Ukraine

Putin blames Ukraine for standoff, boosts defenses in Crimea

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blamed the latest standoff with neighboring Ukraine on the presidential ambitions of Ukraine’s leader, as the Russian military announced it was boosting its defenses in Crimea.

Ukraine, for its part, released what it said was the exact location where its ships were fired on Sunday by Russia, showing that they were in international waters approaching Kerch Strait from the west, not from the east, as Putin suggested.

About 50 houses destroyed in wake of explosions at ammunitions depot in Ukraine — media

KIEV, October 10. /TASS/. About fifty houses were destroyed as a result of the explosions at the ammunitions depot in the Avgustovka settlement (Ichnya District) in northern Ukraine's Chernigov Region, the TSN (Television News Network) website of the Ukrainian 1+1 channel informed on Wednesday.

"About 50 houses only in the Avgustovka settlement are fully unfit for living. Four houses caught fire after a direct projectile hit. Other houses were smashed. The people evacuated have no home to return to," the message informs.

Ukraine’s parliament extends Donbass special status until December 2019

KIEV, October 4. /TASS/. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, endorsed a presidential draft law on Thursday to extend the special status of Donbass until December 31, 2019.

The draft law, which was submitted to the parliament by Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko on October 3 and marked as "urgent," was backed by a total of 245 MPs

EU human rights defenders alarmed at Ukraine’s surge in religious discrimination

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. European human rights organizations are concerned about the predicament of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church believers, Bishop Victor of Baryshevka, a vicar of the Kiev Diocese, said on Friday in an interview with the Church’s Information Department, following a Warsaw meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Ukraine’s leader signs directive breaking friendship treaty with Russia

KIEV, September 17. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko signed a decree on the termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, the president’s website informed on Monday.

"According to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine from September 6, 2018, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s offer concerning the termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, signed on May 31, 1997, has been approved," the message states.

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