Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
Remains of WWII German soldiers found in Kiev
MOSCOW: A Ukrainian newspaper says Ukrainian and German servicemen have found remains of about 200 German soldiers buried in Kiev during the German occupation in World War II. The Segodnya newspaper reported that Ukrainians and Germans have been engaged in the search for three weeks near a cemetery on the banks of the Dniepr in Kiev where 1,500...
Berlin won’t rule out Putin joining Ukraine talks
BERLIN: Germany said on Wednesday it could not rule out Russian President Vladimir Putin would take part in a future round of talks over conflict-torn eastern Ukraine after speculation that Western leaders were snubbing him. Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting talks with France’s President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian leader Petro...
OSCE observers harassed in Ukraine
KIEV: Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers in eastern Ukraine have faced “unprecedented” harassment during the recent spike in violence, mostly from Russian-backed rebels, the chief OSCE monitor said on Wednesday. The mission’s “security has been challenged at an unprecedented level. Our patrols have come...
Prosecutors seek 23 years jail for Ukraine filmmaker
MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors on Wednesday demanded that Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov be jailed for 23 years on terror charges, in a trial decried by the West. Sentsov and another Ukrainian from Crimea, Alexander Kolchenko, who have been held since May 2014, are accused of torching a pro-Kremlin party office and wanting to blow up a statue of...
Ukraine, Russia trade blame for spike in violence
KIEV: Ukraine’s pro-Western leadership and Russia traded blame on Tuesday for a sharp escalation in violence that threatened to see all-out warfare return to the former Soviet nation’s separatist east. Kiev and the insurgents on Monday reported the death of at least 10 soldiers and civilians — a dramatic escalation that sparked...
Fierce Ukraine clashes kill 10
KIEV: The European Union on Monday expressed fears over a spike in violence in east Ukraine that claimed 10 lives as Russia warned Kiev could be preparing a fresh offensive. The single day death toll is the highest in over a month as government troops and pro-Moscow rebels accuse each other of gearing up for a renewed onslaught that would finish...
Finland triples training sessions for reservists
HELSINKI: Finland’s military is tripling the number of reservists called up for refresher training courses, from 6,000 last year to 18,000 in 2015, a senior official said on Friday. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, which is accused by the West of involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine. But assistant chief of staff...
Soldier, civilian killed in fierce Ukrainian clashes
KIEV: Two people were killed in another round of intense shelling between Western-backed Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian fighters in the separatist east, officials from both sides said on Friday. Ukraine’s military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said one soldier was killed and six wounded in the past 24 hours of fighting across the...
Moscow slaps food embargo on more European countries
MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday broadened a food embargo imposed in retaliation for Western sanctions over Ukraine to include Iceland, a significant fish importer, as well as Montenegro, Albania and Liechtenstein. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine will be added to the embargo from January 1 next year when a landmark EU-Ukraine trade deal...
US chides Russia on ‘sharp increase’ in Ukraine attacks
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday to express “grave concern” about increased separatist attacks in Ukraine, a senior State Department official said. Washington has long accused Russia of fomenting unrest in a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine and has urged Moscow to help...
