Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine have said they are taking over scores of factories and mines in the region, many of them belonging to a tycoon whose foundation has been the largest provider of humanitarian aid to the war-battered population.

Timothy L O’Brien asks why Donald Trump — via one of his top advisers — is so close to a violent fraudster with mob connections who has tried to influence US foreign policy.   

Ukraine is nationalising its largest bank following concerns over its stability.

Bernard-Henri Lévy finds extreme danger in a ‘fifth column’ of Western supporters who slavishly endorse every move by the Russian president.

British singer Elton John said he was “happy to be pranked” by two Russian comedians impersonating Vladimir Putin if it helped shine a spotlight on gay discrimination.

The Russian president did not phone the singer to discuss the anti-gay policies for which Putin has been shunned by national leaders and the Kremlin isolated, says Masha Gessen

A spokesman for Vladimir Putin has denied the Russian president spoke by telephone to Elton John, contradicting an earlier claim by the British singer that the two men had a conversation.

Ceasefire under threat as Independence Day imminent

A Russian court has rejected an appeal to release a Ukrainian military officer who has been on hunger strike since mid-December in a Russian prison.

Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces have drawn back some heavy weapons from the front line in the east in compliance with a ceasefire deal, although officials in Kiev accused rebels of falling short of requirements.

Policeman and demonstrator die after explosion at memorial rally

Ukrainian military and separatist representatives exchanged dozens of prisoners under cover of darkness at a remote frontline location, kicking off a process intended to usher in peace to the conflict-ridden east.

Six Ukrainian servicemen were killed during the withdrawal from the fiercely contested town of Debaltseve, the country’s president has said.

Ukraine has pulled most of its troops out of Debaltseve, president Petro Poroshenko says.

Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels fought fierce street battles for control of the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve, impeding implementation of a peace plan.

A ceasefire that went into effect today in eastern Ukraine appears largely to be holding, except around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.

A number of artillery attacks have hit areas near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, as the deadline for a ceasefire creeps closer, officials said.

Fierce fighting surged in eastern Ukraine yesterday as Russian-backed separatists mounted a major, sustained offensive to capture a strategic railway hub ahead of a weekend ceasefire deadline. At least 25 people were killed across the region, officials reported.

Guns would fall silent, heavy weapons would pull back from the front and Ukraine would trade broad autonomy for the east to get back control of its Russian border by the end of 2015 under a peace deal hammered out in negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine from midnight on Saturday.

There remain “quite a number of problems” in negotiations aimed at ending fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to the French foreign minister.

US President Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel have rallied behind efforts to reach a long-shot diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but offered no clear path if talks fail.

Russia sanctions to stay in place for now ‘to give peace a chance’

President Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel are trying for a public display of unity despite a potential split over arming Ukrainian fighters to fight Russian-backed separatists.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday to try to broker a peace deal for Ukraine amid escalating violence there and signs of cracks in the transatlantic consensus on confronting Vladimir Putin.

A top-level summit to discuss the crisis in Ukraine is being planned for the coming week.

Ukraine’s president has pushed for a quick ceasefire in his country’s troubled east, insisting that the conflict must be resolved and not “frozen,” and pressed Kiev’s case to be supplied with defensive weapons.

Talks on a Ukraine peace initiative will continue with a telephone call tomorrow between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his counterpart in Kiev to discuss a proposal to end the fighting.

The leaders of Germany and France ended over five hours of “constructive talks” with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, without any word of an agreement to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

The leaders of Germany and France met Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in a hastily arranged mission to bring an end to the accelerated fighting in the east of the country.

At least five people have died after heavy shelling in rebel stronghold Donetsk in eastern Ukraine damaged a hospital, six schools and five nursery schools.

Signs have emerged pointing to a major offensive in eastern Ukraine by rebels fighting to break off from the rest of the country.

At least seven people are reported to have been killed when a city bus was hit by an artillery shell in a separatist stronghold in east Ukraine.

Diplomats from Russia and Ukraine agreed on a dividing line from where both sides should pull back their heavy weapons.

Separatist forces in eastern Ukraine have deployed large quantities of arms and manpower to an emerging flashpoint, undermining hopes for a new peace initiative taking shape.

Ukrainian troops recaptured almost all the territory of Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine they had lost to separatists in recent weeks, even as thousands gathered in Kiev for a state-sponsored peace march yesterday.

Everyone who marched in Paris or elsewhere did so for their own

Security authorities are monitoring reports that Ireland is being used as a training ground for jihadists, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said, as he was among 50 world leaders and senior figures leading a demonstration in Paris following the killing of 17 people last week.

FRENCH media estimate up to 3m took part in the Paris rally for unity against terrorism — more than the numbers who took to the capital’s streets when the Allies liberated the city from the Nazis in the Second World War.

Moscow

The Ukrainian president has signed a bill dropping his country’s non-aligned status but signalled that he will hold a referendum before seeking Nato membership.

Government troops and Russian-backed separatists have largely suspended hostilities in east Ukraine in a fresh attempt to revive a largely ignored ceasefire deal.