Russia

American pilot Francis Gary Powers (far right) during his 1960 trial in Moscow. Powers was shot down while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union. He was jailed for nearly two years before he was freed in a swap for a Soviet spy imprisoned in the U.

National

The Cold War to Brittney Griner: a new twist in U.S.-Russia prisoner swaps

5:07am August 11, 2022

by Greg Myre

The U.S. and Russia are trying to work out a prisoner exchange that involves basketball star Brittney Griner. While they've done deals for decades, the trading usually involves spies for spies.

A Russian serviceman patrols Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station on May 1. A series of exchanges in recent weeks has made conditions at the plant more dangerous.

Here's just how close the war in Ukraine has come to Europe's largest nuclear plant

3:00pm August 10, 2022

Satellite images and social media analyzed by NPR show attacks have hit structures around the plant, coming dangerously close to causing a nuclear accident.

The cargo ship Razoni crosses the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 3. The first cargo ship to leave Ukraine since the Russian invasion was anchored at an inspection area in the Black Sea off the coast of Istanbul Wednesday morning before movin

Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 8)

12:11pm August 08, 2022

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Oleg Repnoy stands in front of his Evacuation 200 vehicle. "My job is to accompany these heroes on their last trip home," he says.

World News

These Ukrainian volunteers recover soldiers' remains to return them to their families

9:19am August 07, 2022

by Eleanor Beardsley

Evacuation 200 is a special volunteer unit that scours the country for the bodies of soldiers left on battlefields. "My job is to accompany these heroes on their last trip home," one volunteer says.

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Ukrainian soldiers led NPR's team into the forest in the "gray zone" where they dug one of the defensive trenches used to stall Russia's advance.

World News

In the 'gray zone' outside Kherson, Ukraine's soldiers pay a terrible price

7:01am August 06, 2022

by Brian Mann

Ukrainian officials have vowed to retake the strategic city of Kherson. But the battlefield "gray zone," spanning more than 100 miles, is confusing — and danger can come in many forms.

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Brittney Griner holds a picture of her Russian basketball team as she stands inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Khimki, outside Moscow, on Thursday.

A Russian court sentences WNBA star Brittney Griner to 9 years on drug charges

4:32pm August 04, 2022

by The Associated Press

The ruling came nearly six months after Griner was detained. Russia has indicated that any potential deal or prisoner swap to secure her release would have to wait until after a verdict in her case.

Inside the workshop and showroom of Giovanna Alessandro, in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

World News

Ukraine's wedding dress industry is alive and well, despite the war

1:45pm August 03, 2022

by Eleanor Beardsley

The town of Chernivtsi, once the wedding dress capital of the Soviet Union, is still churning out dresses — for the West. "We are staying in Ukraine," says a dressmaker. "We will build our economy."

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As Ukraine mounts its first major offensive against Russia, 29-year-old Col. Serhiy Shatalov leads a battalion of 600 men in some of the heaviest fighting. "This is war," he says. "You cannot predict nothing, absolutely nothing."

World News

A young officer hopes to turn the tide of war, as Ukraine fights to retake a key city

10:06am August 03, 2022

by Brian Mann

A 29-year-old battalion commander is leading 600 men, fighting in Ukraine's counteroffensive near Kherson. "This is war," Col. Serhiy Shatalov says. "You cannot predict nothing, absolutely nothing."

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A grain combine harvester collects wheat near Novoazovsk outside Mariupol, Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 1)

12:05pm August 01, 2022

by NPR Staff

A roundup of key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A member of a Ukrainian military surveillance team gets ready to launch a drone from a wheat field in southern Ukraine.

World News

In the Russia-Ukraine war, drones are one of the most powerful weapons

11:21am July 30, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

Even relatively inexpensive drones can provide valuable intelligence to units on the battlefield. "This is our task," a Ukrainian drone surveillance unit member says. "We sit the whole day and watch."