‘Sanctions hole’: how secretive routes supply Russia with western tech and consumer goods
German exports of cars to Kyrgyzstan are up 5,100% since the start of the Ukraine war – with other routes channelling luxury goods and computer chips
January 2024
People smugglers recruiting skippers from central Asia on Turkey to Italy route
Powerful earthquake hits China-Kyrgyzstan border
October 2023
‘Why must we be silent?’: horrific attack in Kyrgyzstan puts focus on violence against women
Beshkempir, or The Adopted Son review – part childhood memoir, part mysterious folk tale
July 2023
In Kyrgyzstan, parents wish for sons. Too many girls, and they start to worry
Gulbarchyn Toialieva
My father was so upset at having a girl he refused to visit me in hospital. He later changed his mind, but such attitudes keep women uneducated and limited to housework and care duties
May 2023
Kyrgyz mercenary who fought for Russia in Ukraine jailed
Court established 32-year-old man had joined forces of Moscow-led separatists in Donbas
March 2023
Nowruz: Kurdish new year 2023 celebrations – in pictures
‘Russia has lost its soft power’: how war in Ukraine destabilises old Soviet allies
February 2023
Women Behind the Wheel review – well-meaning road trip across Central Asia gets stuck
Two young British directors drive the Pamir Highway in a superficial travelogue that reveals little about themselves or the women they meet along the way
September 2022
Fighting flares on disputed Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border, killing 24 people
Former Soviet states eye opportunities as Russia struggles in Ukraine
July 2022
British tourists survive avalanche in Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan
British tourist captures avalanche sweeping over group in Kyrgyzstan – video
May 2022
A common condition
Save your breath: traditional Kyrgyz dance helps ease chronic lung disease
Exercise to help COPD hospital patients is being rolled out across Kyrgyzstan and to neighbouring countries
February 2022
‘We want the truth’: families of ethnic Pamiris killed in Tajikistan call for justice as tensions rise
Urgent protection for minority groups facing increased repression needed in crisis connected to escalating clashes across central Asian ex-Soviet region, say human rights groups
August 2021
Kidnapped, raped, wed against their will: Kyrgyz women’s fight against a brutal tradition
At least 12,000 women are still abducted and forced into marriage every year in Kyrgyzstan. But pressure is growing to finally end the medieval custom
Rights and freedom
‘I’m scared of being killed’: sex worker activists speak out
Rights defenders describe threats and abuse while working to protect their communities
Rights and freedom
Sex workers fighting for human rights among world’s most ‘at risk activists’
Exclusive: Front Line Defenders report says rights defenders working in sex industry face ‘targeted attacks’ around the world
April 2021
Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan ceasefire holding after day of intense fighting
Heaviest clashes in years between the two countries over disputed border leave 40 dead and 175 injured
