US President Donald Trump appeared to take a combative tone with Kyiv’s key European supporters, telling them in a video call that they should put more financial pressure on Russia and its main ally, China, to force the Kremlin to end its war on Ukraine, a White House official said.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Unable to speak due to a severe laceration of the throat, a Ukrainian soldier has been writing the story of how Russian troops dumped him with dead comrades.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Vladyslav, a member of Ukraine's National Guard, suffered a nearly fatal wound to his throat behind enemy lines in the Donetsk region. Unable to speak, Vladyslav wrote that he had been taken captive, tortured, and left for dead with his comrades before crawling for five days to safety.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and other Western leaders in Paris to discuss plans for Ukraine's post-war security. Macron said that 26 countries had agreed to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Thousands of Afghans are returning home from Pakistan after Islamabad imposed an August 31 deadline for them to return or face forcible repatriation. The exodus comes despite a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that killed more than 1,400 people and left many more homeless.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Hungarian authorities have launched a probe into the disappearance of key components from eight MiG-29 fighter jets and whether the parts may have ended up in Ukraine.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Sola lost eight members of her family, including all her male relatives, in Afghanistan’s worst earthquake in years.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The death toll in a massive earthquake in Afghanistan last week has been nearly doubled to 2,205 as rescue workers continue to trickle into the remote mountainous area flattened by the disaster.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Did you know: When a plane flies, it listens for GPS signals from space to figure out where it is. But what would happen if someone jammed those signals -- on purpose?| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 countries have agreed to take part in post-war security guarantees for Ukraine and that US support for the plan will be finalized in the coming days.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
US President Donald Trump told his Polish counterpart the United States was ready to increase its military presence in the Central European nation, one of the countries on NATO’s so-called “eastern flank” warily watching Russia's actions.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The Afghan Taliban’s demolition of a memorial of Alisher Navoi in Mazar-e Sharif sparked outrage among Uzbeks. The move was reversed after backlash, with promises to rebuild. The incident reveals how Taliban's rigid ideology can yield to diplomacy and economic ties, especially with Uzbekistan.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The ad hoc alliance of mostly European countries -- known as the "Coalition of the Willing" -- that pledged to provide a viable post-war security plan for Ukraine has had months of meetings with few clear results. But some officials believe this will change at a meeting of the group on September 4.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Ursula von der Leyen’s plane faced GPS jamming over Bulgaria, forcing pilots to rely on backups. Experts warn such interference is increasingly used in conflict zones, disrupting navigation and sowing confusion. So, how does GPS jamming work?| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Wazir Khan lost 10 members of his family in the deadly earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on August 31.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Families in eastern Afghanistan continue to recover their dead after an earthquake struck on August 31, killing more than 1,400 people. RFE/RL's Radio Azadi spoke to a man in Kunar Province who lost 10 family members. He and fellow survivors are sheltering under tents near their destroyed homes.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Dozens of Afghan commandos are being airdropped into a remote mountainous region along the eastern border with Pakistan to help in the race to rescue victims of an earthquake late last week that has claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people, according to Taliban authorities.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Hungary and Slovakia are again challenging EU sanctions on Russia, pushing to remove key figures from the blacklist ahead of a fast-approaching deadline.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Russian drone strikes are driving people out of villages in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region. The Proliska humanitarian organization says evacuation requests are soaring while transport is in short supply. For some, delaying the decision to leave has ended in tragedy.| Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
With villages in the Dnipropetrovsk region in constant danger of Russian air assaults, locals are increasingly deciding to leave their homes behind for safer places further west. As volunteers arrived to transport some of them, another Russian drone struck, underscoring the risk of remaining.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukraine is using small interceptor drones to fire nets that entangle Russian drones and knock them out of the skies over the battlefield. One Ukrainian unit said it managed to destroy 100 Russian drones in five weeks using the tactic in the dense Serebryanskyy forest.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russian forces broke through Ukrainian defenses north of Pokrovsk, a serious setback for Ukrainian effort to hold back Russia’s push for the embattled Donbas city. It’s another blow to morale as Ukrainians nervously await the upcoming Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The war in Ukraine has ushered in a radically different era of drone warfare -- one built not around a few elite systems but around millions of small, cheap, and expendable drones deployed by soldiers at the front. And the U.S. is scrambling to catch up.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Frank Sobchak, a retired US Army colonel and professor at the US Naval War College, says that the use of drones in the Ukraine war has created a stalemate reminiscent of World War I.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
US President Donald Trump appeared to play down the likelihood of a quick meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and again raised the possibility of new sanctions on Moscow, although he also said the Ukrainian side is not without blame.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Amid an approaching August 8 cease-fire deadline in Ukraine and ongoing US-China trade talks, the White House is looking to pressure China to stop buying Russian oil. But is Beijing willing to hurt Russia's economy?| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The EU has approved a new sanctions package targeting Russia and Belarus, overcoming a two-month-long impasse caused by a Slovak veto. Significantly, the bloc independently agreed to lower the Russian oil price cap, signaling a shift toward greater autonomy in global economic policies.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The arrest of two Chinese nationals in Ukraine on espionage charges this month has punctuated a shift in Kyiv’s tone toward Beijing, whose support for Russia’s war is becoming harder to ignore.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods over its Russian oil imports has escalated tensions between Washington and one of its key Indo-Pacific allies.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Georgians in the Black Sea resort of Batumi complain their native tongue is being silenced as the Russian language grows louder with the opening of new businesses, most owned by Russians who fled here following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukraine is seeking to more weapons from the West amid concerns that, even after a pair of summits in the United States, Russia is “not interested” in peace, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mykhaylo Podolyak, told Current Time.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukrainian drone operators have equipped small UAVs with net launchers that can intercept Russian drones flying above the battlefield. Soldiers who spoke to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service say the unorthodox defense has helped neutralize Russian attacks and offers infantry life-saving protection.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Few families remain in the village of Maksymivka, near Ukraine's Black Sea coast. As the country prepares to observe Independence Day on August 24, some residents say the holiday evokes hopes for a Ukrainian victory, while others focus on the mounting human cost of the war.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The Russian government, facing mounting losses in Ukraine, appears to be intensifying its coercive recruitment tactics, targeting prisoners, conscripts, and ethnic minorities from remote regions and Central Asian migrant communities to bolster its depleted forces.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russia has been enlisting Central Asian prisoners to fight in Ukraine, throwing them on the frontline with limited military training. Some were lured with enticements, but many others faced torture and unbearable prison conditions before signing to fight.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Migrant workers in Moscow face rising police violence amid intensified crackdowns targeting Central Asians. Despite no violations, raids are increasing, fueling fear and mass deportations after recent terrorist-linked arrests and new powers granted to police.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russia continues to recruit Central Asian migrants and convicts to fill the ranks of its depleting armed forces in Ukraine. Russian authorities use various methods -- from enticements to coercion -- to enlist Central Asians to the Kremlin's ongoing war.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
As an August 8 deadline set by US President Donald Trump to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine approaches, Moscow’s forces are pressing forward on the battlefield and killing civilians in relentless air attacks. Here’s what to watch for signs of whether US pressure will change the course of the war.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
A meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended in Alaska without clear steps toward Trump's stated goal: a cease-fire in Ukraine. While the summit appeared to yield no concrete results, one political observer said the meeting worked to Putin's advantage.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukrainians had mixed reactions following the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit was supposed to produce a minerals deal and send positive signals about the potential for Washington and Kyiv to work together on peace in Ukraine. Instead, it went horribly wrong, raising stark questions about what could happen next. Here are four takeaways.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
During Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington, US President Donald Trump said he would work to coordinate a summit between the Ukrainian president and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Ukrainians in Kyiv told RFE/RL they feared that such a meeting was unlikely to lead to a peace deal.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, has spoken out against the Islamic State (IS) group, saying that the extremist militants are "devils" and were assisted by Western intelligence services. Kadyrov also accused IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of being a CIA operative.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
US President Donald Trump phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin making arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a day of extraordinary meetings at the White House on August 18 as part of a push to end the war in Ukraine.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The United States and Europe may offer Ukraine “Article 5-like” protections -- security promises modeled on NATO’s defense pact. But without full NATO membership, can such guarantees really stop Russia from striking again?| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russian drone strikes hit a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv ahead of a crucial meeting in Washington, D.C. between Ukraine, European, and US leaders.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
US President Donald Trump has written that it's going to be "a big day in the White House" as his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European leaders arrived for talks on ending the fighting in Ukraine.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, bolstered by the presence of key European allies, will meet President Donald Trump on August 18 in a session that could help decide his embattled nation's future, even as Trump appeared to shift the burden to Zelenskyy to end the war with Russia.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
In 2023, Bosnia was shaken by the brutal live-streamed murder of Nizama Hecimovic by her ex-partner. Her killing was part of a wider global trend where technology is weaponized to promote and spread violence against women.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
More than 340 people have been killed in northwestern Pakistan, where thousands of rescuers struggled through rain and mud following deadly landslides and flooding that buried villages.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
European leaders are set to join Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s planned meeting with US President Donald Trump to discuss steps toward ending the war in Ukraine, as Moscow and Kyiv continue to exchange air strikes.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russian officials have spent years laying the groundwork for a “managed” Internet that authorities could control and surveil. Pushing Russians away from hugely popular YouTube is key.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
A single app that can be used for everything from social media and instant messaging to government services like paying taxes. It’s a “dream scenario” for the Russian authorities, a way to dramatically expand surveillance -- and manipulate public opinion. And it’s getting close to reality.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed battlefield gains on its eastern front against Russian forces on August 16 as both sides sought military advantages ahead of Zelenskyy’s planned White House meeting with President Donald Trump.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
US President Donald Trump called his Alaska trip “great and very successful” after meeting Putin and speaking with Zelenskyy and European leaders. In Ukraine, reactions were mixed -- some criticized Putin’s warm welcome, while others remained cautiously hopeful despite no cease-fire agreement.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
No breakthrough to halt the Ukraine war was announced. Putin showed no signs of letting up. Trump showed no signs of hammering Russia with new sanctions. It could have gone worse. It could have gone better.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will travel to Washington on August 18 to meet with US President Donald Trump to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
A much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has broken up without a deal on a cease-fire in Ukraine and with neither man taking questions from journalists at a news conference.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russian regulators moved to restrict the popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram, the latest in a major step to push Russians onto a newly launched government-managed "super app."| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
RFE/RL has more than 700 full-time journalists and 1,300 freelancers reporting the news in 27 languages in 23 countries. We operate where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established and provide what many people cannot get locally.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
A woman dies from pregnancy related complications in Afghanistan every two hours due to a lack of access to health care and qualified medics. The situation has got even worse under the Taliban.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
As Russia presses its offensive, Ukraine faces a crisis that experts say is as critical as its shortages of ammunition and weapons: a dwindling supply of infantry.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The top US envoy for Russia visited Moscow on April 25 to discuss a peace deal that would include US recognition of Russia's claim to Crimea. Many residents of Kyiv rejected the idea and insisted that Ukraine's territorial integrity must be respected, but a small number came out in favor.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Military officials have kept a low profile as they plan an international military mission to ensure Black Sea security as part of a Ukraine cease-fire at the headquarters of the Turkish Navy in Ankara.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Will the US recognize Crimea as Russian? Is NATO membership out of the question for Kyiv? Will Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant end up in American hands? And what about those Ukrainian valuable rare earths that Washington is laser focused on?| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The landing ship that purportedly sank off Crimea last week is one of nearly two dozen Russian warships that Ukraine has seriously damaged or sunk since the full-scale invasion two years ago. It’s an extraordinary set of naval losses inflicted by a country that currently doesn’t even have a navy.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Despite official insistence that presidential elections cannot be held during wartime, authorities are quietly moving forward with initial preparations. If the vote does go forward, will Ukrainians continue rallying to Volodymyr Zelenskyy? Or will they seek someone else?| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
As Ukrainian leaders vow to reclaim all territories seized by Russia, Moscow has prepared extensive defensive measures, particularly in Crimea, a region unlawfully annexed in 2014.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
On March 16, 2014, an illegal referendum was held in Crimea as unmarked Russian soldiers, supported by some of the peninsula’s ethnic Russian population, seized public buildings and military facilities as part of Russia's occupation of the peninsula.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Attacks targeting security forces are increasing in frequency and lethality in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, where a separatist militant group has adopted new tactics.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Pakistan appears to be implementing an Internet firewall to monitor and regulate content and social media platforms. Activists say the aim is to stifle dissent in the South Asian country. The Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall are already having an impact on businesses.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Amid soaring electricity prices, Pakistanis are switching to affordable Chinese solar panels to power their homes, small businesses, and factories. But the solar influx is leaving Islamabad with a lingering budget hole that could spark a new crisis.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day, high-stakes visit to Moscow highlighted the fine line New Delhi treads as it bolsters relations with Russia while courting closer ties with the West.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
In the parts of Ukraine that it occupies, Russia is using a militaristic youth movement to foster the loyalty of minors and prepare them to fight in Moscow’s war against their native country.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Moscow is making it easier to send children taken from Ukraine to orphanages and families in Russia -- and harder for their real families to bring them home. An RFE/RL investigation reveals details about the process that has earned President Vladimir Putin an arrest warrant for war crimes.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Belarus's vacations for children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine promise fun without the dangers of war -- but there's plenty of propaganda promoting the views of the Kremlin and the Belarusian state. The trips sparked Western sanctions for what a recent study called "systematic deportation."| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
April frosts and a lack of rain have harmed crops in Ukraine’s Kherson region this spring. Deadly drones and land mines don’t help, either. Russia’s war against Ukraine compounds the challenges facing farmers near the front lines.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
In Ukraine's Kherson region, north of Crimea, farmers have had to run from cover as Russian drones patrol the skies over their fields.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ongoing global conflicts such as those in Ukraine and the Middle East, and shifting international priorities are exacerbating the dire situation for women's rights in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Afghanistan’s Taliban recently suspended chess over concerns that it encourages gambling, which is banned in Islam, a move that takes away yet another activity from the country's population.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
What will be the impact of a second Donald Trump presidency? That depends a lot on who you speak to -- with Trump backers saying he will restore U.S. might and detractors saying it will spell the end of U.S. democracy.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hopes U.S. President Donald Trump will bring about a "just" end to Russia's war against his country and that he supports the new administration's push for increased defense spending by NATO nations.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
U.S. President Donald Trump said Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is “destroying” Russia by refusing to make a deal to end the Ukraine war, adding that he could speak to Putin soon, without stating a time frame.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
As China continues to boost Russia's war effort in Ukraine, Taiwan is grappling with rising Chinese pressure boosted by growing military cooperation from Russia. The deepening partnership is set to pose a new threat for U.S. President Donald Trump’s new administration.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
NATO and the European Union are beefing up their resources in Kosovo amid rising tension in the Balkan nation ahead of February 9 parliamentary elections.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Donald Trump's inauguration is focusing minds on a future peace plan for Ukraine, with much talk of European armies providing a military mission. French President Emmanuel Macron has been a particularly strong advocate of boots on the ground -- but there are considerable obstacles.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Ukraine and Russia agreed to another large-scale prisoner swap but little else during a second round of direct peace talks that lasted just over an hour as air attacks by both sides continue in Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
If it sticks, US President Donald Trump’s pivot to pressure on Putin and arms for Kyiv could have major consequences for the course of Russia’s war against Ukraine. But don’t expect his 50-day deadline to produce a peace deal, analysts say. Here’s why.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russia launched hundreds of drones and more than two dozen missiles in a massive attack on Ukraine overnight, killing at least two people, including one in the capital, Kyiv, which came under fire a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed holding a fresh round of peace talks.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The experiment with greater political freedoms in tightly controlled Uzbekistan has been one of the more interesting trends in Central Asia in recent years. It is also a key theme in a forthcoming book on the country written by British journalist Joanna Lillis.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The two Kyrgyz journalists handed harsh jail sentences last week were part of a media collective that has gone further than any other in exposing the nepotism of the ruling Japarov regime. But Japarov and his allies have shown that they will exert just as much effort trying to stop them.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Across Kazakhstan, and more broadly in Central Asia, an evolving censorship achieved by various means -- from algorithmic deletions to orchestrated account takeovers and from legal persecution to digital coercion -- is plaguing the region's fledgling independent media.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The United States and Iran are poised to return to the negotiating table at a moment when tensions between the two are high and trust is low.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Iran has enacted a decision to suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), alarming European powers who called the move "disastrous."| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Europe is still looking for a role in the Israel-Iran conflict after it was caught by surprise following the United States’ strikes on Iran over the weekend.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Russian drones and missiles unleashed a deadly assault on Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa and other cities on July 19, leaving at least one dead and several injured, as Moscow's relentless attacks on civilian areas escalate amid faltering cease-fire efforts.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to Baku last weekend highlighted a dramatic shift in regional alliances, prompting a mix of concern, suspicion, and strategic recalculation across Iranian media.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The Iranian film Bidad has won the Special Jury Award at the Karlovy Vary Festival. Director Soheil Beiraghi, who faces prison in Iran, thanked Iranian women for inspiring him. The movie focuses on restrictions faced by women singers in Iran.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
This edition of the Farda Briefing explores why Iranian media are voicing deep suspicions about the warming relationship between Azerbaijan and Syria, two players whose shifting alliances could challenge Tehran’s regional interests.| RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
