Just before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, RFE/RL spoke with several young Afghans in Kabul who voiced their fears and anxieties about the future. We have since followed how their lives have unfolded. We reconnected with them on the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power.
Prominent ethnic Kazakh writer Zhengis Reskhan faces a closed-door trial in China on an allegation of “undermining ethnic unity,” his family says, weeks after a controversial new law governing minority affairs took effect.
Russian authorities are bringing treason charges against people for taking photos of war graves, a key indicator of the extent of the country's war dead. An activist has told Current Time that the photos are often also used by scammers targeting families who have lost relatives in the fighting.
Iran’s war with the United States and Israel has pushed the Islamic republic to the verge of economic collapse. Observers say that Washington is betting that economic pressure will force it to capitulate.
As Washington once again wrestles with the question of how far the United States should go in supporting Ukraine, a resolution from one of the country's most geographically distant states -- Hawaii -- has added a new voice to the debate.
Several thousand women die during childbirth every year in Afghanistan, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
Kyiv has sounded the alarm as Rassvet, Russia's equivalent to Starlink, takes shape. Experts say the satellite Internet system could have a major impact on the war in Ukraine, but there is one key vulnerability of the Russian system.
A children’s song. Doves. Suprematist art. A Hiroshima photograph. Few were surprised by the court decision banning Russia’s Yabloko party from running in upcoming Duma elections. Many were perplexed over how authorities went about doing it.
In this week's briefing, Rikard Jozwiak focuses on the Ceuta crisis and whether or not Russia had a role.
Months of Ukrainian attacks on targets ranging from energy infrastructure to online retailers deep inside Russia have prompted moves to seek relief by relocating some facilities to Kazakhstan, which has tried to balance its ties to Moscow with a desire to remain neutral on the Ukraine war.
Comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to Belgrade have sparked controversy in Kosovo. RFE/RL’s Kosovo Service has been speaking to people in Pristina for their reactions.
Iran's supreme leader has replaced his SNSC representative with hardline IRGC veteran Mohsen Rezaei, a four-time failed presidential candidate turned satire target. Tehran's factions are reading the reshuffle as proof the new leader was never fully on board with the Islamabad memorandum.
A shortage of shelters in Kyiv has left some residents complaining they have nowhere to hide amid intensifying Russian missile and drone attacks.
The Russian state entices men to fight in the war on Ukraine by offering high wages and relatively generous benefits. But relatives and activists say the military often avoids paying what it owes by declaring soldiers AWOL despite the likelihood that they have been killed, captured, or gone missing.
For much of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials arrived in Washington seeking weapons, ammunition, and financial support. Last week, however, the message was markedly different as Kyiv looked to be more a partner than a beggar.
