Section: Voice of America (USA)
TV Ratings for Putin’s Annual Speech Lowest Since 2013
The number of Russians who tuned in to watch President Vladimir Putin’s annual address on television last week slipped to its lowest level since 2013, nationwide data from market research firm Mediascope showed on Monday. The findings come as opinion polls register a slide in Putin’s popularity ratings following moves last year to...
Moldova Set for Coalition Talks After Inconclusive Election
An election in Moldova has produced a hung parliament, with results showing the vote split between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces at a time when the ex-Soviet republic’s relations with the European Union have soured. The outcome of Sunday’s contest sets the stage for coalition talks or potentially new elections, just as the...
Ukraine Candidate Urges Public to Propose Future Cabinet
A comedian who is leading Ukraine’s presidential election race has urged his supporters to propose candidates for top government jobs. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who plays the nation’s president in a popular TV series, called on his backers to suggest candidates for prime minister, foreign and defense ministers and other top officials....
Protesters Mark Nemtsov Assassination Amid Heavy Police Presence
Thousands gathered in central Moscow on Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov’s murder. Although the events were approved by Moscow authorities, police limited access to the northern edge of the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge just outside the Kremlin, where for years a makeshift memorial comprising of...
US Military Conducts Observation Flight Over Russia
The US military is conducting a surveillance flight over Russia as part of an international agreement, the Pentagon said Thursday. The flight falls under the Open Skies Treaty, an international accord aimed at promoting military transparency through reciprocal, unarmed observation flights over each of the 34 signatory countries’ terrains....
Ukraine Security Service Accuses Russia of Meddling in Election
Ukraine’s State Security Service SBU accused Russia on Thursday of meddling in the electoral process in Ukraine by creating illegal structures to help guarantee victory for a certain candidate. Ukraine holds a presidential election in late March. Its relations with Russia have been very poor since Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014...
Putin Announces Social Handouts in Bid to Stop Opinion Poll Slide
A year ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin sailed to victory in what challengers dubbed a “filthy election.” Facing weak candidates — some likely encouraged to run by a Kremlin eager to give the poll a veneer of greater competitiveness — Putin basked in his re-election, promising a flag-waving rally of loyalists off Moscow’s Red Square...
US Steps up Winter-Warfare Training as Global Threat Shifts
Hunkered down behind a wall of snow, two U.S. Marines melt slush to make drinking water after spending the night digging out a defensive position high in the Sierra Nevada. Their laminated targeting map is wedged into the ice just below the machine gun. Nearly 8,000 feet up at a training center in the California mountains, the air is thin, the...
Erdogan Recommits to Buying Russian Missiles Despite US Warnings
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reaffirmed his commitment to buy a Russian missile system in the face of renewed warnings from NATO ally the United States. The prospect of a clash between Ankara and Washington has grown, with Moscow moving the delivery date for the missiles to this year. Erdogan is blaming Washington for the deepening...
Ukraine President Signs Amendment on NATO, EU Membership
Ukraine’s president on Tuesday signed a constitutional amendment committing to join NATO and the European Union, acknowledging that the nation still has a long way to go to meet the membership criteria. Speaking in parliament, Petro Poroshenko said he sees securing Ukraine’s membership in the EU and NATO as his “strategic mission.”...
