Claire Bigg covers Russia, Ukraine, and the post-Soviet world, with a focus on human rights, civil society, and social issues.
If the president of Ingushetia has his way, couples in the small North Caucasus republic may soon have to take an HIV test before being able to tie the knot.
Sergei Mavrodi, the mastermind behind the MMM pyramid scheme that cheated millions of Russians out of their savings in the 1990s, has been jailed for nonpayment of a $33 fine. Mavrodi, who has already spent 4 1/2 years in prison for fraud, last year launched a new pyramid that he hopes to export to the West. His goal, he told RFE/RL hours before his arrest, is to bring down the global financial system.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has added Belarus to its list of the "Enemies of the Internet."
Thousands of Russians are rising in support of two women jailed for staging an illegal anti-Kremlin performance in Moscow's largest church. The video of the caustic performance has gone viral on the Internet and has deeply divided Russians.
An estimated 100,000 people have rallied in Moscow in support of Vladimir Putin's presidential bid. Many were reportedly pressured by their employers to attend.
Russians scientists have succeeded in regenerating an entire plant from seeds stored away in Siberian permafrost for more than 30,000 years. The groundbreaking experiment could pave the way for the revival of other ancient species.
The controversy surrounding Hilary Swank's paid trip to Chechnya was revived this week when the republic's separatist leader asked the Hollywood actress to prove she had donated the fee she was paid to attend the birthday party of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's despotic leader.
Belarusians are struggling to make ends meet amid a deepening financial crisis that has sent consumer prices soaring. While their government scrambles to secure a bailout loan, Belarusians are eyeing the future with growing anxiety.
Belgrade-born author Tea Obreht has been awarded Britain's prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction for her debut novel, "The Tiger's Wife," an examination of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The 25-year-old Obreht, who lives in the United States, is the youngest author to win the prize.
Low tariffs and relatively lenient legislation are making Ukraine an increasingly popular destination for Western couples seeking to have children through surrogacy. But cases of foreigners locked in legal limbo while trying to get their babies out of the country also abound -- leading couples to resort to increasingly desperate measures.
Russia has banned the import of fresh vegetables from all European Union countries because of a deadly E. coli bacterial outbreak centered in Germany. Russia's public health chief said the ban would remain in place until EU researchers were able to identify the cause of the outbreak, which has already killed at least 17 people.
The European Court of Human Rights today found Russia guilty of violations in the arrest and first trial of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The ruling follows a request for parole by Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev.
A new comic strip casting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev as superheroes has taken the Internet by storm. But some viewers suspect the work was commissioned by the Kremlin.
Homosexual activists in Moscow are denied permission to hold a gay-pride march later this month, quashing hopes that Moscow's new mayor will be more tolerant toward sexual minorities than his predecessor.
Thousands of Italians have fled Rome in fear of a devastating earthquake allegedly predicted by a long-dead seismologist. The Internet has been abuzz for months with rumors that self-taught seismologist Raffaele Bendandi calculated a massive quake would strike Rome on May 11.
As Japan scrambles to contain radiation leaking from its tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant, Russia is pushing ahead with controversial plans to launch the world's first floating nuclear plant.
Russia is about to launch a reform that the authorities claim will clean up the country's ill-famed police. The Russian public is skeptical.
Barely a month goes by in Russia without national television airing images of a high-ranking official touring a hospital.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has agreed to release two of his staunchest critics from jail, where they had spent more than a month for participating in mass protests against his disputed re-election, and place them under house arrest. The release, however, has one catch: they must now share their homes with KGB officers.
Anna Yablonska, a promising Ukrainian playwright, was one of the victims of this week's bombing at Domodedovo airport. Yablonska had arrived in Moscow to pick up a literary prize when she was killed along with 34 other people.
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