Ray Furlong is a multimedia editor for RFE/RL.
Central Asia's largest bazaar has been closed for a month now, causing hunger and poverty for some 50,000 people in Bishkek who worked there before COVID-19 struck. Some of these people live on-site in shipping containers, while others live at an informal shantytown on a garbage dump near the giant marketplace in the Kyrgyz capital.
A 97-year-old Russian World War II veteran has been inspired by the fund-raising efforts of the UK's Captain Tom Moore during the coronavirus pandemic She is posting war stories online every day to raise money for the families of Russian medics who have died fighting COVID-19.
Russian students say they're being threatened with expulsion from medical school if they refuse to work in hospitals as the country's health system struggles to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The move to recruit students comes as questions are being asked about how many medical workers have died and amid allegations that there is a lack of personal protective equipment.
Many migrant workers in Moscow have lost their jobs and are not getting enough to eat amid the COVID-19 lockdown, according to volunteers who are distributing food parcels.
A shocking video spread online has highlighted the problem of domestic violence amid lockdowns in Central Asia. In Kyrgyzstan, an activist says women have an "ingrained distrust" in the authorities, while a Kazakh crisis center is renting apartments for victims it can't house.
In Karelia and Nizhny Novgorod, parents are complaining about food packages given to their children in lockdown to replace school lunches. They say they are getting expired food and rotten potatoes.
Small businesses in Russia say promised measures to cushion the blow of the coronavirus lockdown have not been delivered. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted on April 14 that the Russian economy would shrink by more than 5 percent this year, which many economists say could put millions out of work.
Ambulances have been forced to line up and wait for hours outside Moscow hospitals overwhelmed by the influx of suspected coronavirus patients. As Russia recorded its highest daily increase of patients, President Vladimir Putin conceded that the situation was getting worse every day.
Across former Soviet countries, lockdowns due to the coronavirus are hitting the poor hardest. The many workers in the gray areas of the economies have been left destitute and even homeless, while some charities that might provide help are closing down.
Professional soccer, schools, and restaurants are all continuing in Belarus, which has refused to impose the lockdowns or other restrictive measures seen elsewhere. Instead, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has played down the threat of the coronavirus, dismissing it as a "psychosis."
After the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv closed its subway system due to the coronavirus, a service matching drivers with people who need a lift began to flourish -- apparently contradicting social distancing measures. Elsewhere in the city, other innovative means of dealing with the new situation of living in lockdown were also emerging.
There were overcrowded buses and furious commuters in the Ukrainian capital after a decision to close down the city's subway network.
This is what the World Health Organization (WHO) has to say regarding popular myths about the coronavirus.
A vote in Russia's parliament removes constitutional obstacles to Vladimir Putin remaining in power as long as he wishes, according to political scientists and opposition figures.
Trade, study, and tourism have ground to a halt between the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk and the Chinese city of Heihe since Russia closed the border amid coronavirus fears.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has a new chief of staff. Andriy Yermak was previously his foreign affairs adviser, negotiating a key prisoner exchange with Moscow and meeting with senior U.S. officials -- as well as President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Guiliani.
It's a kind of no-man's-land: three Ukrainian villages lie beyond their country's last border post on the road to Belarus, complicating life for the inhabitants who must pass through border checks to enter their own country.
Current Time gained exclusive access to a closed village near a Russian military facility where five people died after an explosion and radiation leak. Residents of Nyonoksa have spent their lives in the shadow of a weapons test site, and while some are unworried, others say there's been a lack of information about possible health risks.
Nazi occupation and Soviet repression decimated the Izhorian people, a tiny ethnic minority from northwest Russia. Now just hundreds remain, but efforts are being made to revive their language and culture.
Oscar-nominee Daria Kashcheeva is still at film school but has her sights set on winning an Academy Award for a short animated film, which she says is all about family values and forgiveness.
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