News stories by Pavol Stracansky, page 3

VIENNA, Mar 17 (IPS) - A top level UN conference on drugs has highlighted growing divisions between member states on how to move forward in dealing with global drug problems as calls grow for major reforms in approaches to international drug policy.

KIEV, Mar 14 (IPS) - Crimea is facing a violent wave of human rights abuses, activists warn, with kidnappings of journalists and rights campaigners, harassment of non-Russian minorities and reports of growing persecution of anyone thought to be sympathising with the pro-European Kiev government.

MOSCOW, Mar 06 (IPS) - Elena Smolenskaya doesn't hesitate a second when asked what she thinks about the Russian military intervention in Crimea. The 23-year-old Moscow student is convinced that President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to order troops into the country.

KIEV, Mar 04 (IPS) - Crimea could remain under Russian control indefinitely as the current crisis - described by some politicians as Europe's gravest since the end of the Cold War – threatens to turn into a "frozen conflict", experts say.

MOSCOW, Mar 01 (IPS) - Fears are growing in Russia that the Kremlin is preparing a crackdown on rights activists following the end of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

KIEV, Feb 25 (IPS) - Ukrainians are facing years of pain and upheaval if the country moves towards closer EU integration – or the prospect of the country being left to "rot" if they do not, experts say following the weekend's revolution.

KIEV, Feb 21 (IPS) - As Ukraine's capital experiences the worst violence in its post-Soviet history, some protestors are warning that the festering discontent with the regime which led to the current crisis is unlikely to disappear overnight even if a solution to the current impasse is found.

KIEV, Feb 19 (IPS) - Bloody clashes that have left more than a score dead and more than a 1,000 injured in the Ukrainian capital could continue for weeks. Local people say there is now "no way back" for either side in what has become the worst crisis in the country's post-Soviet history.

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (IPS) - Sitting in the dining room of a Moscow hotel, manager Yulia Golovanova explains why she always likes to see Russians, rather than foreigners, bring guests in.

KIEV, Jan 25 (IPS) - Groups battling one of the world's worst HIV/AIDS epidemics say their task may get "catastrophically" harder following the introduction of controversial laws in Ukraine in response to months of anti-government protests.