Section: Voice of America (USA)
Ukrainian Court Finds ex-President Guilty of Treason
A court in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday found former President Viktor Yanukovych guilty of treason and helping Russia annex the Crimean peninsula. The Kiev court began reading out the verdict in Yanukovych’s case, a process that is expected to take at least the whole day. The judge already declared Yanukovych guilty of treason and...
Study: Global Terror Attacks Down 33 Percent
A new study by a defense analysis company indicates there was a 33 percent drop in global terror attacks in 2018, and terrorism fatalities fell to a 10-year low. Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center released its annual Global Attack Index on Wednesday, saying one of the central reasons for the decrease in incidents and fatalities was the...
6 Remain Missing After Black Sea Ship Fire
Ambulance crews on the Crimean Peninsula transported a dozen survivors of a ship fire to hospitals on Tuesday while six of their crewmates have remained missing in the Black Sea. At least 14 sailors died in the tragedy. Two Tanzanian-flagged tankers caught fire Monday while liquefied petroleum gas was being pumped from one tanker to another. The...
Belarusian Model Proclaims Innocence, Apologizes in Moscow Court
A Belarusian model who claimed to have evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has apologized to a Russian tycoon as she also proclaimed her innocence of prostitution-related charges against her. Anastasia Vashukevich, who is also known as Nastya Rybka, told reporters in the Nagatinsky district court in Moscow on...
10 Dead as Ships Catch Fire Off Crimea
At least 10 people are dead after two Tanzanian-flagged ships caught fire Monday in the Kerch Strait off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea. Russian authorities said at least 12 people were rescued, but the rest are missing. The ships, the Kandy and the Maestro, had crews that were nationals from India and Turkey. Together, the two ships carried...
Russia Detains Model Claiming Trump Secrets
Russia on Thursday detained a Belarusian model who once claimed she had evidence of Russian efforts to help Donald Trump win office, witnesses told AFP. Anastasia Vashukevich, known by her pen name, Nastya Rybka, was held for questioning at a Moscow airport after she was deported from Thailand as part of a group convicted of participating in a...
Facebook Shuts Hundreds of Russia-Linked Pages, Accounts
Facebook said Thursday it removed hundreds of Russia-linked pages, groups and accounts that it says were part of two big disinformation operations, in its latest effort to fight fake news. The social media company said it took action after finding two networks “that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior” on its Facebook and...
Ukraine OKs Property Law That Could Affect 12,000 Churches
Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday adopted a bill spelling out procedures for transferring church property after a new unified Ukrainian Orthodox church was granted independence. The bill could potentially affect some 12,000 churches in Ukraine and vast amounts of property, including the gems of Orthodox Christianity like the vast Pechersk...
US Senate Upholds Lifting Sanctions on Russian’s Companies
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday narrowly upheld a Trump administration plan to lift sanctions against three companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Eleven Republicans in the Senate joined Democrats in an effort to enforce the sanctions against the giant aluminum firm Rusal and two...
Putin Blasts US, West Over NATO Before Serbia Visit
Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. and the West of destabilizing the Balkans with NATO expansionist policies as Serbia prepares a hero’s welcome for the Russian president. Putin arrives in Serbia on Thursday for his fourth visit to the Balkan country since 2001. Serbia has maintained close links with traditional Slavic ally Russia even as...
