Section: Voice of America (USA)
Ukraine Grants Citizenship to 2 Prominent Russians
Ukraine has granted citizenship to the daughter of a former Russian prime minister and a prominent journalist, both of whom are vocal Kremlin critics. Maria Gaidar and Vladimir Fedorin were handed Ukrainian passports Tuesday by President Petro Poroshenko during a brief ceremony in Kyiv. “Your example clearly demonstrates that one cannot be...
Russia Bids for Vast Arctic Territories at UN
Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometers (over 463,000 square miles) of Artic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles (about 650 kilometers) from the shore. Russia, the...
Crimean Tatars Urge ‘Immediate’ End to Russian Annexation
A world congress of Crimean Tatars has called for “all necessary measures” to be taken to return Crimea to Ukraine following Russia’s takeover and annexation of the peninsula last year. Participants in the second annual World Congress of Crimean Tatars said in a final declaration of its two-day gathering in Ankara on August 2...
Russia Creates Aerospace Forces by Merging Military Branches
Russia has merged several branches of its military into the Aerospace Forces – a reorganization aimed at enhancing coordination and efficiency, officials said Monday. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the decision offers “the optimal way of improving the system of the nation’s aerospace defense.” The new branch will...
Ex-PM Azarov, in Moscow, Proclaims ‘Salvation Committee’ for Ukraine
Former Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov has announced the formation of a “Ukraine Salvation Committee,” calling for “total regime change” through early elections and vowing to “restore order in our home.” Azarov, who was former president Viktor Yanukovych’s prime minister until the latter was...
IMF Says Western Sanctions Could Cut 9% off Russia’s GDP
Sanctions linked to the Ukraine crisis could end up costing Russia 9 percent of its gross domestic product, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. Russia’s economy is showing signs of stabilization after slumping under pressure from Western financial sanctions and Russian counter-measures. Low international prices for its oil...
Athletics Roiled by Reports of Mass Doping
The world of international track and field was reeling Sunday after reports that 146 medals at the Olympics and World Championships between 2001 and 2012 were won by athletes with suspicious blood test results. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Sunday it was “very alarmed” by the reports in two European media outlets. German...
Ukraine Calls on Russia to Negotiate End to War in East
Ukraine’s foreign minister is calling on Russia to come to “real negotiations” about a cease-fire and stabilization in Ukraine’s war-torn east which will require fair elections that are internationally monitored. Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview with The Associated Press that Russian military and special forces are “in full command”...
Russian Trial of Ukraine’s Pilot Reflects Tangled Conflict
A court in southwestern Russia has adjourned a preliminary hearing against captured Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko to decide on her lawyers’ request to move the trial to Moscow. Prosecutors accuse the Ukrainian woman of causing the deaths of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine last year. They allege she acted as an aerial spotter to...
Widow’s Lawyer: Moscow Has Tried to Block Litvinenko Inquiry
A lawyer for the widow of Alexander Litvinenko insisted on Friday that the former KGB agent was murdered at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said Russian authorities have repeatedly tried to obstruct an inquiry into the death. Ben Emmerson said Moscow has attempted “to frustrate and manipulate” the investigation by...
