Claire Bigg covers Russia, Ukraine, and the post-Soviet world, with a focus on human rights, civil society, and social issues.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has publicly scolded the authors of a video making fun of the fire that tore through a skyscraper in Grozny last week. As punishment, the two men have been forced to participate in the tower’s reconstruction.
The European Court of Human Rights has found Serbia guilty of failing to adequately investigate the fate of a baby boy who his mother claims was taken away from her at birth. The ruling is a major victory for the hundreds of parents who believe their newborns were stolen and sold for adoption as part of a long-running scheme involving staff at state-run hospitals in Serbia.
A famous street artist dubbed the “Russian Banksy” is reported to have died this week age 29. Known as P183, he gained international recognition for his playful, thought-provoking murals and street installations.
Russia’s “Novaya gazeta” newspaper, known for its investigative reports on corruption and rights abuses, is marking 20 years since it was first established.
Russian prosecutors and tax police on March 25 searched the offices of Amnesty International and three other influential advocacy groups in Moscow. The raids are part of a wider crackdown on groups critical of the Kremlin. But they also reveal what some analysts describe as a debilitating crisis within Russia’s ruling elite.
The European Space Agency has released the most detailed-ever “baby picture” of the universe, a heat map from the cosmos as it appeared only 380,000 years after the big bang. The map largely confirms existing theories about the universe but also raises new questions.
In a new report, the rights group highlights the dangers of working as a lawyer in Russia's troubled North Caucasus region, including routine threats and pressure from law-enforcement officials.
Germany has a new euroskeptic party that is calling for the breakup of the eurozone and a return to national currencies. Alternative for Germany, founded by some of the country's leading economists and academics, aims to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative Christian Democrats at national elections this fall.
The number of Russian applications before the European Court of Human Rights has dropped sharply in 2012, which the Kremlin attributes to fewer Russians turning to the Strasbourg court for justice. But Russian rights advocates have another, more alarming explanation: the dispatch of lawyers hired by Moscow to the European court.
Russian inspectors have uncovered rampant sanitary violations at an army base on the tiny Pacific island of Kunashir.
As RFE/RL’s Russian Service marks the 60th anniversary of its first broadcast, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, a dedicated listener of Radio Liberty since 1954, evokes her lifelong relationship with the radio, both on and off the microphone.
The second home of St. Petersburg's prestigious Mariinsky Theater was unveiled to the public in late January following a decade-long construction saga. But the vast glass-walled building has upset many St. Petersburg residents, who say it spoils the city's unique architecture.
Moscow authorities have announced the creation of a volunteer squad to help track down illegal migrants, a move human rights advocates say opens the door to abuse and violence.
Russia's troubled Superjet suffered another blow this week with the publication of a report detailing numerous malfunctions linked to the aircraft, the first produced by Russia since the Soviet collapse. The report by Aeroflot, leaked to the media, follows a string of glitches and a deadly crash during a promotional flight last year. It comes on the eve of Aeroflot's 90th birthday.
Georgia's wrestling federation was hit by an ugly scandal this week when two of its members publicly accused the federation's president of beating them up. The alleged violence has caused dismay and shone a spotlight on what many denounce as bitter political infighting in Georgian sports.
Azerbaijan has seen a rare spike in opposition protests this month, with rallies denouncing poverty, unemployment, and what many see as a corrupt and repressive government.
It has all the elements of a resounding scandal: corrupt cops, gay-sex videos, blackmail, and celebrities.
The wife of a well-respected doctor from Daghestan has asked President Vladimir Putin to help free her husband. The anesthesiologist was detained last year on accusations of participating in the murder of a local police chief. His brother-in-law, a prominent surgeon, was beheaded after being arrested on the same charges. Family and friends insist on the doctors' innocence and say the case highlights rampant abuse by law-enforcement agencies in Russia's volatile North Caucasus.
With New Year festivities behind them, Russian students are now hard at work on their end-of-term thesis papers. But cheating is still rife in Russian universities, with many students paying others to write their academic papers.
A 14-year-old Russian orphan has been making headlines since his country adopted a controversial law banning the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens.
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