Harutyun Mansuryan

Salt Of The Earth: Daghestani Villagers Use Pinch Of Ancient Wisdom To Make Ends Meet

In the southern Russian Daghestani village of Kvankhidatl, people extract salt using a unique ancient method. They claim they produce the purest and most delicious salt in the world.

Activists Save Hill From Mining In Russia's Bashkortostan Region

After weeks of protests, environmental activists in Russia's central Bashkortostan region have won a battle to protect Kushtau Hill from mining. The Bashkir Soda Company had planned to mine limestone from the site. But activists say the hill is a natural treasure and home to many endangered species.

Protester Records Brutal Beatings Inside Belarusian Police Van

Anti-government protester Denis Hermanov secretly recorded brutal beatings and abuse inside a Belarusian police van with a camera he had fastened to his jacket pocket. Hermanov was among several people detained by police on August 10 in Minsk.

Scallops And Solitude: Life In Russia's Remote Far East

Flying Fruit: Homemade Cable Cars Help Bring In Harvest In Daghestan

In the Sulak canyon of Russia's Republic of Daghestan, farmers rely on a system of makeshift, hand-powered cable cars to transport their produce across a river.

Trash Talk: Cleaning Up A Siberian Village With A Glut Of Garbage

A Siberian village, Tayezhnyy, was swamped with trash when Ilona Domracheva moved there. She didn't like what she saw and, in a short time, she mobilized the community to help clean up. She may have won a battle, but the war on waste goes on.

Against The Odds, Russian Rights Group Seeks Justice For Victims Of Police Torture

The Raftsmen Of Siberia Move Timber The Old-Fashioned Way

Little has changed over the past century for timber raftsmen in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region, who still rely on the same working methods that their grandfathers used.

From Military Might To Misery: The Failing Fortunes Around An Abandoned Russian Base

'The Shame Of Russia': Protesters Vent Anger At State-Run TV

Thousands of Russians marched in Moscow on February 29, 2020, to mark the five years since the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. A reporter for state-run Channel One tried to conduct interviews but was repeatedly shouted down by opposition supporters.

The Nomadic Nenets Of Russia

The Nenets call themselves "the children of the reindeer." They number fewer than 50,000. In Russia's hostile tundra conditions, their lives are much as they were hundreds of years ago.

Moscow Resident Watches As House Demolished For 'Public Good'

A Moscow woman was thrown out of her house without her possessions and watched as it was razed to the ground. Her home belongs to a small community that is slated to be redeveloped into luxury apartments, causing residents to be evicted with little warning and no recourse. (RFE/RL's Russian Service)

How A Circus In Russia Turns Street Kids Into Artists

Valeria ran away from home, and now she's joined the circus. She's one of dozens of kids from tough backgrounds given a new start in life by a unique social project.

Rusting Beauty: An Open-Air Homage To The Collective Farm

One man's obsession with the collective farm he ran for more than a quarter of a century led to the creation of a unique open-air museum in a village in southern Russia.

Mammoth Tusks: Big Profits, Lost History

Chernobyl Tourism Boom Brings Illegal Traffic To The Zone

Locals Rage At Moscow As Siberian Forests Burn

The First Soviet Nuclear Blast: Pride Turns To Tragedy 70 Years Later

August 29 marks the day that the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear explosion in 1949.

Documentary: The Lethal Soviet Legacy In Kazakhstan

Forty years of Soviet nuclear bomb tests have left a toxic wasteland in Kazakhstan. The nuclear explosions have stopped, but Russia still rents vast swathes of Kazakh territory for missile tests that critics say are devastating for the environment and its inhabitants.

'Like An Undeclared War': Russia's Toxic Test Sites In Kazakhstan

Kazakh villagers living close to military test sites struggle with "mysterious" illnesses and a toxic nuclear legacy.