive” business tactics. But his arrest over a decade-old transaction has unnerved the business community, compounding concerns about corruption within law enforcement. By Todd Prince and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service
'We'll Fight Until We're Dead': With Dwindling Ammunition, Ukrainian Soldiers Defend Their Gains
Russian troops are pressing on Ukrainian forces along much of the front, including in the Zaporizhzhya region, where Kyiv’s counteroffensive halted last year. Soldiers stationed in the area for over 17 months are fighting to hold the line amid mounting problems from morale to a shortage of shells. By Aleksander Palikot
'Stand Up And Keep Going': Russian Journalists Abroad Keep Independent Media Alive
Repressed in Russia, independent Russian media have multiplied in exile, posing a counterweight to Kremlin narratives that one study considers an “historically unprecedented phenomenon.” By RFE/RL’s North.Realities