Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed a new defence minister on Monday after the previous incumbent resigned amid sharp criticism over a rout of Kiev's troops by Russian-backed separatists in late August.

• October 13, 2014

President Vladimir Putin's order to withdraw troops to their bases in southern Russia is a move towards easing the Ukraine crisis, but Moscow has made previous pledges which it has not fulfilled, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday.

• October 13, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian troops to withdraw to their permanent bases after military exercises in Rostov region near the border with Ukraine, the Kremlin said, in a sign of some tension easing before a key meeting next week.

• October 12, 2014

Russia's media watchdog has accused opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta of violating anti-extremism laws and issued it with a formal warning, the paper said on Friday.

• October 10, 2014

Statements by NATO's new chief do not raise hopes of a rapid improvement in relations between Russia and the military alliance, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

• October 9, 2014

Ukraine warned the European Union on Wednesday not to accept pro-Russian rebels carving out a de facto state and said that unlike other "frozen conflicts" in the former Soviet Union it could destabilize all of Europe.

• October 9, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin could hold talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko next week on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders in Milan, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

• October 9, 2014

After three days trapped in a cellar by shelling, Svetlana and Sergei Divenko left their home in eastern Ukraine and fled to Russia with their two children and a single bag.

• October 7, 2014