The Week's Best: 10 Stories And Videos You Shouldn't Miss

We know you're busy and probably don't have the time to read all of our coverage each and every day. That's why we've put together The Week's Best. Here are some of the highlights produced in English by RFE/RL's vast team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.

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Subway Schools: Kharkiv Students Start Academic Year In Metro Stations

With the danger of ongoing Russian attacks, some students in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv started the academic year with classes located in metro stations. Following Russia's full-scale invasion, many Ukrainian schools switched to online learning. As students return to in-person teaching, city officials announced some classes would be held underground for safety reasons. By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Current Time, and Mykyta Peretiatko

Ukraine's Defense Ministry has adapted a summer field uniform specifically designed by volunteers for the country's tens of thousands of female soldiers amid the Russian invasion. Production has not yet begun, but one soldier says, "We're getting there, and that's wonderful." By Yulia Zkukova

Moldova Kicked Out Most Of Russia's Diplomats, But The Embassy In Chisinau Still Has Close Ties To Spies

In August, Moldova kicked out 45 Russian diplomats and embassy staff, citing fears of Moscow's efforts to "destabilize" the country. But among the diplomats remaining in Chisinau, a new investigation by RFE/RL has found that many of them are linked to Russian intelligence agencies. By Denis Dermenji and Carl Shreck

It's been three months since Ukraine launched its biggest counteroffensive of the 18-month Russian invasion. Advances have been grueling and slogging, and for some Western officials, frustratingly slow. But Ukrainian forces may now be on the verge of a small, but notable battlefield breakthrough. By Mike Eckel

'Many Guys Come To Find A Belarusian Girl': Émigré Cultural Classes Thrive In Poland

One year after its founding, the School of Belarusian Traditional Culture in Warsaw is attracting both emigrants from Belarus, and Poles wanting to learn the culture of their embattled eastern neighbor. By RFE/RL's Belarus Service

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Digging Deeper: Well Builders Struggle To Supply Farmers Amid Central Asian Water Crisis

In the midst of a growing water crisis in Central Asia, Uzbek well diggers are forced to constantly go deeper to supply rural farmers. With water tables falling, diggers can no longer guarantee farmers they will find a reliable source of irrigation. Climate change, misuse of resources, and government policies are being blamed. By RFE/RL's Uzbek Service and Will Tizard

A stretch of prime Black Sea beachfront in Bulgaria is effectively owned by the Moscow city government. Activists say the Russians acquired the land illegally and want Sofia to seize it, adding it is also a security risk given the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. By Genka Shikerova

The deployment of even unarmed civilian observers to Armenia's border region with Azerbaijan marks an unprecedented Western intervention in a country where Russia has traditionally been the dominant security provider and, despite setbacks, still sees itself as the primary power broker. By Joshua Kucera

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Soccer Builds Confidence, Skills For Ukrainian Veteran Amputees

Twice a week, Ukrainian veterans who have lost limbs in Russia's war on the country gather for soccer games on Kyiv fields. As they practice using their bodies in new ways, they joke, work out, and share the communal experience of healing and returning to some sense of normalcy. By Current Time, Yulia Zhukova, and Will Tizard
In the same week that a top Kyrgyz media outlet confirmed that authorities were trying to shut it down, the Culture Ministry blocked TikTok. Long recognized as Central Asia’s most-free state, Kyrgyzstan seems intent on shedding that tag. By Chris Rickleton and RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service