Russia

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- Russia has begun transferring billions of dollars to Ukraine as part of a controversial economic deal that critics say is aimed at re-establishing the Soviet Union, and amid concerns over the mistreatment of pro-EU activists.

Listen to this report from Stefan Bos:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BERLIN/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- After his release from a Russian jail, former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said he does not want to return to business or politics, but would fight for those he considers political prisoners. Wearing a sharp suit and smiling, the now 50-year-old Khodorkovsky spoke at his first news conference since his release from prison, which was held at a museum commemorating the Berlin Wall from the Cold War era.

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.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- As many as half a million Ukrainians have participated in a pro-European Union rally in the capital Kyiv, where many toppled the statue of late Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and called for the president to step down. Sunday's rally was the biggest demonstration since the pro-freedom Orange Revolution in 2004.

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".

Listen to this BosNewsLife report via Vatican Radio: By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Tensions are rising in Moscow after an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed a narrow victory in Sunday's mayoral race, while a leading opposition candidate demanded a second election round for the Russian capital's top job.

Listen to BosNewsLife via Vatican Radio: By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin was re-elected with at least nearly 58 percent of the vote in the first direct mayoral election in a decade, though he faced an opposition challenge

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio: By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Officials say a top regional security official has been shot dead in the troubled Russian republic of Ingushetia in an attack that the local leadership linked to his efforts to end violence.

By BosNewsLife News Center MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Christian missionaries say they have stepped up efforts to spread the "Gospel pf peace and hope" in Russia's volatile North Caucasus after revelations that the suspected Boston Marathon bombers arrived from that region.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio vatiadoptioption  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife) Pro-Kremlin activists have rallied in central Moscow to demand that the government extends a ban on American families adopting Russian children to all foreign nationals, adding to a sense of urgency among Russian Christians to prepare for more adoptions in this large nation.