Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
Putin bans ‘peacetime’ death reports
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday banned revealing information about troop deaths in “special operations” during peacetime, as the Kremlin continues to rebuff accusations its soldiers are fighting in Ukraine. The strongman signed an amendment adding to what Russia classifies as “state secrets” any “information revealing losses...
Russian divers report ancient ship find near Crimea
MOSCOW: A group of Russian divers said on Wednesday they had found Byzantine-era ship wreckage in the Black Sea off Crimea that included a trove of 10th century pottery. The wreck was discovered off the coast of Sevastopol in Crimea, the peninsula with a rich history that Russia annexed last year from Ukraine, and could have come from a collision...
Six killed in east Ukraine fighting
KIEV: Four pro-Russian rebels, a Ukrainian soldier and one civilian were killed in clashes that broke out over the past 24 hours in violation of a February truce deal, officials said on Tuesday. The civilian died during an artillery fire attack on the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant, which sits on the outskirts of the rebels’ de facto...
Ukraine’s pro-Russian rebels deny internal strife
KIEV: Ukraine’s pro-Russian rebels rushed on Sunday to dispel speculation that a bloody internal battle for control of Moscow’s money was behind the gangland-style slaying of a top warlord. Prizrak (Ghost) brigade commander Alexei Mozgovoi and at least six others — including his press secretary and armed guards — were shot dead on...
Woman, 65 and mother of 13, has quadruplets
BERLIN: A 65-year-old German woman, who already has 13 children, has given birth to quadruplets after undergoing an artificial insemination procedure in Ukraine, RTL television reported early on Saturday. Annegret Raunigk had three boys, named Dries, Bence and Fjonn, and one girl, Neeta, who were born premature at 26 weeks in a Berlin hospital...
Amnesty flays Ukraine war crimes
WASHINGTON: Amnesty International on Friday accused Ukrainian forces of torture and pro-Russian rebels of even more serious war crimes such as summary executions committed both before and after a February truce deal. The damning report adds to a growing string of independent findings suggesting that Europe is witnessing the most brutal conflict...
Kiev rips up key deals with Moscow
KIEV: Kiev lawmakers on Thursday annulled five crucial security agreements with Moscow that allowed Russia to transport troops to a separatist region of Moldova and purchase weapons only produced in Ukraine. The five co-operation agreements scrapped by the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament, include one giving the Russian military transit rights to...
Poroshenko says Ukraine waging ‘real war’ with Russia
KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sparked fresh Kremlin fury on Wednesday by warning that his crisis-torn country was fighting a “real war” against Russian aggressors that could escalate at any time. The pro-Western leader said the weekend capture of two purported Russian special forces members proved that the separatist uprising in the...
Captured Russian soldiers sent to Kiev
KIEV: Two wounded Russian soldiers captured while fighting in war-torn eastern Ukraine have been transferred to a hospital in Kiev, Ukrainian officials said on Monday as Moscow once again firmly denied any involvement in the fighting. The Russians were wounded and taken prisoner on Saturday near the front line town of Shchastia in the separatist...
Russia unveils bust of Putin as Roman emperor
MOSCOW: A group of supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday presented a bust of the strongman depicting him in the heroic guise of a Roman emperor. “We wanted to immortalise Vladimir Putin as a conqueror and statesman who returned Crimea to Russia,” said Andrei Polyakov, the head of a group of Cossacks outside the northwestern...
