Kiev - "We were gathered here, and sent along 'the path to death'," says Raisa Maistrenko, pointing to a Kiev ravine that 75 years ago witnessed one of the worst atrocities of World War II.

Simferopol - Crimea went to the polls Sunday to elect deputies to Russia's parliament for the first time since the region was annexed by Moscow -- stirring pride in some, but pushing others to protest.

Simferopol - Shaded by cypress trees on Crimea's Black Sea shore, a group of locals watch as folk singers in tall headdresses boom out a patriotic song about Russia with the lyrics: "I have no other motherland.

Kiev - The French foreign minister told Ukraine on Wednesday there was "no plan B" to a tattered blueprint for ending a 29-month pro-Russian revolt that has destabilised the European Union's backyard.

Kiev - Ukraine suffered one of its deadliest days in weeks Tuesday as both government forces and pro-Russian rebels each reported the deaths of three fighters on the eve of a new peace push by Germany and France.

Yalta - Under a blazing sun, Sukhoi jets zoomed across the sky and dropped explosives, as Russian warships sailed right up to the shore.And beyond on a dusty steppe, paratroopers made a mass landing while ground forces ignited a wall of fire with napalm.

Kiev - Ukraine on Friday reported its first combat death since a new ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels went into effect on September 1 before the new school year.

Simferopol - Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea on Wednesday released prominent Crimean Tatar activist Ilmi Umerov from a psychiatric hospital, where he was forcibly detained for three weeks as he faces extremism charges.

Kiev - President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday that Ukraine's membership in NATO remained a "strategic goal" even though the Western military alliance remained sceptical about enlisting the former Soviet state.

Kiev - Ukraine drew rare Western anger Monday after the studio of one of its most popular TV channels was set ablaze by protesters unhappy with its alleged support for Russia.

Ukraine - Secretly detained by Ukrainian authorities for almost 600 days, Mykola Vakaruk suffered repeated beatings, battled the freezing cold and lost a kidney in an ordeal he described as pure hell.

Kiev - Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels on Thursday said their forces were respecting a ceasefire aimed at halting a recent spike in violence in time for the start of the new school year.

Simferopol - International rights groups and Ukrainian officials protested Friday against the incarceration in a psychiatric hospital of a prominent Crimean Tatar activist charged with calling for extremism in the Russian-annexed peninsula.

Kiev - Tanks rumbled across Kiev on Tuesday as Ukraine marked 25 years of independence with a show of force against an increasingly assertive Russia and a war simmering in the pro-Kremlin separatist east.

Kiev - Ukraine marks the 25th anniversary of its freedom from Kremlin rule Wednesday with moves to sweep away its totalitarian past and embrace a European future while grappling with its tense relations with Russia.

Kiev - A Russian man who was repeatedly arrested for donning masks of President Vladimir Putin in anti-Kremlin pickets has crossed into Ukraine and is seeking political asylum.

Kiev - Ukrainian authorities have released details of payments worth million of dollars that US presidential campaign hopeful Donald Trump's former campaign chief allegedly received from Kiev's deposed Russian-backed leaders.

Kiev - Ukraine on Thursday reported the heaviest rebel shelling attack in the separatist east for a year in what the president said could be a prelude to a full-scale Russian invasion.

Kiev - Ukrainian activists on Wednesday held a protest in central Kiev accusing the country's powerful prosecutors of obstructing a newly formed national agency that has exposed massive official corruption.

- Ukrainian paratrooper Boroda says pro-Russian rebels have recently ramped up their shelling of one key village -- a move he links to Moscow's claim of a Kiev plot against annexed Crimea.