The Week's Best: 10 RFE/RL Stories You Need To Read (Or Watch)

Hey, you’re busy! We know rferl.org isn’t the only website you read. And that it’s just possible you may have missed some of our most compelling journalism this week. To make sure you’re up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL’s team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.

The cause of the 2014 explosions at two Czech arms depots has been a mystery for years. Czech authorities now say a secretive Russian military intelligence unit was to blame — the same unit linked to a spate of poisonings, assassination attempts, and subversive actions across Europe. By Mike Eckel, Ivan Bedrov, and Olha Komarova

Czech officials blame a secretive Russian military intelligence unit for a 2014 explosion at an ammunition depot. Members of that same unit were traveling in Bulgaria around the same time that six explosions hit Bulgarian weapons factories in 2014 and 2015. By Boris Mitov and Ivan Bedrov

Current Time has visited the intensive-care unit of a COVID-19 hospital in Kyiv, where a recent surge in infections means every single bed is full. Many patients arrive in critical condition and require mechanical ventilation of their lungs. Medical staff say they’re battling difficult conditions and fatigue, while surviving patients speak of the trauma they have experienced. By Current Time and Neil Bowdler

Satellite imagery has some fearing that an ancient monument faces “erasure” after its recapture by Azerbaijan. By Amos Chapple

“Commander Lleshi” fought Serbs in the Croatian, Bosnian, and Kosovar wars before a sniper’s bullet felled him a week before he was to return to his stronghold in southern Serbia. By Branko Vuckevic

A Kazakh woman is fighting to bring justice to five men she says tried to kidnap her and force her to into marriage. The victims of bride kidnapping — a local custom in parts of Central Asia — often don’t report incidents to police and stay in such marriages to avoid social disgrace. By RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service

Analysts say the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan could allow Iran to expand its influence in the region, though any uptick in violence after the pullout could create additional burdens for Tehran. By Golnaz Esfandiari

Farit Zakiyev, the head of an organization that promotes Tatar language and culture, was sentenced to community service for taking part in Tatarstan’s annual Commemoration Day. The crackdown on Zakiyev’s group appears to be part of a larger pressure campaign against ethnic minority activists in Russia. By RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service and Margot Buff

A newly opened museum by Azerbaijan inspired by last year’s war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh has been criticized for belittling Armenians and disrespecting those who died in the fighting. By Neil Hauer

This Russian painter has dedicated her life to chronicling the changing face of her country’s capital. By Amos Chapple