Section: The Japan Times (Japan)
Death toll from violent protest in Ukraine rises
The death toll from violent protests in Ukraine rose to three Tuesday when two more National Guard officers died from injuries suffered in a grenade explosion, officials said. In the worst outburst of violence in Kiev since the new government took power in 2014, nationalist protesters clashed with police and National Guard troops outside...
Ukraine accuses ultra-nationalists in deadly Kiev clash
A member of Ukraine’s National Guard was killed and scores of people were injured Monday in clashes between police and nationalist protesters in Kiev as lawmakers gave initial backing to a contested bill boosting autonomy in the country’s breakaway regions. Major powers voiced deep concern at the bloodshed, which the Ukrainian...
Ukrainian far-right party has history of violence, glorifies group accused of Nazi collaboration
The Ukrainian ultranationalist party Svoboda, blamed for clashes that killed one person and injured dozens more outside the nation’s parliament on Monday, has a long-established reputation for violent confrontation. Svoboda supporters were heavily represented in Monday’s demonstration, which opposed lawmakers’ support of a bill...
Fierce clashes break out in Kiev
At least 90 people, mainly police, were wounded in fierce clashes outside the Ukrainian parliament Monday as lawmakers gave initial backing to deeply controversial reforms granting more autonomy to pro-Russian separatists. A loud blast was heard outside the building in Kiev and vast clouds of black smoke billowed into the air as demonstrators...
Ukraine’s parliament backs draft law giving east special status
Ukraine’s parliament on Monday voted for constitutional changes to give its eastern regions a special status that it hopes will blunt their separatist drive, but divisions among pro-Western lawmakers suggested the road to making them law will be rough. At a rowdy session, 265 deputies voted in favor in the first reading of a...
Russia court jails Ukrainian filmmaker for ‘terrorism’
A Russian military court on Tuesday sentenced a Ukrainian filmmaker to 20 years in a prison colony on terror charges in a trial condemned by Kiev, Western rights groups and top film directors. Oleg Sentsov, 39, was convicted of masterminding arson attacks on pro-Kremlin party offices in Crimea after Russia seized the peninsula from Ukraine […]...
U.S. F-22 Raptors to be deployed to Europe amid NATO concerns over Russia
The United States soon will deploy F-22 Raptors in Europe, sending the stealth fighter jets to reassure NATO partners concerned about Russia’s actions in Ukraine, a Pentagon official said Monday. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James did not offer specifics about where or when the single-seat jets would be deployed, citing operational...
Kiev vows to boost forces against rebels in east, wary of ‘large-scale invasion’
Ukraine’s president vowed to increase troop numbers to fend off attacks by Russia-backed separatist rebels and warned his countrymen that there is still the threat of a “large-scale invasion,” in an impassioned speech to mark Independence Day on Monday. Speaking during a military parade, President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine must not be...
Ukraine leader accuses Russia of arms supplies to rebel east
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on Monday of sending major military backup to pro-Moscow rebels, speaking just ahead of talks on the conflict with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. “Just this week three big convoys crossed our border toward Lugansk, Donetsk and Debaltseve,” Poroshenko...
Putin to be notable absentee at Ukraine crisis talks
The heads of Germany and France will meet Kiev’s pro-Western leader in Berlin on Monday for Ukrainian crisis talks most notable for their diplomatically-charged exclusion of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have put enormous political onus on resolving Ukraine’s...
