Ukraine

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Bos NewsLife KIEV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- A ceasefire called by President Petro Poroshenko has begun in eastern Ukraine as part of efforts to revive a much-violated truce with pro-Russian separatists, but it remained unclear whether a peace meeting would go ahead as planned on Tuesday.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KIEV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has arrived in Ukraine, where he was to announce an increase in American nonlethal aid for the nation’s fight against pro-Russian separatists amid a rising death toll, though talks about more serious weapons were not excluded. His arrival came after the United Nations said nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since a ceasefire was agreed between the fighting parties in September.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KIEV/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- The Netherlands has commemorated the nearly 300 people who died on board a Malaysia Airlines plane which was shot down over eastern Ukraine earlier this year. Flags flew at half-mast at government buildings as the nation united to remember one of the worst disasters in modern Dutch history.

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.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KIEV , UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- A town in eastern Ukraine has came under heavy shelling by pro-Russian seperatists,  a day after the Russian and Ukrainian leaders met in Belarus, to discuss the escalating crisis in east Ukraine.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in eastern Ukraine are mourning the death of four local church workers and a pastor who were killed in separate attacks by pro-Russian separatists as part of a wider crackdown on evangelicals in the war torn region, BosNewsLife learned.

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.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Officials say heavy fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has forced hundreds of Ukrainian army soldiers to cross into Russia. Kiev says it will pressure Moscow to get them back.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Russia says it is carrying out massive new military exercises close to the border with Ukraine in response to what Moscow views as "provocative actions" by the NATO military alliance in neighbouring states.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- The NATO military alliance has come under pressure to increase security as hundreds of thousands of people flee battles between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.