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By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN After months of military buildup and brinkmanship on Ukraine’s border, Russia is ratcheting up pressure on its ex-Soviet neighbor, threatening to destabilize Europe and draw in the United States. Russia has been tightening its military grip around Ukraine since last year, amassing tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery on

By Tamara Qiblawi, Nathan Hodge, Tim Lister and Ivana Kottasová, CNN Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine as independent states, ordering the deployment of Russian troops there in a dangerous gambit that defies international law and risks a deadly military confrontation. The Kremlin’s decree recognizing the so-called Donetsk and

By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN After months of military buildup and brinkmanship on Ukraine’s border, Russia is ratcheting up pressure on its ex-Soviet neighbor, threatening to destabilize Europe and draw in the United States. Russia has been tightening its military grip around Ukraine since last year, amassing tens of thousands of soldiers, as well as equipment

By Nathan Hodge and Tim Lister, CNN Tensions in Ukraine are escalating. The country’s eastern Donbas region — where fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces have simmered since 2015 — experienced its worst shelling in years this week. And diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions have, so far, failed to reach a conclusion. As tensions