Section: National Post (Canada)
Kelly McParland: Putin finds a convenient scapegoat for Nemtsov killing, while admitting he lied about Crimea
If you were the president of Russia, and you were looking for a convenient way to clear your regime from suspicion in the recent murder of a high-profile opponent, the ideal solution would be to find an unsympathetic figure you could pin the blame on. Bingo. Russian authorities on Monday announced the detention of five Chechens in the killing of...
Ukraine says it is pulling back rocket launchers from front line in accordance with ceasefire agreement
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainian military officials say government forces are withdrawing heavy rocket launchers from the front line with Russian-backed separatists in accordance with last month’s cease-fire accord. Military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said the Uragan launchers were being pulled back by 35 kilometres from the line of contact....
Putin wants to destroy NATO, ‘not by attacking it but by splintering it,’ says head of U.S. forces in Europe
BERLIN — The commander of the US army in Europe has accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, of seeking to destroy Nato, and accused Russia of having 12,000 troops inside eastern Ukraine. Speaking to military and political leaders in Berlin, Lt-Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges said Russia could seek to use the sort of “hybrid warfare” seen in...
Leonid Bershidsky: Tiny Estonia awaits Putin’s next move with quiet defiance
Few European leaders take a harder line on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine than his Estonian counterpart, Toomas Hendrik Ilves. His sympathy for Ukraine, however, is tempered by a belief that it didn’t do enough in advance to protect itself. His own country, he suggests, has been more responsible, which is why...
More than 30 coal miners trapped underground after deadly explosion in Ukraine
John MacDougall / AFP / Getty ImagesA miner wounded in a blast at the Zasyadko mine lies in a bed at the Republican Centre for Traumatology hospital in Donetsk on Wednesday. DONETSK, Ukraine — An explosion ripped through a coal mine before dawn Wednesday in war-torn eastern Ukraine, killing at least one miner and trapping more than 30 others...
John Mraz: Putin’s war on the truth
Russian opposition leader’s Boris Nemtsov’s assassination last week came as no surprise to Russia’s or Ukraine’s polities, and should come as none to Western governments and leaders. Failing an extraordinarily unlikely, voluntary, and credible confession from the assassin(s), it will remain unsolved, simply another murder...
Kelly McParland: Nemtsov’s murder is the logical result of Putin’s disregard for life or laws
It’s possible that Vladimir Putin didn’t order the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a political opponent and one of his most prominent critics. Even for a leader as proudly thuggish as Mr. Putin, it would be quite a step to have an opponent gunned down Mafia style while walking on a bridge near the Kremlin. Still, no one’s going to...
Ukrainian MP detained in Moscow during massive march to honour murdered anti-Putin activist
Moscow police have detained a member of Ukraine’s parliament as he was taking part in a march mourning a slain Russian opposition figure. Ukraine’s parliament has protested the detention. The federal Investigative Committee said Alexei Goncharenko was being questioned Sunday about his alleged involvement in a fire that broke out last...
NATO, Russia conducting military exercises around Estonia, stoking fears that the Baltic state is next on Kremlin’s list
Russian and NATO troops took part in rival exercises either side of the Estonian border Wednesday, highlighting fears that the Baltic state could be the next target of the Kremlin’s territorial ambitions. NATO forces put on a show of strength within yards of Estonia’s Russian border, with armoured personnel carriers, tanks and 1,300...
Ukraine will now start actually pulling back heavy weapons as required by cease-fire agreement, military says
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s military said it would start pulling back its heavy weapons Thursday from the front line with Russian-backed separatists as required under a cease-fire agreement. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that it reserved the right to revise its withdrawal plans in the event of an attack by rebel forces, however. It...
