Merhat Sharipzhan is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL who focuses on developments in the former Soviet Union.
Russia's confinement of a Tatar activist to a psychiatric clinic in Crimea is raising fears that Moscow is reviving a Soviet-era practice to intimidate opponents of the peninsula's annexation into silence.
Russia says Turkey apologized, Turkey says it didn't. Either way, a cleverly worded letter from Ankara may now spell the end to their crisis over the downing of a Russian warplane.
Russia's 2016 Olympic wrestling team -- once expected to be one of the best in the world -- is in shambles over in-the-ring brawls, athlete boycotts, and scandalous referee rulings.
Ordinary Kazakhs can think of better ways to spend public money upon hearing about plans to house the graves of prominent citizens in a pricey pantheon.
Kazakhstan's culture minister has sparked resentment with remarks about neighboring Kyrgyzstan and its turbulent recent history.
One of the most outspoken opponents of Kazakh plans to dispense with huge swaths of land is a folksy singer who's not afraid to pick a fight with the government.
Rattled by widespread protests against a government land-sale proposal, Kazakh authorities continue to take steps aimed at tamping down public anger.
Many Kazakhs checking their smartphones on May 6 might have been surprised to find a cautiously contrite SMS message from an unlikely source.
Fears that land will be taken from the people and sold off to foreigners or moneyed elites are fueling a rare and growing protest movement in Kazakhstan.
Kazakh national Aibek Nurseit and ethnic Kazakh Gabit Turganbek, who is from China's Xinjiang region, were disqualified by a referee after they sparred gingerly rather than inflict any punishment on each other in a caged mixed-martial-arts bout on March 5.
One of the pro-Moscow leaders of recent antigovernment protests in Moldova has made anti-U.S. remarks that appear to be aimed at tapping into east-west tensions to whip up support for early elections that could boost Kremlin influence in his country.
A diplomatic ruckus is brewing between Russia and Kyrgyzstan following reports that Russian officials rescued two ethnic-Russian children in the Central Asian country from organ traffickers.
The father of the Kazakh nation tells citizens to learn to breathe easy and learn to live without during tough economic times.
Tired of toeing the official line, a veteran London-based correspondent for Kazakh state television has pulled the plug on her career.
During the repressive rein of President Saparmurat Niyazov, horse expert Geldy Kyarizov went from the halls of Turkmenistan's government to a "horrific" penitentiary where he spent five months before his release. Allowed to leave the secretive Central Asian state in September, Geldy Kyarizov gave RFE/RL a harrowing account of "torture by hunger" in its toughest prison.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is not only allied to the Islamic State (IS) group, it now considers itself part of it.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has accused the Taliban of deceit and collusion, and demanded that the Afghan militant movement tell the truth about the circumstances of its late leader's death.
Russian troops regularly enter separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine and serve there on a rotational basis, according to a volunteer who has been fighting with the insurgents since October. Rustam, a Russian citizen from Tatarstan's Saba district who gave only his first name, made the claims in a telephone interview with RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service on July 20.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a former member of the punk protest band Pussy Riot, was detained in central Moscow on June 12 along with another activist after a performance in which they wore gulag-style prison uniforms and sewed a Russian flag.
Two compelling videos posted online appear to show instances of bride-snatching in Kazakhstan, where legislation does not prohibit the practice.
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