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While waging a devastating and unprovoked war in Ukraine, Russia prepares to mark the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat 77 years ago. And the Kremlin's effort to weave its narratives of the two conflicts together rings badly wrong in Kyiv and the West.

In Vladimir Putin's Russia, May 9 has become the most ideologically charged date on the calendar, and this year there's speculation that he might use the Victory Day ceremonies to make major policy announcements about the war in Ukraine.

The streets of Yerevan have witnessed weeks of demonstrations calling on the prime minister to resign, as pressure grows from Baku to reach a peace deal on the decades-long dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

A photograph obtained by RFE/RL has added to questions about a Russian Defense Ministry video purporting to show surviving sailors from the Moskva missile cruiser, which sank on April 13. It shows a sailor who seems to be in the video -- but is still missing.

The Iranian government's decision to cut subsidies for imported wheat has led to high prices for food producers. And as the cost has been passed to consumers who are struggling to buy flour, bread, and other staples, lawmakers and regime loyalists are warning of social unrest.

A cheap Soviet weapon has been adapted to drone warfare to destroy valuable Russian armor.

A Ukrainian war refugee and mother of two in Romania helps keep an all-volunteer workshop running at home in Cherkasy to produce bulletproof vests and other items for Ukraine's defenders.

Facing mounting sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has responded by closing the gas taps to Bulgaria and Poland and threatening to do likewise to other EU states. Bulgaria now says it will look to Azerbaijan for its gas. Can Baku help the EU in its energy showdown with the Kremlin?

Russia's economy may seem to be weathering Western sanctions, but it is anything but out of the woods, a prominent economist tells RFE/RL. In some places, "everyone there knows that in a couple of months they will be out of work."

Muslims have no right to convert to Christianity under Iranian law, and those who do risk arrest and long prison sentences. For members of the religious minority, many of whom have been forced to flee abroad in order to practice their faith, it is a matter of finding a #Place2Worship.