Tom Balmforth covers Russia and other former Soviet republics from his base in Moscow.
Twenty-five years ago, Memorial began as a group of Soviet-era dissidents seeking to document and remember the victims of political repression. Today it is one of Russia's flagship human rights organizations.
Protesters have been camped out for a month in central Kyiv against their government's decision to put a key EU pact on ice. And behind the scenes, thousands of Kyiv residents are sustaining the protests by keeping demonstrators warm and well fed.
Ukraine's Euromaidan protests were sparked by Viktor Yanukovych's surprise rejection of closer ties with Europe. So some demonstrators expressed frustration when Yanukovych this week signed a $15-billion deal with Russia that appears to make the prospect of EU integration even more distant. Others, however, say they're more determined than ever to stay the course.
With fears a crackdown is looming, the Ukrainian opposition has designated security brigades to weed out "provocateurs" and protect the protest encampment in central Kyiv from the police.
The demonstrations against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych have given a major boost to a scrappy little online public TV station that didn't even exist a month ago.
As massive street protests grip the Ukrainian capital, many in the country's industrial east resent the unrest in Kyiv. Nonetheless, support for President Viktor Yanukovych in his traditional power base is strikingly muted.
The Berkut is Ukraine's most feared special-forces unit and is being vilified by tens of thousands of protesters in the capital, Kyiv. RFE/RL's Tom Balmforth happened to share a train cabin with two Berkut veterans and talked politics with them over vodka, cognac, salo, and quail eggs.
It’s shaping up to be a long day for Mykhaylo from west Ukraine’s Ternopil. And a fairly unusual one at that.
It's the land of leather jackets, fur coats, and sable hats. But could animal-rights activism finally be taking off in Russia? With the onset of winter, Russians are reaching for their trusty animal furs, but this year has also seen an unusual flourish of animal-rights activism.
The sudden removal of jailed Greenpeace activists from Murmansk and the rail journey odyssey of Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have put a spotlight on the murky and stealthy business of prisoner transfers in Russia.
With the 2014 WInter Olympics in Sochi just months away, President Vladimir Putin has signed a tough new terrorism law aimed at enhancing security. But critics say the law is a throwback to the era of Josef Stalin.
Foreign migrants have a tough life in Russia. But in Moscow, the experiences of a foreign migrant and a Russian citizen from the North Caucasus are remarkably similar. RFE/RL spoke to two residents of the capital: a Tajik migrant and a Russian citizen of Ingush origin.
It has been 10 years since Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on a Siberian airstrip on October 25, 2003. On the occasion of the anniversary, RFE/RL takes a look at some of the numbers behind the Khodorkovsky saga.
With at least 1.5 million addicts, Russia is hooked on heroin, much of it coming in from Afghanistan. But while the Kremlin fears the withdrawal of NATO troops next year will increase trafficking of the drug, officials have done little to address the problem.
Are authorities in Moscow using this week's antimigrant riot by nationalists as a pretext for a hostile takeover of a lucrative warehouse?
Moscow this weekend was rocked by its worst nationalist violence in years. But the authorities appear to be treating the rioters with kid gloves. Law enforcement's handling of the riots in Moscow's Biryulyovo district contrasts sharply with the way the police have dealt with violent anti-Kremlin protests, such as the one on Bolotnaya Square in May 2012.
As Moscow's Muslims prepare to mark Kurban Bairam, one of the most important religious holidays of the year, nationalist riots in the Russian capital have sent a shockwave of fear through migrant communities. What's more, many migrants say they don't just fear nationalist attacks – they also fear the police.
President Vladimir Putin has sent constitutional amendments to the State Duma that would merge two of Russia's most important courts and create a "super" Supreme Court. But the move appears driven more by politics than legal reasoning.
As Russia prepares to host the Paralympic Games next spring, the plight of the country's 13 million disabled people is coming under increased scrutiny. Russian authorities have taken some important steps to improve accessibility for all. But most Russians with disabilities remain deeply isolated from society.
A blaze on September 13 engulfed a psychiatric hospital in Russia's Novgorod Oblast, claiming the lives of at least 37 people. It was the latest in a string of such disasters at psychiatric facilities. Experts blame the dilapidated state of Russia’s neglected facilities for the mentally ill.
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![A woman walks past graffiti saying "Foreign agents [love the] USA" on the building used by the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow in November 2012.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b375904e-1286-4216-943b-342b5902375d_w100_r1.jpg)
![A woman walks past graffiti saying "Foreign agents [love the] USA" on the building used by the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow in November 2012.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b375904e-1286-4216-943b-342b5902375d_w66_r1.jpg)
