The Week's Best: Stories You May Have Missed

We know that rferl.org isn't the only website you read, and it's possible that you may have missed some of our most interesting journalism from the past week. To make sure you're up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.

The Crimea Circumvention: How EU Firms Are Sidestepping Sanctions And Making Money On The Peninsula

Even after the EU and the United States adopted sanctions barring investment in Crimea, scores of EU companies have continued to do business on the peninsula, often through murky ownership structures, a new investigation by Current Time has found. By Kristina Zakurdaeva and Mikhail Maglov

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

Black Market Labor: Swedish Identity Scheme Exposed

Black Market Labor: Swedish Identity Scheme Exposed

An investigation by RFE/RL and Swedish network TV4 has uncovered a shadowy scheme used to provide immigrants with official tax-authority numbers enabling them to illegally gain employment. At least one of them even worked at the Swedish border police, in what a fraud expert called "state-assisted slavery." By Sirojiddin Tolibov and Ray Furlong

The Dark-Money Men

For years, a network of informal couriers has funneled millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan in cold, hard cash. The underground money transfer system fuels corruption, destroys transparency — and has claimed people’s lives. Here’s how it works. By RFE/RL, OCCRP, and Kloop

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

Hacking 101: How To Steal An Election

Hacking 101: How To Steal An Election

Let’s say you're working for an authoritarian government, and you want to cause chaos in an unfriendly democratic country. What could be a more delicious target than the voting process itself? One expert reveals just how easy it could be for hackers to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election. By John Mastrini and Carlos Coelho

A Russian Photography Star Is Born -- 20 Years After Her Death

After RFE/RL broke the story of a secret hoard of photographs discovered in a St. Petersburg attic in 2017, the photographs of Masha Ivashintsova (1942-2000) have become an international sensation. By Amos Chapple

Killed In Karaj: Peace-Loving, Vegetarian Engineer A Face For Those Slain In Iranian Protests

A 27-year-old engineer killed in Iran’s brutal crackdown on protests triggered by a sharp hike in gas prices has become a face for the violent upheaval that shook the Islamic republic. By Golnaz Esfandiari

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

Latest Historical Dispute In Prague Inflames Czechs And Russians

Latest Historical Dispute In Prague Inflames Czechs And Russians

The mayor of a Prague district proposed building a monument to a controversial World War II military division made up of Soviet defectors. Russia objected. The mayor wrote to President Vladimir Putin to advise Russia "not to meddle." The affair is just the latest in a series of Czech-Russian disputes over the two countries' approaches to their history. By Current Time

It's No 'Mini-Schengen,' But Balkan Scheme Could Still Abolish Nagging Barriers

As the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia press on with plans to ease cross-border traffic, getting their other Western Balkan neighbors on board could make all the difference. By Andy Heil and Nevena Bogdanovic

Day Of Reckoning: As Pressure Mounts, Belarusians Balk At Prospect Of Russia Merger​

Twenty years after a treaty spawned a Union State linking Russia and Belarus, Moscow is stepping up efforts to secure a greater hold over the smaller former Soviet republic. But in Minsk, few expect much more than a symbolic declaration on the pact’s anniversary on December 8 -- and fewer still would welcome a merger with their country's massive eastern neighbor. By Matthew Luxmoore

Feminist Exhibition In Kyrgyzstan Forced To Confront Naked Truth About Societal Attitudes

Kyrgyzstan’s culture minister says a “feminist” exhibition that includes nudity will continue despite its main organizer being forced to quit and several items being confiscated after complaints by nationalists. By Farangis Najibullah

Romania: From Fascism To Freedom

Twenty-five images from an archive of mostly amateur photographs capture daily life through Romania’s turbulent journey from World War II to the collapse of communism in 1989. By Amos Chapple and Eugen Tomiuc