Ukraine

People fleeing the fighting in the separatist cities of Donetsk and Luhansk are big burden for Ukraine's financially strained government, but Kharkiv residents are stepping up to help.

Separatists and their Russian allies are still trading fire with Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, and casualty counts are rising. The separatists haven't withdrawn heavy weapons, Ukrainians say.

Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats, who followed Boris Nemtsov's career for 27 years, says he was one of the few Russian political figures willing to directly criticize President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has cut off Ukraine's gas supplies in the past and is threatening to do it again. The latest payment dispute comes at a sensitive moment in the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

A year ago, Kiev's central square was the center of the protest movement that ousted Ukraine's president. The square remains a home for free speech, including criticism of the current government.