Russia

By BosNewsLife News Center MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Evangelical Churches and Christian groups in Russia that are involved educational, social and charitable work are facing harassment from authorities resembling the Soviet-era, rights activists say. One church was reportedly liquidated over alleged illegal "non-religious educational activity", in the heavily Orthodox, post-Communist nation.

Listen to BosNewsLife via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/SIMFEROPOL (BosNewsLife)-- Russia and Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula have agreed to make Crimea part of Russia, despite Western outrage and threats of more sanctions.  Tuesday's announcement came while pro-Russian forces reportedly attacked a Ukrainian military base in Crimea, killing one officer.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Fighting raged Sunday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk despite a request from the pro-Russian separatists for a cease-fire to prevent what they called a "humanitarian catastrophe." At least one person was killed and 10 injured in the latest shelling that started early Sunday and continued throughout the day, officials said.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News Report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV,UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- The foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have condemned the use of what they call "excessive force" against pro-European protesters in Ukraine, amid escalating tensions in the former Soviet nation. Speaking after talks of the NATO military alliance in Brussels, Belgium, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ukraine's leadership to listen to what he called "the voices of its people".

By Stefan J, Bos Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- A Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest was kidnapped Saturday, March 15, by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, adding to concerns the tensions may turn into a religious and ethnic conflict, church sources said.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/STOCKHOLM (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine is celebrating after it won the Eurovision Song Contest with an emotionally charged song about Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin's deportation in 1944 of nearly a quarter of a million Crimean Tatars. Yet the song by Susana Jamaladinova, a 32-year-old trained opera singer who uses the stage name Jamala, has angered critics in Russia, which came in third after Australia.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with additional reporting by Vatican Radio's Laura Ieraci KIEV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- The leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which suffered persecution under Communism, has urged voters to act against corruption and political candidates to stay away of populism.

Listen here to the BosNewsLife News report BosNewsLifeStalingrad  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondenty BosNewsLife VOLGOGRAD, RUSSIA (BosNewsLife)-- For one day the southern Russian city of Volgograd was called Stalingrad, again, as Russia remembered the bloodiest battle in human history. Survivors were among those commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad, which ended here exactly 70 years ago.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine and Russia have signed a major economic trade deal, despite massive protests in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, for European Union integration , with Moscow promising massive financial assistance and cuts in natural gas prices.