Ukraine >>

The chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, issued the condemnation in a statement. ...

German chancellor Angela Merkel makes a joint statement on Saturday with French president Francois Hollande on the upcoming referendum in eastern Ukraine. Merkel says the referendum is illegitimate and the real focus is on the general election on 25 May. Despite calls from Russia to postpone the referendum, preperations are being made for the vote Continue reading... ...

Dmitry Rogozin reacts to being barred by saying that he will return in a military aircraft next time Romania has asked Moscow for an explanation after Russia's deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, reacting to being barred from its airspace, tweeted he would return in a TU-160 strategic bomber. Rogozin, one of the senior Russian officials sanctioned by the European Union and United States after Moscow...

Donetsk on the brink of civil war as army, police and pro-Russia forces exchange fire in port city of Mariupol A hastily organised referendum on creating the quasi-independent statelet of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine will go ahead on Sunday, as violence and chaos rage in the region in what increasingly resembles the beginning of a civil war. At least seven people died in the southern port city of Mariupol...

France and Germany warn Vladimir Putin Sunday's separatist referendum in east is illegal and call for 'national dialogue' Germany and France have threatened Russia with further sanctions if the 25 May election in Ukraine does not go ahead as planned. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, urged the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to do more to calm the situation, warning that a separatist referendum...

As more and more well-to-do Russians shift cash into London real estate, Stephen Moss heads to Moscow to investigate What is it about London that wealthy Russians can't get enough of? Thanks in no small part to the crisis in Ukraine , their takeover of the London property market is growing apace. According to the Financial Times (£) , well-to-do Russians and Ukrainians too "are trying to...

Singer Mariya Yaremchuk may miss out on traditional high scores from sympathetic regional allies on Saturday When Mariya Yaremchuk was selected last year to represent Ukraine in tonight's Eurovision song contest, she might have fancied her chances. After all, the bloc voting that has for years subverted the event has habitually played in Ukraine's favour. Getting good scores is easier if you have a...

President attends second world war commemorations held for first time since Russia took over region from Ukraine Vladimir Putin has arrived in Crimea as the region holds its first Victory Day commemorations since Russia's takeover. Continue reading... ...

The joy of the mystifying song competition is that everyone's in on the joke, and nobody is on the outside sneering in Poll: Does the Eurovision song contest make you feel patriotic? There is a point in the lives of most European schoolchildren when they come to understand the continent's geo-political history in terms of the Eurovision Song Contest. What better way to comprehend the situation in...

Interior minister says 20 'terrorists' were also killed, but medical authorities report three deaths and 25 injuries At least three people were killed as Ukrainian government forces attacked the occupied police headquarters in the south-eastern port city of Mariupol, according to medical authorities. Government troops were attempting to drive out pro-Russia militants who had seized the building, the...

As Vladimir Putin visits for the first time since annexation, Crimea is still going through a tricky process of assimilation Russia's annexation of Crimea has resulted in startling disruption to everyday life, with banks running out of money, prices soaring, and even problems with water supplies. As the president, Vladimir Putin, flew into the peninsula for the first time since Russia wrested control...

Sanctions only boost the Russian leader's popularity at home. There is little the west can do apart from talk Although it was ignored, Putin's call for pro-Russia rebels to delay their referendum in east Ukraine is a promising development. It is a sign that the Kremlin may be willing to halt the slide into civil war and bring the warring parties back to the "national dialogue" on Ukraine's...

Russian president greeted with patriotic fervour at second world war commemoration, while at least five are killed in southern city Vladimir Putin made a triumphant first visit to Crimea on Friday, as the region held its first Victory Day commemorations since it was annexed by Russia two months ago. But the gravity of the crisis gripping the rest of Ukraine was underscored by more deadly clashes in...

Yatseniuk announced this to reporters after a service at the Volodymyr Cathedral in Kyiv. ...

Main page Agency News Products Services Subscription Press center Photoservice   РУС УКР AGENCY NEWS PARTNERS NEWS   News   Avakov: 20 Rebels Killed, 4 Captured During Anti-Terrorist Operation In Mariupol, Donetsk Region (17:27, Friday, May 9, 2014) Ukrainian News Agency Minister of Interior Affairs Arsen Avakov has said that about 20 "terrorists" were killed and four captured during the storming...

The press service of the ministry announced this in a statement. ...

Putin's U-turn over the separatist referendum in eastern Ukraine is a clever move not least because he may well lose it Vladimir Putin acts, and the west (sometimes) reacts. That has been the pattern of the Ukraine crisis since it erupted into an open contest between Russia and the west last November. At every stage, whether through poor intelligence, policy shambles or divisions in Europe and with...

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine say a referendum for autonomy of the east of the country will go ahead, despite calls from President Vladimir Putin to postpone. The committee from the self-proclaimed Donestsk People's Republic claims a vote on whether to hold the referendum came back with a 100% positive result Continue reading... ...

In the town of Konstaninovka, an uneasy atmosphere of threats and violence is building ahead of a vote on independence Sergei Chertkov leafs through a stack of documents with a heavy sigh. In the regional administration building in Konstantinovka paper has replaced emails in recent days; the computers have been stored in a safe place so that they cannot be looted if the building is seized by armed...

The Russian president's council for human rights proposes that the UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe should do everything possible to promote international negotiations with the aim of ending the violence in Ukraine . Chancellor Merkel and President Putin have apparently also discussed a similar initiative by phone. It is in everyone's interest in the rest of Europe as...