Section: Voice of America (USA)
Putin Orders Suspension of Plutonium Cleanup Program with US
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Monday to suspend an agreement with the United States on disposing of weapons-grade plutonium, citing Washington’s “unfriendly actions”. It also claimed the United States was unable “to ensure the implementation of its obligations to utilize surplus weapons-grade...
Russian Drugging Incident Raises US Concerns
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. officials traveling with diplomatic passports were drugged while attending a conference in Russia last year, and one of them was hospitalized, in what officials have concluded was part of a wider, escalating pattern of harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russia. The incident at a hotel bar during a UN anti-corruption...
Ukraine Marks 75th Anniversary of Babi Yar, WWII’s Worst Civilian Massacre
On Thursday, Ukraine marked the 75th anniversary of the worst single massacre of civilians in World War II and one of the bloodiest war crimes in human history — the 1941 slaughter at Babi Yar. Nazi SS forces and Ukrainian collaborators murdered nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women and children over two days in a Kyiv forest. Almost all of the victims...
Victims’ Relatives Expected Evidence of Russia’s Involvement in Malaysian Plane Crash
Investigators say evidence shows the missile that downed a Malaysian aircraft on July 17, 2014 had been transferred from Russia to a rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine from where the plane was hit. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board the Boeing 777 were killed. Investigators say the Buk missile and the trailer from which it was...
Relatives of MH17 Victims Respond to New Findings
Relatives of people killed in Air Malaysia flight MH17, shot down over Ukraine in 2014, spoke to journalists after a private briefing in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands, on the latest findings of an international criminal probe that blamed Russia. (RFE/RL) …read more Source: Voice of...
Prosecutors to Announce Launch Location of Rocket that Downed MH17
International prosecutors investigating the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014 are set to release their findings Wednesday. An earlier investigation launched by the Dutch Safety Board came to the conclusion that the plane was brought down by a Russian-made Buk missile, though the Kremlin has denied this claim. In a move...
Central Europe Sees Anti-Immigration Fervor, No Migrants
Together, Hungary and the Czech Republic took in just around 1,000 asylum-seekers last year. Still, rallying cries against migration have dominated the debates ahead of upcoming ballots in the two Central European countries. Along with Poland and Slovakia, they have also become the most vocal critics of the EU’s plan to share refugees...
NATO Warns West Is ‘Losing Information War’ Against Russia, IS
The West must step up its efforts to combat and counter the information war being waged by its opponents, according to NATO commanders. They warn that countries like Russia are exploiting the freedom of the press in Western media to spread disinformation. The term “hybrid warfare” is frequently used to describe the tactics used by the...
Ukraine Says Peace Process at Risk Without EU Sanctions
Loosening the European Union’s economic sanctions on Russia would wreck the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, because the measures are the West’s only leverage over Moscow, Kyiv’s deputy foreign minister said on Friday. Next month, EU leaders are set to discuss the sanctions on Russia’s energy, financial and defense sectors,...
US Growing More Wary of Russia’s Syria Strategy
Russia’s ability to leverage its intervention in Syria into any sort of ongoing advantage on the world stage may be starting to wane with the current cease-fire deal still in shambles. Cracks in Moscow’s strategy, some U.S. officials suggested, began showing Wednesday during a high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council,...
