Section: Cyprus Mail (Cyprus)
Fresh fighting erupts in east Ukraine, three Ukrainian soldiers killed
By Richard Balmforth Three Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and 12 wounded in the latest clashes between government forces and Russian-backed separatists, further eroding a three-month-old ceasefire, Kiev’s military said on Friday. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said government forces had come under attack from separatists using...
Ukraine reports fresh casualties in east, OSCE sees violence spreading
By Alessandra Prentice One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and eight wounded in fresh separatist attacks, the military said in Kiev on Thursday, as the OSCE security watchdog warned of a “worrisome” spread of violence in eastern Ukraine. Fighting has lessened significantly since a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels...
Ukraine crisis makes EU eastern partnership more important – Merkel
The crisis in Ukraine makes the European Union’s partnership with the bloc’s eastern neighbours more important than ever, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, insisting that the initiative is not directed against Russia. Speaking in parliament before joining a summit in Riga with six of the EU’s ex-Soviet...
Russian soldier said captured in Ukraine admits on video to spying mission
One of two Russian servicemen Ukraine says it captured while fighting with separatists in eastern Ukraine admitted on a video circulating on Monday that he had been part of a Russian special forces spying mission. Moscow, which has acknowledged in the past that Russian national “volunteers” might be fighting for the separatists, repeated its...
Baltic military chiefs to call for permanent NATO presence
By Andrius Sytas Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are preparing an appeal to NATO command for a permanent presence of NATO troops on their territory to counter increased Russian air and naval activity, the Lithuanian army said on Thursday. The states, all with ethnic Russian minorities, fear they could become a target of Kremlin...
Scores of Russian soldiers killed in east Ukraine
By Maria Tsvetkova Moscow spent more than 53 billion roubles ($1.04 billion) supplying a separatist rebellion in east Ukraine and at least 220 Russian soldiers have been killed there, a report by Russian opposition activists said on Tuesday. The report was the last project of murdered Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, who used open source information...
Kerry to explore Putin’s flexibility on Ukraine, Syria
By Arshad Mohammed and Denis Dyomkin US Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to explore Russia’s willingness to curb its involvement in Ukraine and its support for Syria’s president at talks on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin. Kerry flew to the Black Sea resort of Sochi for the highest-level US visit to Russia in two years, to...
Lavrov, Kerry to discuss Ukraine on Tuesday in Sochi, Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss the Ukraine crisis and other global conflicts on Tuesday in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, RIA news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying. Lavrov will tell Kerry US military support for the Kiev government, which is battling pro-Russian...
Russia stages huge military parade, Western leaders boycott
By Vladimir Soldatkin, Jack Stubbs and Timothy Heritage Thousands of Russian troops marched across Red Square, tanks rumbled through the streets and jets screamed overhead on Saturday in a huge military parade marking the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Western leaders boycotted the parade over Russia’s role in the Ukraine...
NATO starts anti submarine exercise in North Sea as tension with Russia rise
By Balazs Koranyi NATO launched one of its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea on Monday, inviting non-member Sweden for the first time, amid increasing tensions between Russia and its northern neighbours. More than a dozen vessels from 11 countries are participating in the Dynamic Mongoose exercise. NATO will simulate...
