Chinese universities linked to the country’s defense sector have dramatically increased their partnerships in Russia, providing Moscow with access to innovations that help its war effort in Ukraine, data compiled by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and shared with RFE/RL shows.
Belarus has made headlines in recent weeks with a flurry of US-negotiated releases of political prisoners. But while Minsk basks in its warming relations with Washington, dark questions have been raised by accounts of torture and mistreatment -- and the prompt re-arrest of a veteran dissident.
Ukrainian forces have been struggling to hold back Russian assaults on Kupyansk for months. An audacious pipeline ambush by Russian forces may have tilted the battle toward Moscow. If confirmed, it would be third time they’ve pulled it off.
For decades, most major US tech companies and investors steered clear of the Pentagon because of complicated contracting rules and ethical questions about making weapons. But the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and China’s rapid military rise have changed the calculus.
Russia is reviving Intervision, a Soviet-era song contest once pitched as an alternative to Eurovision. Officials frame it as cultural exchange, but critics see a Cold War throwback aimed at projecting Moscow’s influence.
For the first time, evidence shows abducted Ukrainian children were forced by Russia to assemble drones and other military gear, according to a Yale report. Researchers say the practice could amount to war crimes and reflects a new level of militarization.
Ukrainian forces are struggling to adapt to an elite Russian drone unit known as Rubicon that aims to bring cutting-edge technologies and tactics to the battlefield. New findings from RFE/RL’s Russian Services now shed more light on the secretive military unit.
The children of Central Asians working in Russia are in the crosshairs as Moscow clamps down on migrants. Some children have been barred from studying in Russian schools, while others have been denied reentry into Russia.
Ukrainian troops continue to hold defensive positions in the embattled city of Kostyantynivka, a critical stronghold in the Donetsk region, despite ongoing Russian bombardments and drone attacks.
Anastasia Ignatova, stepdaughter of the head of Russian conglomerate Rostec, was the only non-actor featured in the tire company Pirelli’s annual calendar in 2017. The EU says the improbable appearance is evidence that sanctions imposed on her over the war in Ukraine should say in place.
A US decision to suspend a “strategic dialogue” with Kosovo has rocked the Balkan country’s establishment, singling out Prime Minister Albin Kurti as a source of growing frustration in Washington -- his country's prime political and military guarantor.
Iranian protest musicians became powerful voices of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, inspiring crowds and facing severe repression. Their anthems united protesters, showing why authorities now see music as a major threat.
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