VIDEO: The conflict in Ukraine has seen fierce battles with thousands of casualties. The overwhelming majority of combatants are men -- but not all of them. Shahida Yakub from RFE/RL's Current Time program profiles two women serving in uniform on opposing sides of the front lines.
Ukraine's finance minister says Kyiv on March 13 will begin talks with its creditors on restructuring its debt.
Natalie Jaresko, in remarks quoted by her spokeswoman, said on March 12, "We will start talks tomorrow with our creditors on a restructuring."
Jaresko did not specify which debt might be restructured.
Ukraine's creditors include Russia, which owns $3 billion in Ukrainian eurobonds, out of the total $17 billion issued by Kyiv.
Jaresko's announcement came a day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $17.5 billion loan program for Ukraine to stave off a threatened default.
The IMF said $5 billion will be disbursed immediately, but said successful debt restructuring would be "a key consideration" for the payment of further tranches.
Part of the IMF package will go toward stabilizing the national currency, the hryvnia, which lost more than two-thirds of its value against the dollar over the past year amid Ukraine's conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the east.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak says his government is seeking to obtain Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States or another country.
Siemoniak said on Polish Radio on March 12 that he would like to have Tomahawk missiles on three submarines that Poland is planning to purchase by the year 2030.
"We are asking everyone who is able to deliver such weapons, also our American partners," Siemoniak said.
Siemoniak also said some 10,000 NATO soldiers will take part in military exercises in Poland this year, among them around 5,000 members of a newly created spearhead force that is the centerpiece of NATO rapid-reaction forces.
Poland is concerned about the conflict in eastern Ukraine that involves its neighbors, Ukraine and Russia.
Poland's professional army has some 85,000 officers and troops and another 20,000 reservists.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Ukrainian officials say an explosion occurred in the southern city of Odesa near a political party's office.
An Interior Ministry spokesman in Odesa said on March 12 that the blast at the Admiraltesky business center has been classified as a terrorist attack.
No one was injured in the blast, which occurred early on March 12.
The political party Samopomich (Self-Reliance), which is part of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's government, has an office in the business center.
The facade of the building and the party office were damaged by the explosion.
The blast is the latest in a series of blasts in Odesa that began in December, all at buildings that house organizations aiding those fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
There have been similar blasts in Kharkiv, a large eastern city under government control.
An explosion at the Odesa office of the nationalist organization Right Sector occurred on March 5.
An excerpt:
KIEV, Ukraine — The guns haven't quite gone quiet but with a fragile cease-fire in Ukraine, the key question being asked these days in Kiev, Brussels and Washington boils down to this: What is Russia's next move?
Western leaders say Moscow has fueled the conflict by first covertly invading and annexing the Crimean peninsula a year ago and then backing separatists in Ukraine's east with cash and weapons.
Russia has denied direct involvement in the year-long conflict which, so far, has cost the lives of more than 6,000 people, according to the United Nations.
But corpses of Russian soldiers coming back from the front in body bags and the presence of Russian weapons and military equipment on the Ukrainian side of the border strongly suggests that Moscow has sent military forces to fight in Ukraine.
The U.S. estimates as many as 12,000 Russian troops are presently operating inside Ukraine. Areport released this week reveals just how massive Russia's military intervention in Ukraine really is, even listing specific units.
So what happens next?
Read more here.