Ukraine government and rebels blame each other for attack, which has killed evacuees trying to escape the conflict. Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed on Monday when a convoy carrying refugees was hit by rocket fire near the eastern city of Luhansk, a Ukrainian military spokesman said. [...]
Seventeen Ukrainian soldiers crossed into Russia's southern Rostov region on Saturday and laid down their arms after fleeing the fighting, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said.
“It happened this morning,” Nikolay Sinitsyn, the official regional representative of the FSB, told RT. “They were provided with food, and they’re safe here. We’re carrying out a probe.” [...]
The deputy spokesperson for the US Department of State Marie Harf has called restraint on the Ukrainian military's actions in the east for the first time, following a major shelling of Donetsk that left at least 70 civilians dead.
“We’ve stressed the importance of showing restraint to minimize casualties among the civilian – the local population,” Harf said. [...]
Citizens of Donetsk have recorded multiple videos of white glowing particles raining on residential quarters. The locals allege that Ukraine's military has shelled their city with internationally prohibited phosphorus incendiaries.
On Thursday night, people in the Lenin district of the city of Donetsk saw a flow of white fire pouring down from the dark sky alongside the now-familiar sound of bo [...]
Over 70 people have been killed in the Donetsk Region, and 116 others have been wounded over the last three days of fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement by regional authorities.
The Ukrainian army has been shelling Donetsk and its suburbs overnight as well. On Tuesday, the military seized a key train station near Donetsk. [...]
As human rights organizations call for an end to repression against the press in Eastern Ukraine, RT recalls the journalists who were abducted, tortured or paid the ultimate price and lost their lives while reporting from the heart of the civil war.
Eastern Ukraine has been dubbed a “trap for journalists” by Human Rights Watch’s representative in Russia as the deepening crisis has already [...]
MOSCOW: With a theatrical flourish, Russia on Tuesday dispatched hundreds of trucks covered in white tarps and sprinkled with holy water on a mission to deliver aid to a desperate rebel-held zone in eastern Ukraine.
The televised sight of the miles-long convoy sparked a show of indignation from the government in Kiev, which insisted any aid must be delivered by the international Red Cross. [...]
France is to join the club of Western nations directly assisting Iraqi Kurds. Paris said the Kurds are in "urgent need" of support to fight against the radical Islamic State group.
The French president’s office said the arms shipments will be delivered in a matter of hours and have been agreed to by Baghdad. [...]
250,000 people have been left without water, electricity and communications for over a week in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk. The town is subject to siege conditions and under heavy bombardment.
“We're being bombed so severely, there's hardly anything left to bomb. People are running out of money. How are we supposed to survive in this heat? [...]
Moscow and Kiev have agreed on a humanitarian mission under the authority of the Red Cross, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated.
“With careful optimism, I can now say that, I think, all possible and impossible pretexts have been dismissed. I hope that in the very nearest future this humanitarian action will take place under the authority of the Red Cross,” Lavrov said. [...]
Alexander Borodai steps down as prime minister of self-styled republic in move aimed at dampening accusations that rebellion in east is being run by Moscow. Kyiv Post reports.
The Russian prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has announced his resignation in a move aimed at dampening claims that the rebellion in eastern Ukraine is being masterminded by Moscow. [...]
Despite desperate calls from witnesses, Odessa fire brigades came to the scene of the notorious Trade Unions House blaze only 38 minutes after it was reported, leaked transcripts of emergency calls show. The fire claimed the lives of 48 people in May.
The leaked transcripts involve calls which local emergency services reportedly received on the evening of May 2. [...]
Donetsk region militia says it is ready for a ceasefire to stop the humanitarian catastrophe deteriorating, the self-proclaimed Republic's prime minister said.
“We hope that the international community will influence the bloodthirsty Kiev government,” Aleksandr Zakharchenko said as cited by RIA Novosti. [...]
438 soldiers and officers of the Ukrainian armed forces have crossed into Russia, escaping the intense fighting. RT asked them why they did this and what's next for them.
After almost four months of operation in the country’s east, soldiers say that “no one wants to fight.” [...]
In less than a year, Ukraine has been plunged into a vortex of violence that doesn't appear to have any end in sight. The vicious circle that started with Molotov cocktails thrown at riot police has now gone to ballistic missiles launched at cities.
RT traces the bloody path that led a once peaceful country into civil war. [...]
"The hospital became a nightmare," said a patient who survived after a major medical institution in Donetsk was shelled by Ukrainian troops in a series of attacks on residential neighborhoods that resulted in four casualties throughout the city.
“This is absurd,” 37-year old Dmitry Kozhur told AP correspondent on the ground. “We came here to keep living, but now we are risking death.” [...]
The command in Kiev has blatantly abandoned a group of more than 400 soldiers encircled by the self-defense forces, the senior Ukrainian officer who requested sanctuary in Russia with his men has revealed.
Lack of ammunition, food, fuel and clear orders from the command on how to act in the condition of encirclement has made the Ukrainian troops cross the border, Major Vitaly Dubinyak, a battal [...]
Kiev keeps deploying missile launchers, including SS-21 (Scarab) and multiple rocket systems Uragan and Smerch in Donetsk as it "wants to continue the war" in eastern Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The Ukrainian army continues deploy Tochka U [which NATO refers to as SS-21 or Scarab], Smerch [the BM-30 Tornado] and Uragan [the BM-27] missile complexes to Donetsk. [...]
More than 400 Ukrainian troops have been allowed to cross into Russia after requesting sanctuary. It's the largest, but not the first, case of desertion into Russia by Ukrainian soldiers involved in Kiev's military crackdown in the east of the country. [...]