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 team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.
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Exclusive: Russia Recruits Ukrainian Kids To Burn Military Hardware For Cash
Exclusive: Russia Recruits Ukrainian Kids To Burn Military Hardware For Cash
Ukrainian children as young as 12 are burning cars and other government property to earn some quick money, an exclusive RFE/RL investigation has found. "We burned two military vehicles. We wanted to make some quick money," one of the teenagers told RFE/RL In this exclusive film, we also hear from one 12-year-old boy receiving instructions on which targets to choose. We also interview some teenagers after they had been caught and sentenced to prison for arson. By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna, Yulia Khymeryk, and Schemes
Georgia's Ruling Party Plays The Ukraine War Card
A new ad campaign juxtaposing images of war-torn Ukraine with sunny photos of peaceful Georgia has drawn controversy ahead of critical parliamentary elections. By Joshua Kucera
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Brutal Russian Prisons Driving Inmates To Fight In Ukraine
Brutal Russian Prisons Driving Inmates To Fight In Ukraine
Increasingly oppressive conditions inside Russian prisons are driving desperate inmates to enlist in the military to fight in Ukraine. Speaking to RFE/RL from behind bars in Russia, a Kyrgyz inmate said that many convicts enlist because they cannot endure such harsh prison conditions. Those who refuse to sign military contracts are kept in cold isolation cells and given little food or water, according to a lawyer who works for jailed migrants. By Aigerim Akylbekova, Austin Malloy, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, and Juan Carlos Herrera Martinez
See Also: Russia Pressures Central Asian Prisoners To Fight In Ukraine As 'Expendable Force'
5 Tactics The Kremlin Is Using To Meddle In 2024 Elections
It's election season in Eastern Europe, and for the Kremlin -- bogged down in Ukraine and desperately in need of allies -- the stakes are higher than ever. So how is the Kremlin -- and its populist regional allies -- trying to make sure it wins? By Luke Allnutt
Surviving Russian Prisons And The 'Frightening' Food They Serve
Surviving Russia’s notoriously harsh correctional system is not just a matter of strength or smarts. It’s a matter of food, former inmates told Current Time – a daily struggle to stomach starchy, semi-cooked prison meals, or avoid them, and to obtain the healthier food that is vital to survival. By Elya Novopashennaya
An 'Explosive Mix' As Ukraine Tries To Tackle Manpower Crisis At The Front
Struggling to increase manpower at the front as Russian forces advance and concerns about the future of Western support mount, Ukrainian recruiters have raided concerts, clubs, and cafes looking for men who may be avoiding military service. It’s widening rifts in society at a sensitive time. By Steve Gutterman
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After Fleeing Floods, Afghans See Tents 'Torn To Pieces' By Windstorms
After Fleeing Floods, Afghans See Tents 'Torn To Pieces' By Windstorms
Severe winds in Afghanistan's central Ghor Province have destroyed a tent settlement where hundreds of flood victims were temporarily sheltered. Their original homes were swept away in the summer by torrential rains. The Taliban government promised to build new housing, but no construction -- or even basic aid -- has materialized as winter weather looms. By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi and Will Tizard
Mongolia, The Forgotten Soviet Satellite
Rare archival photos capture Mongolia in the period from 1924 to 1992 when the East Asian country was a communist satellite of the Soviet Union. By Amos Chapple
Lebanon's Armenians Face Painful Choice: Stay And Risk Death Or Flee Their Country
Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Lebanon has left many members of the country’s 150,000-strong Armenian community with a painful choice: stay and risk death or leave behind a country they consider home. By Lusine Musaelian and Frud Bezhan
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In Afghanistan, The Taliban Wages War On Music
In Afghanistan, The Taliban Wages War On Music
The Taliban announced in August that it had destroyed over 20,000 musical instruments in Afghanistan in the past year. The extremist group considers instruments un-Islamic and permits only unaccompanied singing. In interviews with RFE/RL, an exiled Afghan musician condemned the move, while the head of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music said, "Music was the first victim of the Taliban's return." By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi and Zhakfar Ahmadi