Russia

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife  KYIV/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of all its forces from Crimea, following the Russian takeover of the peninsula. Monday's announcement came while Western concerns over Ukraine was expected to dominate a nuclear security summit in the Netherlands.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- Western leaders have expressed concern that Russia may move into other regions after it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, where at least one person was injured this weekend in a Russian takeover of two Ukrainian bases. NATO and German officials said Sunday, March 23, the conflict could expand to eastern parts of Ukraine, and even the nearby former Soviet republic of Moldova.

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- The European Union and Ukraine have signed a landmark agreement on forging closer political and economic ties, in a show of support following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The accord was signed while, in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally absorbed Crimea into Russia.

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 MOSCOW/KYIV/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula as an independent state and says approving the region's entry into the Russian Federation makes sense.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/SIMFEROPOL (BosNewsLife)-- The European Union and the United States have imposed wide ranging travel bans and asset freezes against dozens of officials from Russia and Ukraine who they blame for Russia's military incursion into Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Monday's announcements follows a disputed referendum in Crimea where election officials said nearly 97 percent of voters decided to join Russia.

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.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/SIMFEROPOL (BosNewsLife)-- Troops of the NATO military alliance and Russian forces are holding war games at different sides of the border with Ukraine, amid mounting concerns of a possible new Cold War between the West and Russia. In Rostov-on-Don where the ousted Ukrainian president Yanukovych has been staying, riffles, machine guns and rocket propelled grenades are used for war games.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine's minority Tatars are are bracing for a breakaway vote in the Crimean Peninsula amid the biggest East-West confrontation since the Cold War.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Ukrainian Christians gathered for prayers as pro-Russian activists attacked a pro-Kyiv rally on Ukraine's disputed Crimea's peninsula with clubs and whips on Sunday, March 9, while thousands took to the streets across Ukraine in rival demonstrations. The protests came while Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk vowed Ukraine would not cede "an inch" of its territory to Moscow.