Radio Free Europe
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Four Ukrainian Soldiers Killed By Separatist Shelling.
The Ukrainian military says four of its soldiers have been killed in shelling in the country’s east, where fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
"Today, March 26, the armed forces of the Russian Federation once again violated the cease-fire” agreed in July 2020 and targeted the positions of Ukrainian forces with “82-mm mortars, automatic grenade launchers, and large-caliber machine guns prohibited by the Minsk agreements” aimed at putting an end to the conflict, the military said in a statement.
It said two soldiers were also injured in the attack, which occurred near the settlement of Shumy, north of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk.
The skirmish brings the total number of Ukrainian servicemen reported killed since the beginning of the year to 16, according to AFP.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the leaders of the so-called Normandy Format, a diplomatic process involving Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France aimed at resolving the conflict, to “do their utmost to preserve a full and comprehensive" cease-fire.
In a joint statement on March 18, the G7 group of nations noted that the cease-fire implemented last year has “significantly reduced violence” in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk while also deploring “recent military escalations by Russian-backed armed formations at the line of contact.”
The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, as well as the EU foreign policy chief, called on Moscow to implement its commitments to the Minsk agreements, and “stop fueling the conflict” by providing “financial and military support to the separatists.
Moscow claims it only provides political and humanitarian support to the separatists holding parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, and says Russians fighting there are volunteers.
With reporting by AFP
Belarusian Factory Hacked By Group Demanding Release Of Prisoners Who Protested 2020 Election.
A group known as Cyberpartisans says it hacked into the computers and security systems of a major Belarusian state-run producer of nitrogen compounds and fertilizers and is demanding the release of workers who were arrested during protests against...
Republika Srpska Parliament Adopts Report Denying Srebrenica Genocide.
The parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina's ethnic Serbian entity on April 18 adopted a report stating that the killing of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War did not constitute genocide, contravening the rulings of international courts.
Sister Of Iranian Protest Victim Detained By Tehran's Morality Police.
The sister of Nika Shakarmi, a victim of the Women, Life, Freedom movement protests, has been detained by Tehran's morality police for failing to adhere to the Iran's mandatory hijab law.
4 Pakistani Customs Officials Killed After Gunmen Ambush Vehicle.
Unidentified gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying officials from the customs department in northwestern Pakistan on April 18, killing four of them before fleeing the scene, police said.
Russian-American Fined For Supporting Navalny's Foundation.
The Memorial human rights groups says that a court in Russia's western city of Oryol ordered Russian-American citizen Ilya Startsev to pay 400,000 rubles ($4,240) on a charge of financing an extremist group.
Second Republican threatens to oust Mike Johnson as speaker.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a hardline conservative, said that he told Speaker Mike Johnson to resign during their conference meeting, and announced that he will support Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to oust the speaker. House Speaker Mike Johnson ...
Manhattan DA files formal request to hold Trump in contempt.
The second day on jury selection is underway in the Trump hush money criminal trial. ABC News' Olivia Rubin, John Santucci, and Brian Buckmire report. ––– Subscribe to ABC News on YouTube: Watch 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events on AB...
House managers deliver Mayorkas articles of impeachment to the Senate.
Articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were delivered to the Senate. ABC News' Jay O'Brien reports from Capitol Hill. ––– Subscribe to ABC News on YouTube: Watch 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live event...
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