Ukraine suffers deadliest day in months; 34 killed in Odessa

By Simon Denyer and Anna Nemtsova, Published: May 2 E-mail the writer

DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukraine suffered its bloodiest day in nearly three months on Friday, with at least nine people killed when the army launched its first major assault on a rebel stronghold and 34 killed in clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian mobs in the Black Sea port city of Odessa.

Behind the Masks in Ukraine, Many Faces of Rebellion

By C. J. CHIVERS and NOAH SNEIDERMAY 3, 2014

The New York Times

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — The rebel leader spread a topographic map in front of a closed grocery store here as a Ukrainian military helicopter flew past a nearby hill. Ukrainian troops had just seized positions along a river, about a mile and a half away. The commander thought they might advance.

He issued orders with the authority of a man who had seen many battles. “Go down to the bridge and set up the snipers,” the leader, who gave only a first name, Yuri, said to a former Ukrainian paratrooper, who jogged away.

Opinion: Putin's empire building is not a new Cold War

By Russia Foundation chair David Clark, Special to CNN

April 29, 2014 -- Updated 1105 GMT (1905 HKT)

[Editor's note: David Clark is chair of the Russia Foundation, which is a UK-based think-tank focused on education and dialogue on themes including democracy and economic cooperation. Clark was a special adviser to former foreign secretary Robin Cook between 1997 and 2001. Follow Clark on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his.]

London (CNN) -- The full scale of Russian President Vladimir Putin's new imperial ambition was revealed recently when he referred to the southern and eastern territories of Ukraine as Novorossiya (New Russia).

This was the name given to the region by Catherine the Great after she captured it from the Ottomans in the late 18th century and began colonizing it with Russian, Ukrainian and German settlers.

Along with his assertion that Crimea belongs to Russia because of the blood-price Russian troops paid to conquer it more than two centuries ago, Putin's appropriation of Tsarist terminology establishes a new and troubling benchmark for his irredentist project.

Amid continued defiance, Ukrainian official vows: 'We are not stopping'

By Greg Botelho, Victoria Butenko and Nick Paton Walsh, CNN

May 3, 2014 -- Updated 2314 GMT (0714 HKT)

Slavyansk, Ukraine (CNN) -- On the one side, Ukraine's interior minister said Saturday that military operations in the east would continue and vowed, "We are not stopping."

On the other, there was the pro-Russian separatist leader in Luhansk who announced the formation of an army to march on Kiev.

Disarray in eastern Ukraine as protest is attacked, mayor is shot

By Griff Witte and William Booth, Published: April 28 E-mail the writers

The Washington Post

DONETSK, UKRAINE — With Ukrainian flags flying high and garlands of flowers in their hair, protesters marched through the heart of this city at sundown Monday.

“East and West together,” they chanted.

But in Ukraine, even such anodyne appeals to unity can be a magnet for trouble. The protesters, including old men and grade-school-age children, were walking into a trap.

Russia complains of large Ukrainian troop buildup in east

By Ralph Ellis, Laura Smith-Spark and Gul Tuysuz, CNN

April 27, 2014 -- Updated 0122 GMT (0922 HKT)

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- A perilous face-off intensified Saturday when Russia state news complained that Ukraine had mobilized 15,000 troops in the suburbs of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine "in order to wipe out the city and its residents."

Quoting a Russian Defense Ministry source, RIA Novosti said satellite photos showed the force forming around the city that has become a friction point between the Ukraine military and pro-Russian militants.

The Defense Ministry source said the number of Ukraine troops put the pro-Russian militants at a disadvantage because the latter are "armed only with small amount of pistols and shotguns." Many eastern Ukraine residents have Russian roots and sympathize with Moscow.

Ukraine tense as Russia launches military drills, activists die in clashes

By Laura Smith-Spark, Ben Brumfield and Victoria Butenko, CNN

April 25, 2014 -- Updated 0344 GMT (1144 HKT)

CNN

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Tensions in Ukraine escalated sharply Thursday, with Russia embarking on new military drills near the border after Ukrainian forces said they killed five pro-Russian militants.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry said Ukrainian forces killed the militants during operations to take down pro-Russian activists' roadblocks around the southeastern city of Slavyansk.

The Russian response was swift.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said "if the Kiev regime has started to use the army against the population inside the country, it, beyond any doubt, is a very serious crime."

Ukraine’s Military Drive in East Enters Neutral Gear, as Pact on Crisis Is Tested

By ANDREW ROTH and NEIL MacFARQUHARAPRIL 23, 2014

The New York Times

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — The promised Ukrainian military effort to reassert control over the restive eastern part of the country barely registered on Wednesday, but the Geneva agreement to defuse the crisis in the country frayed even further as the United States and Russia exchanged warnings and accusations of meddling in the region.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry in Kiev said that it had flushed out armed separatists in Sviatogorsk — a town near Slovyansk, a stronghold of pro-Russian militants in the east — and that no one was injured in the operation. But a Ukrainian military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the presence of the militants in the city had been minimal. “You cannot say that there had been a powerful outburst of separatism there,” he said.

President Obama, disregarding his own red line, dithers on Ukraine

By Editorial Board, Published: April 22

The Washington Post

AFTER AN agreement to “de-escalate tensions and restore security” in Ukraine was announced Thursday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry was very explicit about U.S. expectations. “We fully expect the Russians . . . to demonstrate their seriousness by insisting that the pro-Russian separatists who they’ve been supporting lay down their arms [and] leave the buildings” in eastern Ukraine, he said. “I made clear to Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov today that if we are not able to see progress . . . this weekend, then we will have no choice but to impose further costs on Russia.”

Why Ukraine crisis has China in a bind

April 15th, 2014

02:31 PM ET

By Christopher S. Chivvis and Bonny Lin, Special to CNN

CNN

(Editor's note: Christopher S. Chivvis is a senior political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and expert in European and Eurasian security issues. You can follow him @cchivvis. Bonny Lin is an associate political scientist at RAND and an expert on Asia-Pacific security issues. The views expressed are their own.)

At Sunday night's emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, Western countries denounced Russian efforts to destabilize eastern Ukraine. Depending on your reading of its statement, China either refused to do the same, or refused to back Russia. Either way, the meeting was just the latest example of how the Ukraine crisis has put China in a bind.

In Ukraine, a crisis of bullets and economics

By Anthony Faiola, Published: April 16

The Washington Post

DONETSK, Ukraine — As pro-Russia militants stormed City Hall here Wednesday, the interim Ukrainian government was battling more than just a separatist problem.

Kiev’s credibility is on the line as the central government tries to persuade residents fearful of economic hardship that their future lies with Ukraine rather than Russia.

Ukraine Suffers Setback in Bid to Confront Pro-Russian Militias

By ANDREW E. KRAMERAPRIL 16, 2014

The New York Times

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — The opening phase of what the Ukrainian government has called a military operation to confront pro-Russian militants suffered a setback Wednesday morning when six armored personnel carriers flying a Russian flag drove into town here and parked in the central square.

Separatists tighten grip on east Ukraine, EU agrees more sanctions on Moscow

BY THOMAS GROVE AND GABRIELA BACZYNSKA

SLAVIANSK/DONETSK, Ukraine Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:21pm EDT

(Reuters) - Armed pro-Russian separatists seized more buildings in eastern Ukraine on Monday, expanding their control after the government failed to follow through on threatened military crackdown leaving Moscow's partisans essentially unopposed.

European foreign ministers agreed to widen sanctions against Moscow and the White House said Washington was seeking ways to impose more "costs" on Russia, for what Kiev and its Western friends call a Russian plot to dismember Ukraine.

Pro-Russia protesters seize Ukraine buildings, Kiev blames Putin

BY LINA KUSHCH AND THOMAS GROVE

DONETSK/KIEV, Ukraine Sun Apr 6, 2014 7:18pm EDT

(Reuters) - Pro-Russian protesters seized state buildings in three east Ukrainian cities on Sunday, triggering accusations from the pro-European government in Kiev that President Vladimir Putin was orchestrating "separatist disorder".

The protesters stormed regional government buildings in the industrial hub of Donetsk and security service offices in nearby Luhansk, waving Russian flags and demanding a Crimea-style referendum on joining Russia.

Protesters also later seized the regional administrative building in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, Interfax news agency reported. All three cities lie close to Ukraine's border with Russia.

Kerry, Lavrov hold talks on de-escalating Ukraine crisis

BY LESLEY WROUGHTON AND ALEXEI ANISHCHUK

PARIS/MOSCOW Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:22pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, discussed ways to defuse the Ukraine crisis during talks in Paris on Sunday in which Kerry made clear Washington still considered Russian actions in Crimea "illegal and illegitimate."

How to deal with Russia without reigniting a full-fledged Cold War psychology

By George P. Shultz and Sam Nunn, Published: March 27

George P. Shultz, a distinguished fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, was secretary of state from 1982 to 1989. Sam Nunn, a former U.S. senator from Georgia and chairman of the Armed Services Committee from 1987 to 1995, is co-chairman and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

The Washington Post

Russia has taken over Crimea and threatens further aggression. Now is the time to act but also to think strategically. What basic strategic approach should the United States and its allies take, and how can that approach be implemented over time so that the tactical moves benefit our long-term interests? Is it possible to avoid the reemergence of a full-fledged Cold War psychology, which is encouraged by Russia developing an “I can get away with it” mentality?

‘Ukraine’ or ‘the Ukraine’? It’s more controversial than you think.

BY KATIE ZEZIMA

March 25 at 2:40 pm

The Washington Post

When speaking about Ukraine, three seemingly innocuous letters can make a huge impact: the.

In recent weeks, politicians including President Obama and Mitt Romney have used the construction "the Ukraine" while speaking about that country and Russia's recent annexation of Crimea.

"And unfortunately, not having anticipated Russia's intentions, the president wasn't able to shape the kinds of events that may have been able to prevent the kinds of circumstances that you're seeing in the Ukraine," Romney said on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday.

Acknowledging defeat, Ukraine pulls troops from Crimea

BY ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC AND GABRIELA BACZYNSKA

FEODOSIA/SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine Mon Mar 24, 2014 11:48am EDT

(Reuters) - Ukrainian troops and their families began evacuating from Crimea on Monday, as Kiev effectively acknowledged defeat by Russian forces who stormed one of the last of their remaining bases on the peninsula.

NATO says Russia has big force at Ukraine's border, worries over Transdniestria

BRUSSELS Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:25am EDT

(Reuters) - NATO's top military commander said on Sunday that Russia had a large force on Ukraine's eastern border and said he was worried it could pose a threat to Moldova's mainly Russian-speaking separatist Transdniestria region.

From Russia, with Lavrov

Mar 17th 2014, 14:53 by Buttonwood

The Economist

           

THE big question for investors after the Crimean referendum (which in its one-sided result, only added to the 1930s parallels of the crisis) is what will be the extent of Western sanctions against Russia, and what will be Mr Putin's response. The latest figures from the Fed suggest that the Russians have been following the famous rugby tactic of "getting their retaliation in first". The Fed's custody holdings of Treasury securities fell by $104 billion in the week to March 12, with the sell-off generally attributed to Russian actions.