Ukrainians Of Buffalo & WNY

A Russian court in Crimea has convicted five Crimean Tatar activists of taking part in "mass disturbances" in February 2014 and handed them suspended prison sentences ranging from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years.

Crowds of protesters including coal miners, Chernobyl cleanup workers, and Soviet Afghan war veterans have clashed with police outside the Ukrainian parliament.

Ukrainian ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova was not allowed to meet with Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko in a Moscow detention center, the Ukrainian parliament's deputy speaker says.

Follow all of the latest developments as they happen.

The United States has called on Russia to release dozens of people it says have been identified by rights groups as political prisoners.

A court in the Russia-annexed peninsula of Crimea has for the third time postponed a ruling on five Crimean Tatars charged with organizing an illegal demonstration four years ago.

European Union agricultural ministers have prolonged the bloc's investment ban against Crimea for another year.

Thousands of activists marched on June 17 in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, marking an annual celebration of gay and lesbian rights that has been marred by violence in the past. The June 17 March of Equality was one of the largest such events staged in the country in years.

Gay-rights activists marched through the center of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, for an annual pride rally, amid increased police presence. The June 17 March of Equality took place without serious incident, but police said they detained 56 members of radical groups who tried to disrupt the event. Police said several thousand people attend the march, which started near Taras Shevchenko Park and lasted more than one hour.

Thousands of activists have marched in Ukraine's capital, marking an annual celebration of gay and lesbian rights that has been marred by violence in the past.

For more than three years, Ukraine has been plagued by a conflict between the eastern secessionist territories and the Kiev government. These images portray a generation caught between war and peace

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Former champions Tavria are now two struggling teams: one in mainland Ukraine, and one in Russian-annexed Crimea

When Russia won the right to host this year’s World Cup in 2010, Tavria Simferopol were in Ukraine’s top division. The club’s “ultras” – hardcore fans – sang patriotic songs, and nursed fond memories of Tavria’s biggest triumph: when the club won independent Ukraine’s first Premier League title in 1992.

Eight years later, as the World Cup gets under way, there are two teams called Tavria: one still plays in Simferopol, the capital of Russian-annexed Crimea, and one plays across the newly drawn border in mainland Ukraine.

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Family of jailed Ukrainian film director on hunger strike appeal to Russian president

The family of Oleg Sentsov, the Ukrainian film director imprisoned in Russia who is on hunger strike, have called on President Vladimir Putin to release him before the World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday.

“He says he’s going to carry his hunger strike through to the end, and Oleg is the kind of person who doesn’t go back on his word,” Sentsov’s cousin Natalia Kaplan told the Guardian.

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