Lawyers

• Independent media battle on in Putin's Russia

  Alexei Venediktov, one of Russia's most prominent journalists, does not go out without a bodyguard and does not answer mobile phone calls for fear of being tracked.

• Russia stages WW2 victory parade, draws rebuke from Ukraine

  Thousands of troops marched across Moscow's Red Square on Saturday and tanks rumbled through streets to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, an event boycotted by Western leaders over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.

• Murders of pro-Russian lobbyists increase tension in Ukraine standoff

  A Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views was shot dead on Thursday in Kiev, a day after the killing of a political supporter of ousted Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich, driving up tension between Moscow and Kiev.

• Putin says Russia was ready for nuclear confrontation over Crimea

  Moscow was ready to put its nuclear forces on alert to ensure Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin said in a pre-recorded documentary aired on Sunday.

• A year after fleeing Ukraine, Yanukovich speaks of return

  Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who fled to Russia a year ago after being toppled by months of street protests, said he was ready to return to Ukraine if the opportunity arose.

• A year after revolution, Ukraine struggles with old hang-ups

  The former power company executive yanked up his trouser leg to show the electronic bracelet round his ankle that would alert police if he tried to make a run for it from Kiev.

• Ukraine puts on parliamentary show of unity in message to Russia

  Ukraine's parliament approved Arseny Yatseniuk for a new term as prime minister on Thursday in a ceremony that countered reports of high-level disunity in a message to Russia over its backing of separatists in the country's east.

• Merkel hits diplomatic dead-end with Putin

  After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.

• Biden voices support for Ukraine, denounces Russia's Putin

  U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Russia's behaviour in Ukraine as "unacceptable" and said Moscow should abide by a September peace deal and pull its military forces out of the country.

• Ukraine's 'kamikaze' PM relishes hawkish reputation

  Ukraine's prime minister once said he and the emergency government which took power after pro-European protests in February were on a "suicide" mission, fated to take unpopular decisions that would cut short their political careers.

• U.S. and EU hail pro-West election outcome in Ukraine, Russia guarded

  Pro-Western parties will dominate Ukraine's parliament after an election handed President Petro Poroshenko a mandate to end a separatist conflict and to steer the country further away from Russia's orbit towards mainstream Europe.

• On eve of poll, Ukraine leader seeks support for pro-Europe course

  President Petro Poroshenko called on Ukrainians on Saturday to elect a majority on Sunday that would see through a pro-Europe, reform agenda and break with the Soviet past.

• War heroes and activists to shape new-look Ukraine parliament

  Out will go the bodyguards and mistresses, in are likely to come the street activists and war veterans: Ukraine's next parliament will be pro-Western and strongly nationalist, and it won't be to Russia's liking.

• Flaws found in Ukraine's probe of Maidan massacre

  For millions of Ukrainians, it was a crime against humanity. In February, more than 100 protesters were gunned down in the Maidan uprising that toppled the president, Viktor Yanukovich. The victims are now known as “the Heavenly Hundred.”

• Ukraine leader clings to European goal despite Putin

  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has secured a temporary peace in the troubled east which he says gives him a chance to move Ukraine towards its dream of a place in Europe - but Russia's Vladimir Putin still holds cards that could thwart him.

• Ukraine president sets 2020 as EU target date, defends peace plan

  President Petro Poroshenko proclaimed reforms on Thursday spanning all aspects of life to make strife-torn Ukraine fit for European Union membership, warning his people that without reform they would face a future "alone with Russia."

• Ukraine ratifies EU deal, offers special status to rebels

  Ukraine ratified a sweeping agreement with the European Union on Tuesday - an issue at the heart of the Russia-West crisis over its future - and sought to blunt the independence drive of Russian-backed separatists by offering them temporary and limited self-rule.