Photo: Eduard Florin Niga (Copyright)
Hey, you’re busy! We know rferl.org isn’t the only website you read. And that it’s just possible you may have missed some of our most compelling journalism this week. To make sure you’re up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL’s team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.
We are also including content here from Gandhara, an RFE/RL website focusing on developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Kazakhs Seek Answers As Loved Ones Detained, Injured, Or Killed Amid Unrest
A dead man handcuffed with two bullet wounds, and a man with head injuries from a grenade taken out of a hospital by soldiers — Kazakhs tell their stories of the ongoing crackdown following violent anti-government unrest that shook the country at the beginning of January. By Ray Furlong, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, and Current Time
See also: ‘I Don’t Know If She’s Dead Or Alive’: Desperate Kazakh Families Looking For Relatives After Unrest
Navalny Versus Putin — A Yearlong War Of Words
Jailed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has never had the chance to hold a TV debate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who refuses to even speak his name in public. But in the year since Navalny’s arrest and jailing, the two men have both commented on the key issues of the day. This is their remote debate: Putin speaks from the Kremlin, Navalny from a prison cell where he is being held on what is widely regarded as a trumped-up, politically motivated conviction. By Ray Furlong and Current Time
Taliban Turns Insurgents Into Commandos As It Builds ‘Fully Capable’ Army
Taliban leaders are working on turning their insurgent forces into a modern, standing army equipped with U.S.-made military gear that was seized during their takeover of Afghanistan in August. About 150 Taliban fighters recently graduated from commando training in Khost Province. With the exception of advanced aircraft, the Taliban has shown it can operate and maintain a lot of its new military hardware. A new Taliban army could eventually pose a challenge to Afghanistan’s neighbors. By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal and Stuart Greer
A Failed Sugar Factory’s Bitter Legacy In A Ukrainian Ghost Town
Built in the 1980s, the Ukrainian town of Tsukrovarov used to be home for workers who operated a local Soviet-era sugar factory. By the time the plant went bankrupt in 2007, most of the population had left and the factory was stripped for scrap metal. But dozens of people still live in abandoned apartment blocks, surviving without basic services. By Current Time and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service
