War Of Words Over Ukraine ‘Combat’ Photo
It could be one of the greatest war photographs ever taken – or a fake.
A controversy is escalating in Ukraine over a photo that seems to capture the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in a single frame. It shows two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade down a dirt road as an explosion rips up the ground behind them, sending smoke into the sky. An empty baby carriage stands near a blown-out building by the road.
But a group of Ukrainian photojournalists is crying foul over the photo by Dmytro Muravskiy, who works with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Read more of the fascinating story by RFE/RL's Amos Chapple here.
Russia Launches Large Snap Military Exercises
Russia says it has launched large-scale snap military drills on land and in the Black and Caspian seas.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on August 25 that the drills began at 7 a.m. Moscow time in Russia's southern, western, and central military districts where troops have been put on combat alert.
The drills are taking place in military districts that encompass the Crimean Peninsula and regions that border Ukraine and NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as territory spanning the Ural Mountains to central Siberia.
They will last until the end of the month, involving a variety of troops, from paratroopers to the Northern Fleet.
The exercises come a week after Russia for the first time since it began its military operation in Syria used an air base in Iran, and after President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of attempts to carry out acts of sabotage in Crimea.
Eastern European countries have been worried about their security after Moscow forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014.