Russian influencer Victoria Bonya made a personal address to Russian President Vladimir Putin: In a country where political debate and criticism of the authorities is tightly controlled, she brought up problems people face in their everyday lives. Except the war in Ukraine.
Despite suffering significant losses, Iran believes it is winning the war against the United States and Israel. That view is shaping Tehran’s conduct in the conflict and its demands in peace talks.
Beijing-brokered meetings ease tensions on paper, but deep disputes over militancy and cross-border attacks threaten to derail the fragile progress.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's commissioner for sanctions policy, told RFE/RL in an interview that any relief for Moscow and Russian oil only serves to extend the war.
Beatings, torture, rape, not to mention corruption, are commonplace in the Russain armed forces. Artyom Bykov’s ordeal as a contact soldier with the 273rd Artillery Brigade provides a small window into a system of institutionalized violence.
Russia fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Kyiv, Dnipro, and other Ukrainian cities, killing at least 19 people across the country in one of the largest bombardments in months.
Azeem Ibrahim, a longtime Middle East observer, tells RFE/RL that the Strait of Hormuz is increasingly becoming more than just a chokepoint for oil, describing it as a space where economic pressure, military risk, and geopolitical ambition converge.
In its war on Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry is on the offensive in the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. Internally, it’s plagued by corruption, political infighting, firings, and bitter rivalries with outside security agencies.
Iran has made an end to Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah a key demand in any peace deal with the United States. Why is the Lebanese militant group so important to Tehran?
This week, RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak drills down on one issue: What will happen with NATO after a few tough weeks
As expected, the launching of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran -- and retaliatory strikes by Tehran on targets in the Mideast -- has hit the economies of the region. But the shockwaves are arguably being felt just as much in Central Asian nations who rely on goods flowing through Iran.
RFE/RL spoke with Max Meizlish, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former official at the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, on the intersection of naval blockades and financial warfare as Washington halts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
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