MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine’s intelligence agency said Saturday it has detained a man wanted for the high-profile murder of an American journalist in Russia 13 years ago. Paul Klebnikov, the U.S.-born editor of Forbes magazine’s Russian edition, was gunned down outside his Moscow office in July 2004. Many people believed the killing was connected to … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine’s president has signed a controversial law on education, causing fury in Hungary which is threatening to block Ukraine’s efforts to integrate with the European Union. The law that President Petro Poroshenko signed late Monday restructures Ukraine’s education system and specifies that Ukrainian will be the main language used in schools, … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine’s president on Thursday, Feb. 16 pledged to resume coal supplies from separatist-controlled parts of the country after it was blocked by volunteer battalions, threatening to disrupt the country’s power supply. Fighting in Ukraine’s industrial east between government troops and Russia-backed rebels has killed more than 9,800 people since April 2014. Despite … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) â The United States and its NATO allies struggled Tuesday to come up with a clear message to send Russia at a time of conflicting concerns in Europe and the Middle East. While the West remains alarmed by Moscow’s aggressive action in Ukraine and go-it-alone military efforts in Syria, they say they need Russian help … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated further on Wednesday as Ukraine decided to stop buying Russian natural gas — hoping to rely on supplies from other countries — and closed its airspace to its eastern neighbor. Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its support for separatist rebels in … Continue reading
VELYKI PRYTSKY, Ukraine (AP) — Looking on from her vegetable patch at the motorcade of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Ukrainian villager Olha Voloshchenko says she’d seen the lady on the TV news the night before, but “then the lights went off at our place.” The U.S. hopes agriculture in places like this dilapidated … Continue reading
MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Four exit polls from Ukraine’s local elections released Monday indicated the governing coalition would retain its dominant position in the west and center of the country despite widespread disappointment with the government of President Petro Poroshenko. In the south and east, voters favored the Opposition Bloc, formed from the remnants of … Continue reading
Elections were being held in nine countries around the world on Sunday. Here’s a look at what’s at stake: — ARGENTINA: Argentines chose between continuity versus a financial overhaul when they voted for the successor to President Cristina Fernandez, a polarizing leader who dominated national politics for 12 years. Her chosen successor, Daniel Scioli, the … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine on Thursday gave Russia two weeks to accept to write off part of its loans to the country, as other international creditors have agreed to do, opening a new front in the show-down between the countries. Relations soured after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and threw its backing behind separatist rebels … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Face-to-face for the first time in nearly a year, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday will confront rising tensions over Moscow’s military engagement in Syria, as well as the stubborn crisis in Ukraine. Underscoring their deep differences, the U.S. and Russia couldn’t even agree on the purpose … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Tuesday began hearing the high-profile case against a Ukrainian officer who is charged in the deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. Nadezhda Savchenko denied the charges, telling the court “I am a soldier, not a murderer,” according to the Tass news agency. In Washington, the U.S. … Continue reading
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s parliament majority showed cracks Tuesday after a right-wing party said it was leaving the coalition over a measure to give more power to Ukraine’s regions, including the rebel-held east. The announcement from the Radical Party, which came in fifth in last year’s election, came as two more National Guard officers … Continue reading
STARE, Ukraine (AP) — More than 100 Ukrainian schoolchildren will have unusual tales to tell their mates when classes resume, after spending part of their summer vacations undergoing training by the National Guard. The training at a National Guard camp about 75 kilometers (45 miles) from Kiev taught children aged 11-15 rudimentary military skills and … Continue reading
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — As oil-rich Kazakhstan votes for a president Sunday, the governing elite is pounding home a mantra of stability as fears percolate about the country’s massive Russian minority taking inspiration from the Moscow-backed insurgency in Ukraine. With authorities clamping down on all opposition, Nursultan Nazarbayev’s re-election is a done deal. The former … Continue reading
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Fighting has picked up in eastern Ukraine after more than a month of relative calm, as diplomats gathered in Berlin on Monday to discuss the country’s crisis. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Sunday that its mission observed an intense clash with the use of … Continue reading
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — A rebel leader in eastern Ukraine on Monday accused the Kiev government of hampering a political solution for the conflict that has claimed more than 6,000 lives. Andrei Purgin said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Minsk deal, brokered by Western leaders in February, has been “blocked” … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia accused Ukraine Thursday of dragging its feet on implementing last month’s peace deal, citing a wide range of areas in which Kiev is allegedly failing to meet its obligations. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told The Associated Press that Ukraine was failing in its pledge to declare an amnesty for … Continue reading
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The International Monetary Fund agreed Wednesday to extend $17.5 billion in loans to Ukraine as part of a program designed to pull the country back from the verge of economic collapse. IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said in a statement that the new four-year extended arrangement will support economic stabilization and … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Cash-strapped Ukraine sought to buy time in its effort to ensure continued gas supplies from Russia, making a $15 million payment to Moscow on Friday as it waits for international rescue loans to arrive. But Moscow says the sum will cover only an additional day, leaving a potential cut-off looming Tuesday. That … Continue reading
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Warring parties in Ukraine took a major stride toward quelling unrest in the country’s east Thursday with the declared start of a supervised withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line. Ukrainian and separatist officials have noted a sharp decline in violence, although the chances of a long-lasting settlement remain … Continue reading
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The “Heavenly Hundred” is what Ukrainians in Kiev call those who died during months of anti-government protests in 2013-14. The grisliest day was a year ago Friday — Feb. 20, 2014 — when sniper fire tore through crowds on the capital’s main square, killing more than 50 people. Various … Continue reading
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Carrying a peace plan that reportedly incorporates proposals from Russia, the leaders of Germany and France met Thursday with Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko in a hastily arranged mission to bring an end to the accelerated fighting in the east of the country. The trip by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French … Continue reading
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — After days of intense fighting, Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine claimed Monday they had seized control of Donetsk airport once again. The Ukrainian military denied this but acknowledged that the fighting for the rubble-strewn trophy had been fierce. Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 66 wounded in the previous 24 … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 