Page 48 - Features Blogs News Today

A new Current Time film looks at how many Russian families have been ripped apart by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I spoke with each person separately because getting them to speak together didn’t work," filmmaker Andrei Loshak says of the heartrending interviews that form the core of the film. 

Andrei Pozdeyev, a 19-year-old Russian conscript captured in Ukraine, has finally returned home. His family fears for the psychological impact the experience will have on him.

Russia and China's trade relationship beyond oil, Beijing's security demands in South Asia, and Chinese investment.

One of Russia's largest gold companies planned to build a $730 million processing plant in a depressed port in the Far East that could have heralded a mini-investment boom as other projects followed. Sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine have shelved those plans for now.

Iran is moving to tighten restrictions on abortion following the 2021 adoption of a law aimed at boosting the country’s population. Women’s rights activists and doctors say the measures have bad health implications for women.

Despite a tense public mood and a shrinking space for activism, 19-year-old Ilya Kostyukov has started the Belgorod Anti-War Committee, which aims to pressure lawmakers and raise awareness about the costs of war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Ukrainian refugees arriving in Russia that they would be entitled to a 10,000-ruble payment. Many say they have been waiting months for the cash to arrive. 

In Bashkortostan, many parents of conscripts have launched appeals to the local military prosecutor's office over complaints that their sons were illegally detained at the conscription office and growing fears they could be pressured to sign contracts to fight in Ukraine.

Dara Massicot, a researcher at the RAND think tank and a former senior analyst at the Pentagon, explains how the battle for the Donbas will change strategy for the war moving forward and why Russia's fighting force is showing worrying signs.

A political movement born of a violent crackdown on protesters three years ago and its diffuse leadership have shown all along that they're not afraid to swing and miss.