Ukrainians Of Buffalo & WNY

A gunman and a police officer have been killed in a shootout in Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv near the city council building.

Follow all of the latest developments as they happen.

Ukrainian photographer Tetyana Krukovets has created the Fearless Beauty project to break through the isolation that cancer patients often experience.

The Kremlin says German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a “very serious and detailed" three-hour discussion during their meeting outside of Berlin, including an exchange of views on Ukraine, Syria, Iran, and a crucial pipeline project.

A Kremlin spokesman says talks on August 18 between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended after three hours, calling the conversation "very serious and detailed."

The judge presiding over the trial of U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort says he has received threats that have made him fear for the "peace and safety" of the jurors deciding Manafort's fate.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) says an alleged “confession” of spying by Ukrainian blogger and RFE/RL contributor Stanislav Aseyev that aired on Russian TV was “highly questionable” and demanded his immediate release from detention by Moscow-backed separatists.

Despite a 2015 cease-fire deal, fighting continues in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russia-backed separatists. RFE/RL cameras spent a day in a Ukrainian forces military trench near the city of Krasnohorivka capturing exchanges of gunfire.

A court in Ukraine has issued a suspended three-year prison sentence against a woman from Crimea charged with high treason.

One was a Soviet soldier during the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the other was imprisoned for protesting it. Now they meet in Prague. This report is based on a documentary, Spring '68, by RFE/RL's Ukrainian service.

Russian president makes call ahead of meeting with Angela Merkel

Russian president Vladimir Putin has called on Europe to contribute to the reconstruction of Syria to allow millions of refugees to return home.

“We need to strengthen the humanitarian effort in the Syrian conflict,” he said on Saturday, ahead of a meeting with his German counterpart Angela Merkel at the government retreat of Meseberg Palace, north of Berlin.

Related:Putin holds winning cards as Syrian war nears Idlib showdown

Related:Macron and the west must not play along with Putin’s Syria endgame | Natalie Nougayrède

Related:Merkel tells Putin not to exclude Ukraine from gas pipeline route

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Fresh controversy as foreign minister Karin Kneissl offers warm welcome to Russian leader

There was a Russian Cossack choir, a horse-drawn carriage and a venue specialising in a Viennese fried chicken. But one thing about the wedding of the Austrian foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, stood out: among the guests was the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The exact details of Putin’s controversial “private” visit weren’t confirmed until the last minute, when his private plane touched down at the tiny Graz regional airport early yesterday afternoon. The airport was briefly closed to passengers and sealed off by a large police presence supported by Austria’s elite Cobra taskforce.

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Critics say Russian leader’s attendance undermines EU’s tough stance over Ukraine

Vladimir Putin is to attend the wedding of Austria’s foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, triggering outrage among critics who say the invitation undermines the EU’s stance against Russia over Ukraine.

The Russian president will drop by on Saturday afternoon to raise a glass to Kneissl and her groom, the businessman Wolfgang Meilinger, in a vineyard in Austria’s picturesque Styria region, before flying to Berlin for talks that evening with Angela Merkel.

Wedding is a private thing. However it goes without saying: if you invite Vladimir Putin to your wedding, you are not neutral anymore. From now on, Austria can’t be a mediator in Ukraine. Period. @sebastiankurz @AustriaInUA

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