President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday that deaths of Russian soldiers during special operations in peacetime should be classified as a state secret, a move that comes as Moscow stands accused of sending troops to fight in eastern Ukraine.

• May 28, 2015

Ukraine's defense minister said on Thursday Russia had moved forces into eastern Ukraine and there was a risk of fighting resuming between the army and pro-Russian separatists in coming months.

• May 28, 2015

Russia's army is massing troops and hundreds of pieces of weaponry including mobile rocket launchers, tanks and artillery at a makeshift base near the border with Ukraine, a Reuters reporter saw this week.

• May 27, 2015

The chief of Israel's air force on Wednesday played down worries voiced by some fellow officials about the possibility of Egypt acquiring advanced Russian-made air defenses.

• May 27, 2015

China outlined a strategy to boost its naval reach on Tuesday and held a groundbreaking ceremony for two lighthouses in disputed waters, developments likely to escalate tensions in a region already jittery about Beijing's maritime ambitions.

• May 26, 2015

The Pentagon on Tuesday said it was "unhelpful" for Iraq's Shi'ite militia to have announced an openly sectarian code name for the operation to retake the Sunni city of Ramadi and added that, in the U.S. view, the full-on offensive had yet to begin.

• May 26, 2015

Germany formally protested to Russia on Monday over Moscow's refusal to let a conservative German lawmaker into the country, a decision the Foreign Ministry criticized as unacceptable amid East-West tensions over the Ukraine crisis.

• May 25, 2015

About 100 fighter jets from the United States and eight European nations began an Arctic training exercise in the Nordic nations on Monday, a region worried by increased Russian military activity.

• May 25, 2015