Yuan Yafei tells the FT of plans to open four franchise stores in Russia over the next two to three years, following takeover deal House of Fraser is to expand into Russia under plans revealed by the Chinese business magnate behind the department store's recent takeover. Yuan Yafei, chairman of Sanpower, told the Financial Times he would open four franchise stores in Russia and two in Abu Dhabi over...
Guardian moderators, who deal with 40,000 comments a day, believe there is an orchestrated pro-Kremlin campaign Trolling covers a multitude of sins but a particularly nasty strain has emerged in the midst of the armed conflict in Ukraine, which infests comment threads on the Guardian and elsewhere, despite the best efforts of moderators. Readers and reporters alike are concerned that these are from...
More than 60 activists detained during violence that led to people being burnt alive in trade union buildling set free A group of pro-Russia activists has stormed the police headquarters in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa and released scores of prisoners detained at the scene of deadly violence on Friday that culminated in people being burnt alive in a trade union building. In the pouring rain,...
Barack Obama rolls out the jokes on Saturday in front of a crowd of journalists, politicians, Hollywood stars and business executives at the 100th anniversary of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. The US president made fun of conservative television hosts' talk about Putin's bare chest and a comment from one last year about Putin being headed for a Nobel peace prize Continue reading......
US secretary of state speaks by phone to Russian counterpart to discuss collective responsibility to de-escalate crisis Secretary of state John Kerry, who is currently travelling in Africa , spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday about the continuing crisis in Ukraine . The two spoke by phone, with Kerry saying the release of seven military observers from the Organisation for Security...
Mother's grief in Odessa after violence between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian factions leaves 46 people dead Fatima Popura and her husband Vadim watched the violence in Odessa escalate on their television screens, but as night fell they went out to see what was happening at the city's trade union building, which had been at the centre of fighting between pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine groups. When they...
Fighting in east continues into second day as troops move in to Kramatorsk and advance on rebel HQ in Slavyansk Two days of chaos and violence in east and south-east Ukraine appeared on Saturday to be pushing the country ever closer to civil war, as the death toll rose following a military counter-offensive launched by authorities in Kiev against pro-Russia rebels. An angry crowd confronted police...
A group of western military observers has been released from hostage after being held for eight days by pro-Russian separatists. The eight men were captured in the eastern Ukrainian area and initially described as 'prisoners of war' by the separatists. The West has criticised Russia for its lack of action over the hostage situation Continue reading... ...
Seven OSCE observers released by pro-Russian separatists in Slovyansk Ukrainian troops block major roads into Slovyansk as centre of city remains in pro-Russian's control Ukrainian government forces take control of TV tower in Kramatorsk after fatal clashes More than 30 killed in Odessa after rioting and fire in trade union building 10.35am BST In Vienna, a spokeswoman for Organization for Security...
UK's ambassador to the United Nations and the foreign secretary condemn Moscow as crisis in Ukraine escalates The UK has accused Moscow of breathtaking hypocrisy after bloody clashes between pro-Russia militia and Ukraine's army marked a sharp escalation in the crisis. At an emergency session of the United Nations security council, the UK's ambassador, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said Russia "funded,...
Two Ukrainian helicopters downed and 'many' rebels killed Moscow calls emergency meeting of UN security council Ukrainian military forces have mounted their fiercest attempt yet to retake the town at the epicentre of the pro-Russian insurrection in the east, obliterating checkpoints and losing two of their own helicopters in an assault that tilts the country ever closer to outright conflict. At least...
Russia's hostility has only served to intensify Ukrainians' lust for a European future but the EU just looks on Two weeks ago I stood and watched as three groups of heavily armed men in military uniforms entered a police station in Slavyansk. One of them, a friendly fellow who spoke some English, later confessed to being a Russian marine who had served in Chechnya; this was an unsurprising revelation,...
Police say people choked to death on smoke or were killed jumping out of window after assault on trade union building More than 30 people were reported to have been killed in violent and chaotic clashes in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on Friday as pro-Ukrainian activists stormed a building defended by protesters opposed to the current government in Kiev and in favour of closer ties with Russia....
Vladimir Putin has taken Russia back to pre-Soviet nationalist attitudes. Tanks may yet roll across the Ukrainian border The news from Ukraine grows more ominous by the day: Moscow reacting with overwrought displays of anger to Kiev's feeble efforts to assert its authority in the east, ordering the Ukrainian army out, and seeming to lay the groundwork for an eastern referendum, with the victors perhaps...
There are two omissions in Seumas Milne's analysis of Ukraine's crisis ( It's not Russia that's pushed Ukraine to the brink of war , 30 April). The first is that however legitimate the Yanukovych government was and it was internationally recognised it lost that legitimacy with its rampant kleptocracy. If the estimates of Yanukovych's $12bn wealth are accurate, he alone accounts for 7% of Ukraine's...
US and German leaders present united front in warning Putin futher sanctions inevitable unless Russia reverses course US president Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday warned Russia that sanctions targeting whole sections of the country's economy would be inevitable unless Moscow de-escalates the situation in Ukraine before elections later this month. Appearing together at the...
Pro-Russian militants in Slavyansk arm themselves with heavy weapons and fortify barricades while they wait for the Ukrainian army to try to retake the eastern city. The rebels shoot down two Ukrainian military helicopters over Slavyansk, in the latest wave of clashes in Eastern Ukraine Continue reading... ...
Kiev launches offensive against Slavyansk in a bid to retake eastern city from pro-Russia militia A spokesman for Vladimir Putin said the Geneva agreement to defuse the situation in eastern Ukraine was no longer viable after Kiev launched a military operation against the rebel-held city of Slavyansk on Friday. The Ukrainian military launched its first serious offensive to retake the city, which is...
Separatists claim they are under attack in Slavyansk Helicopter seen opening fire near Slavyansk Kiev says pilot killed after separatists fire anti-aircraft missiles at jet Ukraine brings in conscription to combat gains by separatists 9.25am BST Anti-Russian activists in Kiev have released footage purporting to show the moment a helicopter was shot down over Slavyansk. 9.02am BST The German chancellor...
Thousands gather in Red Square for first time since 1991 to express patriotic fervour following Russia's takeover of Crimea The traditional May Day parade made a return to Moscow's Red Square on Thursday, gathering tens of thousands of students, labour union members and passersby in an outpouring of patriotic fervour following Russia's takeover of Crimea. The event has not been held on the square since...