Tom Balmforth covers Russia and other former Soviet republics from his base in Moscow.
Last month, Tajik national Abdulvosi Latipov disappeared without a trace, just days after being released from a jail in Russia. His family believes he was abducted by Tajik security forces and transferred home to face possible torture as a suspected terrorist. Rights-watchers say the case is part of a growing trend in which Tajiks, Uzbeks, and other Central Asians facing politically motivated charges at home are being kidnapped in Russia and transferred to jails back home -- despite legal safeguards meant to protect them from extradition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved new members for an expanded Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.
The assassination of a Salafi imam in Daghestan last week marked the fifth time a Muslim cleric was killed in the volatile North Caucasus region this year. Why is Daghestan such a hotbed of instability?
Two Kazakh women have said they were lured into slavery in Moscow on the promise of a job and held in captivity in a supermarket for 10 years where they were beaten and forced to work.
An ongoing standoff between the Russian Orthodox Church and the country's consumer rights watchdog deepened this week after the group's director was questioned by police. Church leaders accuse the Society for Consumer Rights' Protection of defamation over accusations that Moscow's largest cathedral is involved in unlawful trade activities.
Ukrainians head to polls today to elect a new parliament in the first nationwide elections since Viktor Yanukovych became president in 2010.
As the clock ticks down to Ukraine's October 28 parliamentary elections, the Udar party of world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko is enjoying a surprising surge in the polls, but is it his star power or his political program that is attracting supporters?
As relatives and friends prepare to commemorate the 130 victims of the hostage crisis at Moscow's Dubrovka theater, anger is still simmering over what many see as a protracted cover-up by Russian authorities. Ten years after the tragedy, grieving families say they are still waiting for the truth about the botched rescue operation that ended the siege.
Observers and members of the opposition say Russia's local polls on October 14 were marred by fraud, particularly in the closely-watched race in Khimki, just outside Moscow -- one of just two constituencies where prominent opposition leaders challenged the pro-Putin candidate.
A group of young Muscovite entrepreneurs have launched a new mobile-phone application that allows users to report bribes to a central database. The app logs the reports and places them on an interactive map that will, its creators hope, spark a sense of civic responsibility in a public faced with widespread day-to-day corruption.
Animosity between Muslim worshippers and locals are boiling over in neighborhoods surrounding Moscow's mosques. Moscow has one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe, but only five mosques and police have been moving in and randomly arresting those trying to attend prayers sparking bitter confrontations.
The removal of opposition deputy Gennady Gudkov from the State Duma for engaging in business activities while in office threatens to destabilize the Russian parliament. Gudkov's allies have compiled details of the business activities of lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party that could force more deputies out of the Duma.
Crusading Russian ecologist Yevgenia Chirikova is preparing to run for mayor of Khimki, the small town outside Moscow where she made her name battling the construction of a highway through a nearby forest.
August 4 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II -- and who many believe was executed by Soviet security agents.
Wiretapping has skyrocketed in Russia over the past several years, partly due to Kremlin efforts to embarrass and divide the opposition. But what's really driving the increase are rivalries between the country's security services.
As a KGB veteran and former member of the United Russia faction, the portly, mustachioed Gennady Gudkov was very much a creature of Vladimir Putin's system. That is, until he went rogue and joined the opposition.
With the opposition and the Kremlin vying for their attention, Muscovites were spoilt for choices this year over how to celebrate June 12, Russia's national holiday.
Nonwhite soccer fans are traveling to the European soccer championship in Ukraine and Poland despite a wave of allegations about racism in the stands. RFE/RL spoke to black fans and students about their personal experiences in host city Kyiv.
The biggest soccer festival of the year -- the Euro 2012 championship -- is getting under way in Poland and Ukraine. As RFE/RL reports from Kharkiv, the northeastern Ukrainian city is putting the final, frantic touches on its preparations for the tournament's first match in Ukraine on June 9.
The European soccer championships in Poland and Ukraine kick off in Warsaw on June 8. RFE/RL takes a look at how Eastern Europe’s biggest sporting event in decades adds up.
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