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Ray Furlong

Ray Furlong is a Senior International Correspondent for RFE/RL. He has reported for RFE/RL from the Balkans, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and elsewhere since joining the company in 2014. He previously worked for 17 years for the BBC as a foreign correspondent in Prague and Berlin, and as a roving international reporter across Europe and the former Soviet Union.

FurlongR@rferl.org

Also by Ray Furlong

December 18, 2024
Ukrainian Soldier Makes Viral Claims Of 'Incompetence' In Army

A Ukrainian soldier's videos criticizing the army's officer corps has gained millions of views and sparked public debate. Valeriy Markus began posting videos on December 11, claiming that "envy, immaturity, and incompetence" were rife.
December 16, 2024
Pokrovsk 'Deserted' As Russian Army Draws Near

On a recent visit to Pokrovsk, our reporter Oleksiy Prodayvoda could hardly believe how much the east Ukrainian town has changed as Russian forces edge closer. "Before, there were guests in every bar and cafe.... Now, it's deserted," he said.
December 15, 2024
The Couple Bringing English Cider To Kazakhstan's 'Home Of Apples'

The wild apple forests of the Tien-Shan mountains close to Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, are not just picturesque. They are widely regarded as the region where apples genetically originated. What better place, then, to brew cider?
December 10, 2024
Western Countries Face Dilemma Over Syria's Blacklisted New Rulers

It is not yet clear what role Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) will play in post-Assad Syria. But if, as seems likely, it emerges as a key player, Western governments appear keen to keep their options open.
December 06, 2024
What To Expect In 2025

The New Year has every potential to be momentous, with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, pledging to bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, along with ongoing conflict in the Middle East and tensions between China and Taiwan.
November 29, 2024
Ukrainian Pensioner Beats Blackouts With Pedal Power

A 77-year-old Ukrainian man overcomes power cuts resulting from Russian air strikes with his own energy, by pedaling a bicycle hooked up to an electricity generator that lights his home and charges his phone. Oleksandr Klimenko also has his own wind turbine and solar panels.
November 22, 2024
Ukrainian Frontline Troops Voice Resentment At Lack Of New Recruits

Ukrainian troops have complained that people are avoiding military service and leaving them outnumbered on the front line, in interviews near Kupyansk in northeastern Ukraine on November 20.
November 20, 2024
What’s Behind The Mystery Of Iran's Fishing Boom?

Iran has recorded a massive uptick in its fishing catch in the Caspian, even as the sea shrinks. But as fishermen celebrate, experts are ringing alarm bells.
November 19, 2024
RFE/RL Reveals Chilling New Details Of Bucha Massacre As Ukraine Marks 1,000 Days Of War

A new documentary by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service has pieced together the life and death of Oleksiy Pobihay, an obscure shopkeeper whose home was surrounded by armored vehicles and truckloads of Russian troops.
November 19, 2024
How Russian Forces Hunted People In The Bucha Massacre

This is the exclusive story of a Ukrainian shopkeeper turned territorial defense volunteer whose body was found, with his hands bound and a bullet wound in his head, at the site of an abandoned Russian headquarters in Bucha.
November 15, 2024
Russia Allows Wild Fluctuations In Caspian Tributaries, Even For Political Prestige

Sometimes river waters lap high along the banks by the Kremlin in Kazan, Russia, but other times they're just a dull, muddy trickle. It's not just the weather that's causing this, and activists are crying foul.
November 14, 2024
A Kazakh Scientist's 10-Year Fight To Save Caspian Seals

A 10-year obsession with unique Caspian seals almost ended during the trauma of a mass die-off, but this Kazakh scientist refuses to give up.
November 14, 2024
Unique Caspian Seals See Huge Drop In Numbers

Caspian Seals are unique and not found anywhere else in the world, but their numbers are declining sharply. In October-November 2024, more than 1,000 dead seals were found washed up on the shore of Kazakhstan -- cause of death unknown.
November 13, 2024
Pokrovsk Civilians Battle Bombs And Winter

Civilians in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, are facing twin threats of the Russian Army advancing on their town and the onset of winter.
November 13, 2024
How The Caspian Sea Became A Battlefield

The Russian military appears to be firing at Ukraine from the Caspian Sea, possibly adding environmental damage on the world's largest lake to the human and material cost of Moscow's full-scale invasion.
October 31, 2024
The Moldovan Town Where 95 Percent Said 'No' To The EU

As Moldova's presidential election goes into a second round runoff on November 3, the pro-Western incumbent faces a tough battle for votes in a town where 95 percent voted against the European Union in a recent referendum.
October 23, 2024
'Feces Everywhere': Balkan Lake Must Clean Up Or Lose UNESCO Status

Lake Ohrid is among the oldest lakes in Europe and has UNESCO protected status due to its rich store of unique species -- but that is now in danger.
October 10, 2024
Abandoned In Wartime, Wild Horses Now Thrive In Bosnian Mountains

A growing population of wild horses is drawing visitors to the rugged mountains of western Bosnia-Herzegovina. Local people abandoned agricultural horses during the 1990s war, but the animals have thrived in the wild. In the last 15 years, their numbers have grown from around 150 to more than 1,000.
October 02, 2024
Ukraine Alleges Mass Killing Of Prisoners By Russian Forces

Ukraine's prosecutor-general says his office has begun investigating what he called "the most massive case of execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war on the front line" by Russian forces.
October 01, 2024
Israel Launches 'Ground Operation' In Lebanon

Israel says it has begun a ground offensive into southern Lebanon and that heavy fighting is taking place between its forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

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