Pictures of Pripyat, the abandoned town near Chernobyl, are world famous -- but Ukraine has another nuclear ghost town. Orbita was built for workers at the Chigirinsky nuclear plant. The workers moved in, but the plant was never finished, and Orbita is now a crumbling ruin with just 100 inhabitants.
From “correcting” Russia’s constitution and expanding parliament’s powers to increasing child-welfare payments and modernizing primary health care, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual speech to parliament on January 15 came with a lot of proposals for change. To get a sense of how his statements are playing with ordinary Russians, Current Time spoke with voters in the cities of Kazan and St. Petersburg.
Stanislav Aseyev and Oleh Halazyuk, two contributors to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, were among the civilians released by Russia-backed separatists in a prisoner swap on December 29, 2019. Both had been held for more than two years. Shortly after their release, the two journalists told RFE/RL about the conditions of their imprisonment and the charges leveled against them.
Russia's pro-Kremlin TV channels mocked Western politicians for saying Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner until Iran admitted that it had done so. The prevailing editorial line then became one of blaming the tragedy on the United States for escalating tensions by assassinating Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.
A court in the Russian republic of Tatarstan has arrested a local civil rights activist on suspicion of promoting terrorism after he mocked President Vladimir Putin and two of his close associates in a YouTube video.
Navigating a Russian city in a wheelchair is incredibly difficult -- and the challenge is even greater in the middle of winter. One disability activist in the Siberian city of Tomsk says government projects intended to improve accessibility have largely failed to deliver on their promises.
Temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius mean only the horse farmers and their families stay to endure the winter in the village of Tumul in the Far Eastern Russian region of Yakutia. But ancient traditions and crafts still survive there, despite a dwindling local population.
Surgeon Andrei Pavlenko treated cancer patients in St. Petersburg, but his work took on a new dimension when he became a patient himself. In a widely viewed video diary, Pavlenko shared his experiences of going through treatment and encouraged others not to lose hope.
Three police officers in Russia's Tatarstan region have been dismissed for reenacting a clash between protesters and security forces with the direct participation of 12 ninth graders on school grounds in the town of Novotroyitsk.
In 2008, Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out his development strategy for the distant future: the year 2020. With that year upon us, we look at how closely Russia has adhered to Putin's vision for a wealthier, freer country.
Current Time asked people across Russia, from St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg to Vladivostok, about their hopes for 2020.
Yulia Tsvetkova, an artist and activist in Russia's Far East, runs social-media pages focusing on women's art and LGBT issues. Her posts prompted officials to charge her with “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors” and distributing pornography, an offense for which she could face years in prison.
Valeria ran away from home, and now she's joined the circus. She's one of dozens of kids from tough backgrounds given a new start in life by a unique social project.
Armed Russian policemen moved along a street near the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Moscow, in mobile phone footage posted on December 19. In other footage, the sound of shots ringing out could be heard. A reporter for Current Time TV filmed police sealing off the area.
Peaceful revolutions toppled communist regimes across Eastern Europe in 1989, but Romania's uprising was drenched in blood.
Load more
