Section: The Japan Times (Japan)
Ukraine’s east rocked by most intense fighting since signing of cease-fire
Artillery fire rocked eastern Ukraine’s rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Sunday as separatists appeared to be reinforcing front-line flash points and fears grew of a return to all-out fighting. The boom of shelling rumbled on midmorning on the edge of Donetsk, where government forces are facing off against insurgent fighters, but was less...
Gorbachev slams West, says world is on brink of new Cold War
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned in a speech in Berlin on Saturday that East-West tensions over the Ukraine crisis were threatening to push the world into a new Cold War, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Gorbachev, who is credited with forging a rapprochement with the West that led to the […] The post Gorbachev slams West,...
Ukraine accuses Russia of sending dozens of tanks into rebel eastern regions
Ukraine on Friday accused Russia of sending dozens of tanks and other heavy weapons into rebel-controlled eastern regions and said five servicemen had been killed in clashes with the rebels. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at least 32 tanks, 16 artillery systems and 30 trucks loaded with fighters and...
School shelling deaths in Donetsk hurt Ukraine peace hopes
The shelling of a high school in Ukraine’s rebel stronghold of Donetsk has chilled even the battle-hardened in this weary nation. The killing of two teenagers as they were playing soccer after lunch Wednesday is a stark reminder that the cease-fire agreed upon in September has only really ever existed on paper. Four other students […] The...
Despite election defeat, foreign policy is not ‘game over’ for Obama
From marauding jihadists in Iraq to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine and beheadings of Americans in Syria, a world in crisis has fanned perceptions of an overwhelmed U.S. president and contributed to a Republican sweep of U.S. midterm elections. But the slide of public confidence in President Barack Obama and the takeover of U.S. Congress by...
Orbital blames rocket engine failure for launchpad blast
Orbital Sciences Corp. said Wednesday a preliminary probe into last month’s unmanned rocket blast shows an engine failure was to blame for the explosion shortly after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia. The type of engines used to power the Antares rocket were a pair of decades-old Ukrainian-designed AJ-26s that were refurbished by...
Ukrainian president sends more troops to the east
Ukraine’s president said Tuesday that additional troops are being deployed to the east, where fighting continues to rage between government forces and pro-Russian separatist fighters. Petro Poroshenko said the units would defend cities still under government control against possible incursions. His remarks came after Ukrainian security...
Ukraine still has options to fight rebellion — all bad
Ukraine’s government still has options after separatist elections showed its helplessness against a Russian-backed rebellion. The problem: they’re all bad. Analysts and officials paint a grim scenario facing Ukraine’s pro-Western government as it ponders how to respond to the separatists’ tightening grip on the industrial...
Europe warns Russia over Ukraine rebel poll; truce’s collapse feared
Europe on Monday warned Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty as Moscow turned the screws on Kiev by recognizing controversial rebel polls and fighting flared in the separatist east. Elections in the pro-Russian separatist area deepened international tensions over Ukraine, raising fears that a shaky two-month-old truce could collapse....
OSCE says its drone was fired on in Ukraine; U.S. blames rebels
European security watchdog OSCE said numerous anti-aircraft rounds were fired at one of its drones monitoring a shaky truce in eastern Ukraine, and the United States blamed pro-Russian rebels for Sunday’s incident. The unmanned aerial vehicle — deployed to help monitor the cease-fire between government forces and separatists — was not hit...
