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Ilan Shor is a shady businessman, convicted of fraud in connection with the biggest bank heist ever in Moldova. Now, Russia's Federal Security Service is allegedly bankrolling the Israeli-based oligarch to destabilize the former Soviet republic.

Iran accuses two journalists who covered Mahsa Amini's death In custody of being CIA spies, Iranian authorities secretly bury RFE/RL journalist denying his family a last farewell, and Iran arrests rapper who supported antiestablishment protests.

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s notoriety has long been peppered with indictments, murky business transactions, mercenary brutality, and the weaponization of Internet trolling. Eight months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the man dubbed “Putin’s chef” is stepping further out of the shadows. 

Across Russia, marriages have shot up since President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization amid steep losses in the war on Ukraine. Many couples who were living together are making things legal after the man received his call-up notice -- in part to lock in spousal death and disability benefits.

A shadowy private Russian mercenary force with close ties to the Kremlin is attempting to boost its ranks fighting in Ukraine by recruiting Afghan commandos who were trained by and fought alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Before the Russian invasion, one was a bodybuilder, another a civil engineer, and the third worked in real estate. Their journey from green recruits to seasoned drone operators shows how much Ukraine has achieved – and just how far Ukraine has to go in matters ranging from weapons to intelligence. 

News agency rekindles rumors that Khamenei’s son being groomed as his successor; another foreign national detained in Iran; and Iranian women allowed to attend a national soccer match for the first time in decades.

I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on two major issues: What obstacles could slow down Finland's and Sweden's NATO accession? And is Brussels edging closer to punishing third-party countries that help Russia?

Togzhan Kassenova's book, Atomic Steppe, was 15 years in the making and published at a time when the risks of a nuclear confrontation are at their highest in some 60 years.

Some residents of Shevchenkove tell Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, how they withstood torture and threats to resist collaboration with the Russian forces occupying their village in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. Others describe what compelled them to cooperate.