The crisis in Ukraine can be confusing. Ukraine is a deeply divided country, between the Russian-speaking east, which looks to Moscow, and the Ukrainian-speaking west, which looks to Europe.

WE have all seen the vicious clashes between some of the Ukrainian people and their former president.

Ukraine has a new government, but Western leaders should be very careful about what they wish for, argues Geoff Roberts

Fighting broke out between pro and anti-Russian demonstrators in Ukraine’s Crimea region as Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered military exercises just across the border.

Thousands of police armed with stun grenades and water cannons have clashed with anti-government protesters in the centre of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, and police say at least 13 people have been killed.

Police clashed with protesters in central Kiev yesterday and the fate of Ukraine’s government was uncertain after embattled president Viktor Yanukovich offered key posts to opposition leaders, including the role of prime minister.

As riots spread from Ukraine’s embattled capital to nearly half of the country, President Viktor Yanukovych promised yesterday to reshuffle his government and make other concessions.

Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych has promised to reshuffle his government, free scores of protesters from jail and make other concessions after demonstrations against him spread from the besieged capital Kiev to nearly half of the country.

Enraged protesters stormed government offices in three western Ukraine cities today, forcing one governor to write a letter of resignation, as demonstrations against the pro-Russian president and his allies intensified outside the smouldering capital.

Thousands of Ukrainian protesters have blocked entrances to the government building and called for the removal of the prime minister and his cabinet, as anger at the president’s decision to ditch a deal for closer ties with the EU gripped other parts of the country and threatened his rule.

Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators are marching through Ukraine’s capital to protest the president’s refusal to sign an agreement with the European Union (EU).

Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to walk away from a deal that would have aligned his former Soviet republic more closely with the European Union sparked both anger and applause on the streets of Kiev.

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Ukraine’s Euro 2012 tournament director Markiyan Lubkivskyi today downplayed fears over a measles outbreak in the country.

Continental Farmers Group , quarter-owned by Irish agri-food business Origin, has reported profits of €3.1m to the end of last year, a 19% increase on 2010.

Continental Farmers Group (CFG) has posted €3.1m after-tax profits for 2011, a 19% rise on the €2.6m posted in 2010.

A train derailment that ignited tankers loaded with yellow phosphorous has prompted health authorities in Ukraine to check 16,000 people for symptoms of chemical poisoning.

Pressure today grew on Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to revive the divided Orange Revolution team as election returns showed combined support for their pro-Western reformist parties outpacing that of the pro-Russian opposition leader.

More than 100,000 people in the Siberian city of Kyzyl were left without heat and hot water amid subzero temperatures after a breakdown at the central heating plant today.

A bus careered off a bridge and into a river in western Ukraine today, killing seven passengers and injuring eight.

Hundreds of troops and disaster relief teams from Ukraine, the United States and 10 other countries deployed field hospitals, rescue equipment and armoured vehicles today in Ukraine for the final phase of a Nato-sponsored anti-terrorism exercise.

Ukraine wants to build 11 new nuclear reactors by 2030 in a strategic move aimed at boosting its energy independence, the state-run Energoatom company, which operates all nuclear plants in the former Soviet republic, said today.

UKRAINIAN opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko promised yesterday to prosecute government officials for crimes committed during the last decade should he win the country’s December 26 re-run of the presidential election.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych accused his rival today of an unfair election campaign in the run-up to the December 26 re-run of the presidential vote and said his camp would retaliate.

Vasyl Fylosov and Sofiya Kirichenko came to Kiev from different regions to join round-the-clock protests in support of opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko.

Ukraine’s opposition is pushing for a no-confidence vote today in a bid to topple prime minister Viktor Yanukovych’s cabinet, as the Supreme Court continues to probe the validity of the bitterly-disputed presidential election.

Defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko appealed to Ukraine’s Supreme Court today to declare the election results invalid, stepping up actions in the country’s political crisis.

OUTGOING President Leonid Kuchma yesterday warned civil war could “become a reality” in Ukraine as he asked the international community to stay out of the country’s affairs.

More than 120 people are being treated in hospital for food poisoning after attending a wedding in western Ukraine.

Up to 46 miners escaped a raging fire in a coal mine in western Ukraine, rescue officials said today.

Grandmother Svetlana Atamaniuk sobbed and moaned as she paced the pavement opposite Lviv’s central morgue, overflowing with bodies from the Ukrainian air show crash that killed 83.

Authorities are today examining flight data recorders from a Russian jet that slammed into a forest near Moscow just after take off, killing 14 people. Two flight attendants survived the crash.

UKRAINE'S prosecutor general yesterday detained a former air force commander and three other top military officials, saying errors in preparing an air show had contributed to the deaths of 83 people when a fighter jet crashed into a crowd of spectators.

NATALYA ZABOTNAYA takes a huge breath of fresh air as she emerges from a morgue in western Ukraine, where the body supposed to be her son's turned out to be another "poor man".

Demonstrators hurling bottles and stones have clashed with riot police using tear gas in the bloodiest protest in a lengthy campaign against Ukraine's president.

Hungary's government has declared a state of emergency as heavy flooding continues to devastate much of the eastern part of the country.