CIS (ex-USSR)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST/KIEV (BosNewsLife)-- Thousands of veterans involved in cleaning up Ukraine's devastated Chernobyl nuclear power plant have demonstrated against cuts in benefits they receive as compensation for their exposure to radiation. The protest in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, comes just before the 25th anniversary of what is considered the worst atomic accident in history.

Listen to this BosNewsLife via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)--Russian President Vladimir Putin has received parliamentary approval for military action in neighboring Ukraine, where thousands of Russian forces have landed on the Crimean Peninsula. It comes amid tensions elsewhere including in Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv where dozens were injured when a pro-Russian protest turned violent, with demonstrators trying to storm the local government building.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife, reporting from Budapest MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The Russian Orthodox Church enthroned Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Sunday, February 1, the 16th patriarch of at least an estimated 75 million followers, amid pressures to overcome internal divisions and to reach out to non-Orthodox believers.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BISHKEK/BUDAPEST-- The organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, said Friday, July 25, that Kyrgyzstan's presidential wass overshadowed by widespread irregularities to ensure victory of the incumbent leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST/ASTANA/BISHKEK (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians in autocratically ruled Kazakhstan and neighboring Kyrgyzstan face church closures and state control over Christian materials amid a fresh crackdown by authorities on faith groups in the region, BosNewsLife learned Friday, December 14.

By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos in Budapest BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians and foreign missionaries in Azerbaijan have begun 2011 amid concerns about their future after parliament agreed to increase fines up to 16 times for unauthorized worship and evangelism.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST/TASHKENT (BosNewsLife)-- Authorities in eastern Uzbekistan have warned local churches not to allow youngsters and children to attend their worship services and not to carry out missionary activities or "proselytism", the word for evangelism, local Christians and activists said.  

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest ASTANA/BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Kazakhstan's Supreme Court has acquitted an evangelical pastor on charges of "severe damage to health due to negligence” after praying for an ill man, but devoted Christians in another former Soviet republic, Azerbaijan, were awaiting whether a high court would ban their church, BosNewsLife learned Saturday, June 30

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, BosNewsLife MINSK/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Belarus has denied allegations of large-scale torture in a secret service jail for political prisoners. The statement comes after a just-released former presidential candidate and a leading activist spoke to reporters about the alleged mistreatment of inmates.

By BosNewsLife News Center MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- There were fears Sunday, November 29, of more tensions between Christians and Muslims in Russia after suspected Islamist rebels bombed a train that killed 25 people and a gunmen murdered a missionary priest.