Section: Newsweek (USA)
Nato Warns of Return to Heavy Fighting in Ukraine
Nato has warned of the risk of a return to heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine, as Kiev reported 30 attacks in the space of six hours, including howitzer fire, towards the port stronghold of Mariupol. Although a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russian-backed fighters in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region has largely held since it was signed in the...
Putin Approval Rating Soars
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has reached its highest point since he first set foot in the Kremlin over 15 years ago, according to independent Russian pollster the Levada Center. Internationally, Putin’s reputation has plummeted over the last year, as his annexation of Crimea from the territory of Ukraine and his...
Putin Cracks Down on U.S. Press Reporting Russian Involvement in Ukraine
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has banned U.S. investigative journalist Simon Ostrovsky from working in Russia. On June 4, it denied a press visa for Ostrovsky, an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist best known for his coverage of the Ukraine crisis for Vice News. The denial came only days after Ostrovsky contacted Russian...
Mother Urges Russia Not to Abandon Son Captured in Ukraine
ROZHKI, Russia (Reuters) – The mother of a Russian soldier captured in Ukraine says her son never told her he was quitting the army, raising doubt about Kremlin assertions that the soldier was no longer serving when he crossed the frontier. Zinaida Alexandrova, 58, says she has avoided watching Russian TV since she learnt from a news...
Marine Le Pen: U.S. is Not an ‘Ally or Friend’ to France
The leader of France’s far right Front National party, Marine Le Pen, has declared that the United States is not “an ally or a friend” to the French, in light of Wikileaks reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on three French presidents. According to classified documents leaked by the whistleblower site Wikileaks...
Russia Plans to Launch Perfume Line, Souvenirs to Attract Tourists
Russia is preparing a new range of souvenirs including a line of perfumes and scents, drawing inspiration from its most iconic sites, in a bid to rebrand the country to make it more appealing to tourists. As Russia’s relations with the European Union and United States have plummeted over the crisis in Ukraine, the Russian tourism industry...
Yanukovich: Maidan Scared Crimea and Donbass
The Ukrainian revolution is the main culprit for what happened to Crimea and Donbass, according to the former president of the country Victor Yanukovich. He expressed this opinion speaking to a BBC reporter in his first interview to foreign media since he was removed from his position by the revolution. “Maidan scared Crimea, Donbass and the...
Russia Proposes German Companies Should Advertize Their Nazi Past
A proposed bill has been tabled in Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, to force German and Italian companies which profited during the Nazi and fascist regimes, to mark their products in order to inform Russian customers of their brand’s history. Nazi symbolism is illegal in Russia and those who display Nazi symbols...
NATO Defense Spending to Fall this Year Despite Russia Tensions
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Military spending by NATO countries is set to fall again this year in real terms despite increased tensions with Russia and a pledge by alliance leaders last year to halt falls in defense budgets, NATO figures released on Monday showed. The figures showed defense spending by the 28 members of the alliance is set to fall...
Putin’s War: The Ukraine Cease-Fire That Never Was
The notion that the Ukraine cease-fire is still largely holding, or even being followed at all, is fiction. In the eastern Ukrainian village of Pisky, only six kilometers from the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, and two kilometers from the ruined Donetsk airport, the Ukrainian army 93rd Mechanized Brigade is engaged in sustained combat with...
