Kyiv says three soldiers killed:
The Ukrainian military says three of its soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded in fighting in the country’s east.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on June 18 that the casualties occurred during the previous 24 hours.
"Clashes aren't getting any less frequent and in certain parts they are turning into full-scale military operations," he added.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and rebels has killed more than 6,400 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
In recent weeks, the sides have accused each other of increasing attacks despite a cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk in February. (Reuters, Interfax)
UN Says Russia Led World In 2014 Asylum Claims Due To Ukraine War
By RFE/RL
A United Nations report says Russia was the world’s largest single recipient of asylum requests during 2014 as a result of the war in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
The report by the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, says a total of 271,200 Ukrainians lodged applications for refugee status or temporary asylum in Russia since the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine -- about 99 percent of the asylum claims in Russia during 2014.
By comparison, the UNHCR reported data from the Ukrainian State Emergency Service that says 823,000 people became internally displaced within Ukraine by the end of 2014 as a result of the conflict in the east.
About 19,000 Ukrainians also filed asylum requests in 67 other countries.
The most were in Germany with 2,700 claims, followed by Poland and Italy with 2,100, and France with 1,400.
Nuland: Russia Missile Plan Has 'Rattling Effect," Reality Less Dramatic
A senior U.S. State Department official on June 18 played down an announcement by Russia that it will add tens of new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal.
Victoria Nuland, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European affairs, told reporters on a visit to the Czech capital, Prague, "Those kinds of announcements when made publicly like that obviously have a rattling effect."
"When we look at what is actually happening inside Russia, it is far less dramatic," she said, commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of the plan on June 16.
Putin said June 16 that Russia would add more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year.
But on June 17, the Kremlin said Russia does not want to enter a costly new arms race with the West, saying it would hurt the country’s economy.
"We are against any arms race because it naturally weakens our economic capabilities,” presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on June 17. “In principle we are against it."