Russia

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France Throws 2 Dinners to Separate Testy Obama, Putin

Hollande avoiding an awkward moment

(Newser) - International tensions are resulting in a very full stomach for French President Francois Hollande. During a commemoration of D-Day, he'll have two separate dinners Thursday night: one with President Obama, and one with Vladimir Putin, the AP reports. The two leaders are among at least 18 visiting in honor...

US Confirms Russian Troops Pulling Back, But...

...thousands remain at Ukraine border

(Newser) - US defense officials said while aboard a US military aircraft yesterday that Russia has pulled most of its forces away from the Ukraine border, a withdrawal that the US has been demanding for weeks. They said about seven battalions remained, amounting to a couple thousand troops. US officials had estimated...

5 Guilty in Russian Journo's 2006 Murder

Anna Politkovskaya's work angered the Kremlin

(Newser) - Five men have been found guilty in the 2006 slaying of 48-year-old Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya , whose investigative reporting criticized President Vladimir Putin, the war in Chechnya, and Chechen leadership. Three of the men are brothers from Chechnya, one of whom has been found guilty of the shooting itself, which...

Russia, China Sign Landmark, Secretive Gas Deal

Total price tag said to be $400B

(Newser) - China today signed a landmark agreement with Russia that will see it buying a reported $400 billion in natural gas over 30 years. The decade-in-the-making deal will have Gazprom supply China's state-owned gas company with up to 38 billion cubic meters of gas each year starting in 2018, reports...

Putin Recalls Troops From Ukraine Border

As a presidential frontrunner emerges in Ukraine

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin has called on Russian troops near the border with Ukraine to head back to permanent bases, a move which could reduce regional tensions—if Russia actually follows through, the BBC reports. It's not the first time Russia has issued such a statement , and in the past, NATO...

Donetsk Separatists Ask to Join Russia
 Donetsk, Luhansk 
 Ask to Join Russia 
UPDATED
May 12, 2014 11:47 AM CDT

Donetsk, Luhansk Ask to Join Russia

Insurgent leader says region is declaring independence

(Newser) - Pro-Russia insurgents in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions are declaring themselves independent and asking to join Russia. The move, initiated by Donetsk and followed closely by Luhansk, follows a hastily organized referendum yesterday in which organizers say about 90% of those who cast ballots in the regions backed sovereignty...

What's Clear After Ukraine Vote: Not Much

Ukraine president calls sovereignty referendum a 'farce'

(Newser) - In the wake of eastern Ukraine's vote on independence yesterday, one word is showing up repeatedly in media reports: unclear. The referendum organizers' preliminary results show those who cast a ballot overwhelmingly voted in favor of sovereignty for Donetsk and Luhansk, but beyond that much is uncertain—and even...

Ukraine Votes as Prez Warns of 'Step Into Abyss'

Referendum on self-rule goes forward

(Newser) - The question on the referendum is simple: "Do you support the act of state self-rule of the Donetsk People's Republic/Luhansk People's Republic?" The act of answering, in today's poll in Ukraine's aforementioned two eastern provinces, is contentious, chaotic, and already being denounced as rigged and...

Putin Makes First Visit to Newly Annexed Crimea

Russia marks 'Victory Day' with huge celebration

(Newser) - With Ukraine in crisis and Russia's other neighbors edgy, what better time for a colossal display of Moscow's military force? The Victory Day parade is held on May 9 every year to mark the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany, but this year's event in Moscow's Red...

Will Pro-Russia Ukraine Rebels Obey Russia?
East Ukraine to Putin:
We're Ignoring You
UPDATED
May 8, 2014 7:03 AM CDT

East Ukraine to Putin: We're Ignoring You

Pro-Russia separatists say they'll go ahead with planned referendum on Sunday

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin today presided over military exercises that simulated what the AP calls a "massive retaliatory nuclear strike in response to an enemy attack," further stoking tensions simmering in Ukraine. Putin said the drills had been planned since November, and the move comes a day after he said...

Putin: We've Pulled Our Troops From Border

He also asks pro-Russian separatists to scrap this weekend's referendum

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin made two moves today seen as progress in helping cool tensions in Ukraine: He announced that Russia has pulled back its troops from the border, and he called on pro-Russian separatists to call off a referendum on autonomy scheduled for Sunday, reports the Wall Street Journal . "We'...

Russia's New 'Blogger's Law' Tightens Grip on Internet

Putin also signs law banning swearing

(Newser) - Russia's Internet is going to start looking a lot more like China's under a restrictive new law signed by Vladimir Putin, critics say. The measure dubbed the "blogger's law" will remove anonymity from bloggers and declares any website with more than 3,000 daily visitors to...

International Observers Released in Ukraine

42 people reported dead after Odessa fire

(Newser) - Pro-Russian militants have released the remaining seven military observers from four European countries taken hostage more than a week ago. Also freed were five Ukrainian military members, a Kremlin envoy told Russian state news, per the Wall Street Journal . "They have freed all the 12 people on my list,...

Fire Kills Dozens Amid Ukraine Clashes

Unrest spreads to port city of Odessa

(Newser) - Ukraine's day began violently when pro-Russian forces downed two helicopters in the city of Slovyansk, and things got worse hours later in the port city of Odessa. The exact number differs in various accounts, but somewhere between 30 and 40 people were killed when a fire broke out in...

Ukraine Rebels Down Helicopters

Government tries to retake pro-Russia stronghold

(Newser) - Ukrainian forces—declining to follow Russia's suggestion that they withdraw from their own country —are trying to retake the pro-Russia rebel stronghold of Slovyansk in fighting that has killed at least three people. The dead include at least two soldiers killed when the insurgents shot down two Ukrainian...

Putin: Ukraine Should Pull Troops ... From Ukraine

Russian leader says Kiev should withdraw forces from disputed border cities

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin floated a simple idea today to stop the violence in southeastern Ukraine: Ukraine should just give up. In a phone call with Germany's Angela Merkel, Putin said Kiev should withdraw its troops from the areas being overrun by pro-Moscow militias, reports the New York Times . That "...

US Busts Russia on Tape With Ukraine Spies

John Kerry revelation comes even as secretary apologizes for the last one

(Newser) - US intelligence has recordings of Russian officials giving orders to operatives in the Ukraine, proving that Russia is indeed behind the forces destabilizing Eastern Ukraine, John Kerry told Trilateral Commission leaders Friday, in a closed-door meeting that, ironically enough, was recorded and leaked to the Daily Beast . "Everybody can...

15-Year Search for Secret Putin Fortune Revived

Analysts suspect he has billions stashed away

(Newser) - Is Vladimir Putin secretly the wealthiest leader in history? Fresh sanctions on Russia have revived a worldwide hunt for a suspected hidden Putin fortune that some analysts believe could be worth as much as $70 billion, the New York Times finds. Accusations of shady dealings have followed the Russian leader...

Russia to Be Hit With More Sanctions

G-7 nations agree

(Newser) - The United States and other nations in the Group of Seven agreed yesterday to "move swiftly" to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine. In a joint statement released last night by the White House, the G-7 nations said they will act urgently...

Russian Jets Keep Crossing Into Ukraine

The Pentagon tells Russia to "de-escalate the situation'

(Newser) - US defense officials said today that Russian fighter jets flew into Ukrainian airspace a handful of times over the last 24 hours, in what one called a continued provocation of the heightened tensions in the region. The officials said it's not clear what the intent was, but the aircraft...

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