Section: Voice of America (USA)
In Ukraine’s Nikishino, No House Untouched by Fighting
In the village of Nikishino, in eastern Ukraine, recent fighting has brought utter devastation. Ninety percent of the houses are damaged or destroyed after government forces tried and failed to stop rebels advancing on the strategically important town of Debaltseve nearby. Patrick Wells reports for VOA from Nikishino. …read more Source:...
EU Drops Sanctions on Yanukovich’s Security Chief
The European Union has dropped sanctions imposed last year on the head of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich’s security service, according to a legal notice published on Friday. Oleksandr Yakimenko, who ran Ukraine’s SBU security service until the bloody street protests that forced Yanukovich from power, was one of four...
Kremlin Critic Navalny Released After 15-day Jail Term
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from prison Friday, after serving a 15-day sentence for handing out leaflets in the Moscow subway advertising an opposition rally. Speaking to supporters, Navalny said the murder of fellow opposition leader Boris Nemtsov would not force him to back off from his campaign against President...
Ukraine’s Coal Pits Dangerous in Peacetime, Deadlier in War
Ivan Lazarenko, one of those pulled out alive after an explosion at a mine near the front line in rebel-held east Ukraine killed 33 workers, lay in hospital on Thursday, still unconscious and in bandages. If he recovers, it will not be the first time this year he had escaped death at the mine: he was trapped once in an elevator when the mine was...
NATO Official: Putin’s Suppression to Blame for Nemtsov’s Death
Vladimir Putin is seeking to turn Ukraine into a failed state while silencing dissent at home, a top NATO official said on Thursday, suggesting the Russian President was ultimately responsible for the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov. “President Putin’s aim seems to be to turn Ukraine into a failed state and to suppress and...
Report: Human Rights Deteriorating in Annexed Crimea
Human rights conditions have deteriorated in Crimea since its annexation by Russia last year, with Crimean authorities accused of discriminating against minorities, suppressing freedom of expression, and forcing residents to assume Russian citizenship or leave, according to a new report. When Russian President Vladimir Putin officially signed...
Report: Human Rights in Annexed Crimea Deteriorating
A new report by Freedom House and the Atlantic Council of the United States says the human rights situation in Crimea has deteriorated since the peninsula was annexed by Russia in March of last year. The report says the new authorities in Crimea are discriminating against minorities, suppressing freedom of expression, and forcing residents to...
Officials to Ukraine Peace Deal to Discuss Next Steps
Senior Russian, Ukrainian, German and French officials will meet in Berlin on Friday to discuss eastern Ukraine and the next steps needed toward implementing a peace accord struck three weeks ago in Minsk, Germany’s foreign minister said. “Of course we cannot be satisfied with the speed of the implementation of the Minsk accord, but we have...
Ukraine Pays $15 Million Toward Russian Gas Bill
Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom said on Thursday that it had received a $15 million prepayment from Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz following warnings supply could be cut off if no payment was made. The payment is enough for 45.6 million cubic meters of gas, or about five days’ supply at current rates of delivery, Gazprom said by...
Ukrainian Authorities Struggle to Secure a Divided Mariupol
Since last month’s cease-fire went into effect, shelling around the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has decreased, but it is thought pro-Russian separatists remain poised to attack. For the city’s authorities, a major challenge is gaining the trust of residents, while at the same time rooting out informants who are passing sensitive...
