Shaun Walker, The Guardian

Social tension, police brutality and public disorder – and all of it in the heart of the United States. For the Kremlin and its mouthpieces, who have long accused Washington of outrageous hypocrisy and double standards, unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, come like manna from heaven.

A senior adviser to Vladimir Putin has called the Ukranian president a "Nazi" as Ukraine signed an association with the European Union.

Ukrainian servicemen come under pressure from Russian troops and local forces to abandon Crimean bases

With Soviet-era music blaring from loudspeakers and the Russian tricolour everywhere, the overwhelming feeling in Sevastopol was that the city was finally "going home" after a 23-year stay in Ukraine.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, who were among group of activists detained by police, deny alleged hotel theft