Section: The Malaysian Insider (Malaysia)
Ukraine rebel leader sworn in, crisis deepens
A pro-Russian separatist leader was sworn in on Tuesday as the head of a self-proclaimed ‘people’s republic’ in eastern Ukraine in a ceremony that worsened a standoff with Russia. Alexander Zakharchenko (pic), who was elected in a rogue vote on Sunday that was denounced as a “farce” by Kiev and illegitimate by the...
Ukraine crisis deepens after rebel vote in east
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called an emergency meeting of his security chiefs for Tuesday to discuss new ways of dealing with the separatist challenge in the east after rebel elections that were denounced by Kiev and the West. The rogue votes, which Kiev says Russia encouraged, could create a new “frozen conflict” in...
Ukraine has options – 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...
Russia backs Ukraine rebel vote despite criticism from West
Russia on Sunday endorsed a crushing victory for Ukraine’s pro-Moscow rebel leadership at controversial polls that the EU slammed as a “new obstacle” for peace in the country’s strife-torn east. Despite warnings from Kiev and the West not to recognise the polls, Moscow moved quickly to throw its weight behind the disputed...
Give us recognition, Ukraine rebel voters demand
The elections may already have been slammed as a farce by the West but those queuing to cast their ballots in east Ukraine’s rebel polls today insisted their voices should be heard. “I hope that our votes will change something. Perhaps we will finally be recognised as a real, independent country,” Tatyana, 65, said as she waited...
Pro-Russian rebels vote for leaders in eastern Ukraine
Pro-Russian rebels voted to set up a separatist leadership in eastern Ukraine today, aiming to take the war-torn region closer to Russia and defying Kiev and the West, as shelling continued across the territory. The United States and European Union have denounced the vote as illegitimate, which is sure to stoke tensions further between the…...
Hungry, cash-strapped Donetsk residents queue for food parcels
Outside the iconic football stadium in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Yulia holds her four-year-old son Maxim by the hand as they wait for the food parcels to arrive. “I’ve never come to get humanitarian aid before. I was living off my stored supplies, but I don’t have anything left,” says Yulia, 30, who lost her job when her...
Dutch team back at MH17 crash site
Dutch forensics experts have returned to the site of downed flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine on Friday, where they gathered body parts despite continued clashes in the area, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. “Today the circumstances allowed for a small Dutch team… to travel to the crash site and we grabbed the opportunity with both...
Europe won’t recognise vote in eastern Ukraine, Merkel tells Putin
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pic) told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone that Sunday’s planned elections in eastern Ukraine were illegitimate and would not be recognised by European leaders, a Berlin government spokesman said on Friday. Merkel and Putin held a joint telephone conversation with French President Francois...
EU, Russia, Ukraine seal breakthrough gas accord
Russia agreed to resume gas deliveries to war-torn Ukraine through the winter in an EU-brokered, multi-billion dollar deal signed by the three parties in Brussels on Thursday. In a hard-fought accord the EU hopes will ease the broader crisis over Ukraine, Russia agreed to ensure supplies until the end of March. “I’m glad that...
