Photo: Visar Kryeziu (AP)
In Kyiv, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to help him go after Turkish dissidents living in Ukraine. Zelenskiy’s remarks suggested that he would oblige, deepening fears among a community that is wary of the warmth between two governments that see eye to eye on Crimea. By Christopher Miller
Gold prospectors in a village on the Naryn River in central Kyrgyzstan must wade through icy water in the middle of winter in the hope of finding a few shiny flakes of gold to help feed and clothe their families. By Current Time, Asia 360, Adilet Bektursunov, and Neil Bowdler
Rare archival photographs capture the time U.S. troops and Bolshevik fighters battled each other in the Russian wilderness. By Amos Chapple
A deal in December to halt the fighting in eastern Ukraine has been followed by the deaths of 11 Ukrainian troops in January. The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany met for the first time in three years, agreeing to the “full and comprehensive implementation” of existing cease-fire agreements, but this has not yet happened on the ground. By Ray Furlong and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service
A grandfather’s cherished wristwatch tarnished by the elements; a missing husband’s worn-out pair of pants or sweater found when he was unearthed; the weathered ID of a teenage son. By Midhat Poturovic
A Chechen blogger was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a hotel in northern France. French police in Lille suspect a “political motive” in the killing of Imran Aliyev, the latest in a growing list of critics of Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to have been killed or died abroad under suspicious circumstances. Here are some of the most prominent cases. By Tony Wesolowsky
After Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by missiles over Tehran, killing all on board, many wondered why Iran’s airspace was even open. With the threat of U.S. strikes, and fevered talk of war, the country was on high alert. But when it comes to flying over conflict zones, it turns out everyone’s in charge and no one’s in charge. By Kaisa Alliksaar and Kristyna Foltynova
Kosovo’s new prime minister spent years challenging powerful elite in Belgrade, Pristina, and the international community. Now it’s his time to lead. By Andy Heil, Amra Zejneli, and RFE/RL’s Balkan Service
Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union inaugurated the town of Pripyat, built to house workers of the Chernobyl power plant. One nuclear engineer, Oleksiy Breus, told RFE/RL about his memories of Pripyat — and of the historic disaster that he witnessed. By RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service