Claire Bigg covers Russia, Ukraine, and the post-Soviet world, with a focus on human rights, civil society, and social issues.
Hundreds of families in Chechnya have yet to bury relatives who disappeared in the two wars that devastated the region in Russia’s North Caucasus more than a decade ago. Ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared, marked on August 30, RFE/RL spoke to one couple still waiting for their son to be returned to them -- dead or alive.
A government proposal to restrict the import of medical supplies is sowing panic among Russians whose loved ones may be affected. Health experts say the move will endanger the lives of countless patients.
France's National Front aren't the only ones to love the Kremlin.
A single crew of volunteers has been in charge of recovering the bodies of soldiers missing in action in eastern Ukraine. But now the group may have to end its activities due to a lack of resources.
A recent protest held by hundreds of Chinese workers in Belarus highlights the plight of Chinese migrants in the reclusive ex-Soviet state.
Nihad Catic was a reporter broadcasting from Srebrenica when the town fell into the hands of Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995. He is one of the more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed in Europe's worst massacre since World War II.
A successful strike staged by local Chinese workers has stunned Belarusians, leaving many full of admiration. The "Made In China" protest has sparked a storm of comments on social media.
A Russian family has been jailed on drug charges after serving poppy-seed buns in their restaurant. The Polukhins say they are the latest victims in a vast extortion scheme by drug-control officials targeting small businesses.
Authorities in a central Russian city have suffered an embarrassing backlash after attempting to ban yoga.
Israel is seeing the biggest influx of Russian immigrants since the 1990s. Most of them are educated Muscovites bitterly disillusioned with their country's leadership.
A Russian opposition party has rejected claims that French actor Gerard Depardieu is running as its candidate for governor of a Siberian region, dismissing the allegation as an "unfortunate joke."
The protests in Yerevan have put the spotlight on Armenia's iron-fisted police chief, whose angry tirades at protesters are sparking both anger and jokes.
Samiya Khalikova survived the siege of Leningrad and the Soviet-era repressions that decimated her family. But when she recently collapsed in her flat, it took authorities two days to open the door.
Guliko Chitadze, a veteran animal keeper who drowned when a flash flood swept through the Tbilisi Zoo, had recently returned to work after being mauled by tigers.
Odesa's freshly appointed governor, Mikheil Saakashvili, is tackling his new job head on. The former Georgian president is touring markets, boarding trams, rubbing shoulders with locals, and pledging to restore order in the Ukrainian city.
A terrifying video clip has emerged of a bus ramming into a group of teenage Austrian competitors at the European Games in Azerbaijan in an incident that has left Austrians reeling and overshadowed the start of the sporting extravaganza.
Petro Poroshenko has voiced support for gays, a first for a Ukrainian president. But an attack against gay activists shows that he faces staunch resistance, even among supporters of his pro-European government.
Chinese investors are seeking a foothold in Crimea. A delegation of Chinese businessmen has pledged to pour money into developing the annexed peninsula's infrastructure and voiced plans to build restaurants, an entertainment center, and a golf course.
Journalists in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don have discovered what they say is a makeshift clinic caring for insurgents maimed in eastern Ukraine. The report appears to confirm local rumors of wounded separatist militants streaming into the Rostov region for treatment.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has stunned the country by appointing Georgia's former leader to head Odesa Oblast. The move has sparked mixed reactions in the troubled Black Sea region.
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