Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
Row in Moldova over US military drills in Ukraine
CHISINAU: Moldova’s president accused the government on Friday of defying him by sending troops to join US-led military drills in Ukraine and vowed to punish those responsible, in the latest crisis to hit the ex-Soviet country. President Igor Dodon said 57 soldiers had left Thursday to join the Rapid Trident exercises spearheaded by US Army...
Russian TV journalist detained in Kiev
Kiev: A top Russian state television channel on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s security service of kidnapping its reporter in Kiev, while a security service source said she would be deported over a critical report. Channel One television said its reporter Anna Kurbatova was seized outside her home in the Ukrainian capital. “Anna Kurbatova has...
EU imposes new sanctions on Russia
BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on three Russian nationals and three firms on Friday after gas turbines sold by German industrial giant Siemens were diverted to Ukraine’s Russian-annexed Crimea region. The individuals — two Russian government officials and a senior figure with one of the companies involved — will be...
Georgia, US hold drill ahead of Pence visit
TBILISI: The Georgian army began two weeks of military exercises with the United States and other partner countries on Sunday, a day before US Vice President Mike Pence visits the ex-Soviet nation. About 2,800 soldiers from the United States, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine, Slovenia, Armenia and Georgia were taking part in the manoeuvres, with...
Crimea plunges into darkness after power shutdown
Sevastopol: The annexed Crimea peninsula was plunged into darkness on Friday after a shutdown in Russia caused a massive power cut, officials said. The latest major outage to hit Crimea highlights how vulnerable supplies to the Black Sea peninsula remain more than three years after it was seized from Ukraine by the Kremlin. “Electricity has been...
Ukraine strips Saakashvili of citizenship
KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he has stripped former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship, paving the way for his possible extradition to Georgia. The charismatic reformer came to power in Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution but then fell from grace and is now wanted by Georgian...
Ukraine president strips one-time ally Saakashvili of citizenship
KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stripped one-time ally Mikheil Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship, the migration service said on Wednesday, spelling the likely end of the former Georgian president’s political aspirations in Ukraine. Saakashvili, who is widely credited with cracking down on graft as president of Georgia...
Russia to blame for ‘hot war’ in Ukraine: US envoy
KIEV: Russian aggression is to blame for violence in eastern Ukraine, where people are dying in what should be seen as a “hot war” rather than a “frozen conflict”, the US special envoy to the Ukraine peace talks said on a visit to Ukraine on Sunday. Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to Nato, was appointed to his current role on July 7 to help...
Friends, colleagues mourn slain journalist in Kiev
KIEV: After renowned journalist Pavel Sheremet was slain by a car bomb in central Kiev last year, Ukraine’s president promised all-out efforts to solve the case. But as of Thursday’s anniversary of the killing, there has been no visible progress. Instead, say Ukrainian journalists, the case is mired in either incompetence or...
Fresh Ukraine clashes kill 2 as rebels plan new ‘state’
Kiev: Fresh clashes in east Ukraine left two soldiers dead on Wednesday in a spike in fighting as a key rebel leader announced he planned to create a new “state.” Kiev said the two servicemen were killed by shelling from Russian-backed rebels some 40 kilometres north of the insurgent capital Donetsk, the deadliest daily toll in two weeks. “The...
