Life

Aleksandr Kablov moved to the settlement in 2017. A shift worker at Kazakstan’s oil and gas fields of Tengiz and Karachganak, the 40-year-old lives there when he is on holiday. © Talgat Umarov

Kazakstan’s Eco-settlers: Turning Barren Land Into Forest

A group seeking an alternative way of life started planting trees; two decades on, they have created an oasis.

18 Aug 23

Adverts seeking surrogate mothers abound in Georgia, one of the few countries where commercial surrogacy is legal. The government is working on a law that would ban the fee-based practice and limit it only to prospective parents from Georgia.

Georgia Set to Ban Commercial Surrogacy

A draft law will strictly regulate the sector, prohibiting foreign couples from accessing services.

8 Aug 23

In recent months, Central Asian migrants have increasingly suffered at the hands of the Russian state. © Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Pressure on Central Asian Migrants in Russia Grows

Reports suggest that authorities are forcing workers to choose between deportation or fighting in Ukraine.

26 Jul 23

Well drilling in the outskirts of Bishkek. The water supply system in Kyrgyzstan's capital is considered obsolete and experts note that substantial renovation is needed to avoid water losses. © IWPR Central Asia

Bishkek Water Shortages Highlight Poor Management

Obsolete infrastructure and bad planning mean issues already aggravated by climate change have got more serious.

13 Jul 23

Father Konstantin, 30, is Kazakstan’s only priest of the Old Believers. Also called Old Ritualists, they are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reform introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow in the 17th century. © Talgat Umarov

Kazakstan’s Shrinking Community of Old Believers

A young priest keeps ancient rituals alive in his tiny parish.

11 Jul 23

In 2022, Karin Grigoryan and her husband opened Zove, a guest house in Karashamb, a village in Armenia's central region of Kotayk. Born and raised in the capital Yerevan, Grigoryan dreamed of moving to the countryside. The migration from large cities to rural areas has increased as people seek a slower pace of life and lower cost of living. © Gayane Markosyan

Armenia’s Rural Population Grows

Experts attribute migration to the impact of the 2020 Nagorny Karabakh war and rising rental prices in Yerevan.

30 Jun 23

Ani's 19-year-old son was killed in 2020 during the Second Karabakh War and the 48-year-old has been dreaming of having another boy. In 2022 Armenia registered a high sex imbalance; experts maintain that the war and the country's fragile security situation may have triggered an increase of sex selection at birth. © Armine Avetisyan

Post-War Trauma Prompts Armenia’s Sex Imbalance

Experts note that the conflict and still-volatile security may be behind the rise of a skewed ratio between boys and girls.

22 Jun 23

Ukrainian children who fled the conflict play in a shelter organised in an exhibition centre, on March 13, 2022 in Chisinau, Moldova. Among the neighbouring countries, Moldova is the one that has received the most refugees in proportion to its population. This is a major challenge for this nation among the poorest in Europe. © Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images

Moldova’s Ukrainian Refugees Find Stability, But Long for Home

Chișinău has granted Ukrainians temporary protection status, with automatic rights to housing, healthcare, education and work.

20 Jun 23

The press conference of the participants to the 2023 Eurovision song contest. The event is held in Liverpool, UK, on behalf of Ukraine, which won the 2022 edition but could not host the event due to the ongoing Russian invasion. © Maria Romanenko

The Blue-And-Yellow Eurovision

Song contest provides highly symbolic moment of national unity for Ukrainians both at home and abroad.

12 May 23

Designer Kateryna Uvarova transforms used cartridges into art objects. Based in Lviv, western Ukraine, Uvarova is originally from Makiivka, in Donetsk region; she fled to Kharkiv in 2014 and then again had to relocate when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. © Courtesy of Kateryna Uvarova

Turning Shell Casings into Patriotic Souvenirs

Entrepreneurs and volunteers launch schemes to help support war efforts.

2 May 23

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