Section: The Guardian (The United Kingdom)
From Bamboo to E-stonia: social media in the post-Soviet states
Despite restrictions and censorship in some countries, the internet is becoming an increasingly powerful tool around the region. Here’s how online freedoms compare:Depending on where you log on in the post-Soviet states you will have different social networks available and different degrees of freedom in using them. While Estonians enjoy...
Donetsk railway bridge explosion rattles nearby village – video
A railway bridge near the Ukrainian city of Donestsk lies in ruin after it was blown up on Monday, along with two other key transport routes in the region. A railway worker says the explosion shook a nearby village. It was not clear who blew up the rail and road bridges, but it comes after recent withdrawals by separatist fighters in the area...
Ukraine: bridges blown up along main roads to Donetsk
Pro-Russia fighters driven out of Slavyansk regroup in city where they declared independence as ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’Three bridges on key roads leading into the Ukrainian city of Donetsk were blown up on Monday in an apparent attempt to slow down any possible assault by government forces on the rebel-held...
Fear, not ambition, is what fuels Moscow in Ukraine | Mary Dejevsky
The west has misread Russia’s motivations in Ukraine, and in doing so risks provoking PutinThe contest for eastern Ukraine may not be over, but when Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, described the recapture of Sloviansk at the weekend as of “huge symbolic importance”, he was not exaggerating. Other towns and cities...
Ukraine’s combat dolphins: they’d like Russia to give them back
Trained to carry out military tasks, they were seized during the annexation of Crimea. Kiev wants them back but Russia has plans for the cetaceansIt wasn’t just the miles of gorgeous coastline, the plush dacha compounds of the Soviet elite and the naval bases of the Black Sea Fleet that Russia acquired when it annexed Crimea this year; it...
Donetsk becomes a ghost town as fearful residents flee conflict
Three months into crisis, businesses have closed, ATMs have run out of cash, and flowers are a guilty pleasureIt was like one of the illicit apartment concerts from Soviet days, only with better cocktails. Dozens of young people packed into a basement room, singing along to classic Russian and Ukrainian tunes strummed out by a rotating cast of...
Ukrainian president hails breakthrough as Slavyansk seized from separatists
Petro Poroshenko says town’s recapture has ‘incredible symbolic importance’, as rebels retreat to regional capital DonetskThe Ukrainian authorities have trumpeted a turning point in the three-month conflict with separatists in the east after retaking a town at the epicentre of the breakaway movement.The breakthrough came after...
Ukrainian troops retake key city of Slavyansk from rebels in east
Kiev government offensive against pro-Russia forces achieves first significant victory in restoring state controlGovernment troops have raised a Ukrainian flag over the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk in Kiev’s biggest tactical victory since the start of the conflict in the east of the country.Kiev’s forces entered the city on Saturday...
Ukraine army regains control of Slavyansk
President Petro Poroshenko orders national flag to fly over rebel stronghold after armed pro-Russian separatists fleeUkrainian troops have regained control of the key eastern city of Slavyansk from pro-Russian rebels in what could mark a turning point in the country’s three-month battle to maintain its independence.The city, which houses...
Ukraine army to raise flag over Slavyansk
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko orders move after large numbers of pro-Russian militants reportedly flee separatist strongholdThe Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, has ordered the army to raise the national flag in the separatist stronghold of Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine, after hearing reports of military successes, the presidential...
