Artyom Leshko is a photographer for Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
The chaotic and haphazard mobilization process under way inside Russia is fuelling speculation that the Kremlin is aiming to activate far more than the 300,000 soldiers initially stated by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
As Russia battles a spike in COVID-19 infections, a hospital ward in St. Petersburg is treating some of the youngest patients. "Many parents say: 'We thought children didn't have complications from COVID-19,'" said Yulia Ordina, the department head. "But unfortunately, that isn't always true."
At the St. Petersburg Veterans' Hospital, a rehabilitation center has been repurposed to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 that sometimes linger for months. Current Time photographer Artyom Leshko visited the ward where long-haul patients fight to overcome the physical and mental toll of the virus.
Lacking identification documents and insurance, the homeless and others in St. Petersburg struggle to get health care. Enter the Charity Hospital, whose volunteers deliver street medicine to those the hospitals won't.
