Robert Coalson worked as a correspondent for RFE/RL from 2002 to 2024.
The regions of Russia's north have been hit harder by the current spike in COVID-19 cases than they were by the first wave in the spring. Locals say the health service is struggling to cope and that officials are covering up the extent of the problem.
Liberal opposition candidates fared well at elections in St. Petersburg in 2019, winning numerous seats on district councils in President Vladimir Putin's hometown. Now, many say they are facing financial checks, ostracism, and other tactics designed to prevent them from doing their jobs.
The official Russian state line on the U.S. presidential election seems to be to gloat over the divisions and problems But for many Russians, the spectacle of a competitive election is a desirable alternative to the "managed democracy" that has emerged under 20 years of Putin’s rule.
When the Far Eastern Russian city of Magadan put out a call for applicants to be "city manager" -- essentially, the mayor -- the silence was deafening.
Medical workers in Russia's Irkutsk region say that shortages of personnel and other problems are making it difficult to cope with the latest spike in coronavirus infections. Meanwhile, social-media posts from the eastern Siberian region tell of people waiting days for an ambulance to arrive.
For two years, activists have been protesting near the northern town of Shiyes against a massive landfill project for trash from Moscow. Now a court has declared the project illegal and ordered the site restored. Now, activists are debating whether the battle is over and what comes next.
In a rematch of Moldova's closely contested 2016 presidential election, the vote on November 1 pits incumbent pro-Russian President Igor Dodon against pro-Western former Prime Minister Maia Sandu, with polls showing nearly one-third of voters still undecided.
Seventy-five years ago, the German city of Koenigsburg and much of the East Prussia region were absorbed into the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. RFE/RL spoke with some of the first Russian settlers who moved to the shattered city.
At least two women have publicly claimed they underwent sterilization after being threatened by doctors at a state-run residential facility in Yekaterinburg.
Norway has granted temporary political asylum to human rights activist Rafal Gawel, ruling that Poland's populist government had undermined judicial independence and the rule of law. Analysts say the case demonstrates a "fundamental disagreement" in the West over core values that once united it.
Medical workers across Russia are warning that the country is already confronting a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic that could be even more daunting than the first.
Nurse’s aide Maria Tyshko dreamed for years of becoming a nurse, and contracted COVID-19 while working in St. Petersburg. Then she died of the disease -- and hospital officials refused to recognize her as a medical worker or offer her family compensation.
A widely shared video purporting to show Chechen fighters deployed alongside Azerbaijani forces in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh is a fake that was actually filmed in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea, RFE/RL has determined.
With the number of new coronavirus infections rising above 10,000 for the first time in months, medical workers around Russia complain that they have been denied promised bonuses and hazard pay from the first wave of the pandemic. Many are protesting under the slogan "Pay the price for COVID."
The global coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the Russian economy. But analysts say Moscow's own policies at home and abroad are accelerating the ruble's sharp decline in value.
Activists say the case typifies the perilous situation of Russia's transgender people, particularly those who have fled even more daunting intolerance in Central Asia.
The recent leak of suspicious-activity reports filed by banks to the U.S. government is not as informative as the 2016 Panama Papers leak, but it has revealed a bit more about the financial connections between Russian oligarchs and officials of President Vladimir Putin's regime.
Across Russia voters go to the polls on September 13 for local elections as the ruling United Russia party faces growing discontent.
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been sidelined for at least the next few months following his poisoning by a chemical nerve agent. But with crucial elections looming, his supporters cannot afford to lose any time in their effort to dismantle President Vladimir Putin's power vertical.
Across Russia, the increasingly unpopular ruling United Russia party faces voter hostility in local elections set for September 13. In Ulyanovsk, the party has dug deep into its bag of dirty tricks to counter a surging Communist Party challenge.
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!["Only those [regional] deputies who are not liked by United Russia or the governor's office get audited," says Aleksandr Shurshev (right), who works as a coordinator for Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny’s in St. Petersburg. (file photo)](https://gdb.rferl.org/26f71dc3-2a51-4564-9202-cb3b77e5e3b3_cx0_cy10_cw0_w100_r1.jpg)
!["Only those [regional] deputies who are not liked by United Russia or the governor's office get audited," says Aleksandr Shurshev (right), who works as a coordinator for Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny’s in St. Petersburg. (file photo)](https://gdb.rferl.org/26f71dc3-2a51-4564-9202-cb3b77e5e3b3_cx0_cy10_cw0_w66_r1.jpg)
