Section: Boston Herald (USA)
Ukraine rebels: a disunited front run by warlords
PEREVALSK, Ukraine — They don’t call Nikolai Kozitsyn “Daddy” for nothing. In this rebel-held eastern Ukrainian town, the mustachioed Cossack lords it over the locals and pays little heed to the bosses of the breakaway movement.Patches of Ukraine’s depressed industrial basin in the east — in the throes of a pro-Russian...
Heavy shelling shakes Ukraine's main city in east
DONETSK, Ukraine — The heaviest shelling in recent weeks has shaken the main city in Ukraine’s rebel-held east, heightening worry about the renewal of full-scale conflict despite a cease-fire signed two months ago between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists.Artillery explosions roared throughout the early hours of Sunday in Donetsk,...
Gorbachev warns world 'on brink of new Cold War'
BERLIN — Tensions between the major powers have pushed the world closer to a new Cold War, former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said Saturday.The 83-year-old accused the West, particularly the United States, of giving in to “triumphalism” after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the communist bloc a quarter...
Ukraine accuses Russia of sending dozens of tanks
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Friday accused Russia of sending dozens of tanks and other heavy weapons into rebel-controlled eastern regions and said five servicemen were 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...
Poland unveils its new national defense strategy
WARSAW, Poland — Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski on Wednesday signed into law a new national defense strategy aimed at addressing threats to regional security caused by two factors: the fighting in Ukraine and Russia’s “intensifying policy of confrontation.” …read more Source: Boston...
Russian ruble hits all-time low as sanctions bite
MOSCOW — Russia’s ruble currency is hitting an all-time low as the country’s economy struggles with the combined blows of Western sanctions and a worldwide fall in oil prices.In trading on the MICEX exchange, the ruble dropped to 44.9 to the US dollar late Wednesday — about a 3-percent fall for the day. The ruble has lost more than 25...
Ukraine to halt subsidies to rebel-held areas
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine will freeze budget subsidies for the eastern territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists, the prime minister announced Wednesday — a move that could worsen the already grievous economic conditions there.Aging industrial operations in Ukraine’s economically depressed but coal-rich east have for many years relied...
Ukrainian president sends more troops to the east
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s president says additional troops are being deployed to the east, where fighting continues to rage between government forces and pro-Russian separatist fighters.Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday that the units would defend from possible incursions toward cities still under government control.His remarks came after...
Ukraine rebel leader sworn in after eastern vote
DONETSK, Ukraine — The leader of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine was sworn in Tuesday as head of a self-declared secessionist territory following an election that was condemned by the West as illegal and destabilizing.Alexander Zakharchenko, 38, was inaugurated in a heavily guarded theater in the main stronghold of a rebel-controlled...
Ukrainian breakaway regions hold criticized vote
DONETSK, Ukraine — Residents of separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine voted Sunday to elect legislators and executives in polls that have been staunchly denounced by the international community.Voting in the main rebel city of Donetsk proceeded in the presence of gunmen inside three polling stations visited by the AP.Despite a...
