• Ukrainian students saved by the 'last bell,' kicking off start of summer

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Ukrainian students celebrate the last day of school in Independence Square in Kiev, on May 24, 2013. Students across Ukraine celebrated the end of the academic year on Friday, traditionally called the "last bell".

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Ukrainian students jump in a fountain in Independence Square during a gathering of school graduates in Kiev, on May 24, 2013, as they mark "last bell" celebrating the day they leave school.

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Secondary school graduates play in a fountain as they celebrate the last day of school in Kiev on May 24, 2013.

    Students across Ukraine celebrated the end of the academic year on Friday, traditionally called the "last bell".

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  • Parades commemorate Red Army's World War II victory

    Yuri Kadobnov / AFP - Getty Images

    Russian military jets fly above St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow's Red Square on May 9, 2013, during Russia's Victory Day parade.

    Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, center right, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, center left, watch the Victory Day Parade in Red Square on May 9, 2013.

    Ivan Sekretarev / AP

    In a haze of exhaust fumes, Russian self-propelled howitzers move across Red Square on May 9, 2013.

    Fighter jets screamed over Red Square and heavy tanks rumbled over its cobblestones as Russia flexed its military muscle on the 68th anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the annual military parade in Moscow that Russia will be a guarantor of world security. Putin's short speech Thursday came at the culmination of Victory Day, Russia's most important secular holiday, which honors the country's huge military and civilian losses. 

    Commemorative events were also held in other former Soviet states and in Jerusalem.

    -- Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press

    Efrem Lukatsky / AP

    Cadets of the Ukrainian Military academy preparing to celebrate the anniversary of victory over the Nazis at a memorial to World War II veterans in a park in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 9, 2013.

    Andrey Smirnov / AFP - Getty Images

    Russian World War II veterans, former navy sailors, celebrate Victory Day at their traditional veterans' meeting in Gorky park in central Moscow on May 9, 2013.

    Abir Sultan / EPA

    A Jewish veteran accompanied by his grandson takes part in a parade marking the 68th anniversary of the victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany in Jerusalem, Israel, on May 9, 2013.

    Ivan Sekretarev / AP

    Russian soldiers march across Red Square on May 9, 2013.

    David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters

    Veterans chat during a Victory Day celebration in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 9, 2013.

    Dumitru Doru / EPA

    A young girl lays flowers at the grave of fallen soldiers during celebrations to mark the 68th anniversary of Victory Day in Chisinau, Moldova, on May 9, 2013.

    Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA

    World War II-era military vehicles parade in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, on May 9, 2013.

    Related:

    Stories of Jewish Red Army vets just coming to light

    Holocaust survivors remember the horrors of Buchenwald

    In a grand display, Russian soldiers re-enact historic World War II march

  • Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA

    Brawl breaks out during Ukrainian parliament session

    Opposition lawmakers clash with deputies of the pro-presidential majority during a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Opposition lawmakers demanded the use of the Ukrainian language, not Russian, by all parties as they speak in parliament.

    The use of the Russian language is a contentious issue in the Ukraine, where millions consider it their mother tongue while many others see its use as an insult to national pride.

    Fistfights have become a relatively common occurrence in parliament since the October 2012 election, which gave the opposition party Svoboda representation and weakened the president's Regions party, though they still command a majority together with traditional communist allies.

    --EPA, Reuters

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

  • Underpass serves as dance hall for Ukrainian retirees

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Mykola Milevsky, 75, left, and Natalia Stolyarenko, 58, stand in their apartment as they prepare to attend an amateur dance gathering in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 24.

    The dance gathering for pensioners has taken place every Saturday and Sunday for about 20 years in an underpass near a city center metro station in Kiev, Ukraine, where city authorities have allowed the group to meet, as it cannot afford to rent a location. For the gathering's attendees, it is one of the few opportunities to meet and socialize. A few couples have met through the event, and several have settled down to live with each other. Milevsky and Stolyarenko are one of those couples and have lived together for more than four years.

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    A couple hug as Mykola Milevsky and Natalia Stolyarenko dance.

     

  • Ukraine lawmakers brawl in parliament for second day running

    Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA

    Opposition and pro-presidential lawmakers scuffle on the podium during a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on December 13, 2012.

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Deputies of the opposition fight with deputies of the majority for a second time in two days on December 13, 2012.

    Seconds out, Round 2! Fights broke out in the Ukrainian parliament for a second time in two days on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.

    The opening session of the Verkhkovna Rada on Wednesday began in a typically raucous fashion (as seen on PhotoBlog yesterday) as a fight erupted in the chamber between opposition MPs and two deputies whom they accused of defecting to the pro-government camp. Several lawmakers from the opposition nationalist Svoboda group chased two men they called "turncoats" — a father and a son — to prevent them from taking the oath.  

    Ukraine's parliament has seen several physical confrontations in recent years amid bitterness between opposition and pro-government camps. 

    Sergei Chuzavkov / AP

    Ukrainian lawmakers fight around the rostrum on Dec. 13, 2012.

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Deputies of the opposition fight with deputies of majority party during the opening of the newly elected parliament on December 12, 2012.

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Deputies fight for a second time in two days, during the second session of the newly elected parliament on December 13, 2012.

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    Scuffles between lawmakers from Ukraine's ruling party and the opposition broke out in the country's parliament once again on Thursday morning over the election of parliamentary officials. NBCNews.com's Alex Witt reports.

  • Ukraine parliament convenes amid protest, shoving

    Pool via AFP - Getty Images

    Ukrainian deputies push and shove on December 12, 2012 before the opening ceremony of the newly elected Ukrainian parliament in Kiev.

    Sergei Chuzavkov / AP

    Heavyweight Champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, center, talks to members of his group during the first session of the new parliament on Dec. 12, 2012.

    The first session of Ukraine's newly elected parliament was marred by a protest and a skirmish between deputies.  

    President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions secured a slim majority in parliament after an election criticized by the West as unfair over the jailing of ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko.

    A group of opposition deputies took their places in parliament wearing matching sweaters featuring a portrait of Tymoshenko.

    New opposition faces taking the oath on Wednesday included world heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, who heads the UDAR (Punch) party, and Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the Svoboda far-right nationalists who made a surprisingly strong showing in the October poll.

    -- The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Ukrainian opposition deputies wear sweaters featuring a portrait of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and reading on the reverse "Free political prisoners!".

    Anastasiya Sirotkina / Pool via Reuters

    Members of parliament scuffle with colleagues elected from their party but who later refused to join a faction, at the first session of newly-elected Ukrainian parliament on December 12, 2012.

    Andrew Kravchenko / Pool via Reuters

    Members of parliament scuffle with colleagues elected from their party but who later refused to join a faction, at the first session of parliament on December 12, 2012.

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  • Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA

    Remembering the Great Famine in Ukraine

    Ukrainians light candles next to a monument to victims of the Great Famine in Kiev on Nov. 24, 2012. The dreadful famine that engulfed Ukraine, the northern Caucasus, and the lower Volga River area in 1932-1933 was the result of Joseph Stalin's policy of forced collectivization. More than five million Ukrainians were killed in the famine.

  • Topless feminist confronts Russian patriarch

    Inna Sokolovska / EPA

    A topless activist of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen attempts to confront Patriarch Kirill, center right, after he landed at the Boryspil Airport in Kiev, Ukraine on July 26, 2012.

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Patriarch Kirill, right, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, attends a welcoming ceremony as he arrives at the airport in Kiev.

    Updated at 1:05 p.m. ET: A topless woman confronted the head of the Russian Orthodox Church as he arrived in Kiev on Thursday in the latest in a string of eye-catching stunts pulled by a Ukrainian feminist group.

    An activist from the Femen women's rights group rushed towards Patriarch Kirill with bared breasts, yelling "Get out!", the Russian state news agency reported, before she was bundled away by security guards.

    The European Pressphoto Agency reported that the Femen protest aimed to highlight a demand for greater independence for Ukraine's main orthodox church, which still answers to the Moscow Patriarchate.

    "Regrettably, people are trying to mar the Patriarch's visit to Ukraine through these stunts," the head of the patriarch's press service, Deacon Alexander Volkov, said, adding that such incidents signal "a deep spiritual crisis in some social circles."

    Russian Orthodox Church apologizes for photoshopping patriarch's expensive watch

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Security guards detain the FEMEN activist.

    Femen via AFP - Getty Images

    A topless woman protests at the arrival of the Russian Orthodox Church leader in Ukraine. NBCNews.com's Alex Witt reports.

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  • A fashion show for disabled women in Ukraine

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    A model with physical disabilities, left, takes part in a "Fashion Week Chance" show in Kiev, Ukraine on July 25, 2012. Ukrainian fashion designers presented haute couture collections for women with physical disabilities at a special show in Kiev.

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Make-up artists work on models with physical disabilities before a "Fashion Week Chance" show in Kiev, Ukraine on July 25.

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    A model with physical disabilities waits to participate in a "Fashion Week Chance" show in Kiev, Ukraine on July 25.

    Gleb Garanich / Reuters

    Models with physical disabilities prepare to take part in a "Fashion Week Chance" show in Kiev, Ukraine on July 25.

     

  • Ukraine seethes after Russian language law voted in

    Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images

    Ukrainian opposition activists clash with riot police on July 4, 2012 during a protest in Kiev against a new language law. Several people were left covered in blood and broken glass littered the street. The police used tear gas in an apparent bid to bring the situation under control.

    Efrem Lukatsky / AP

    Opposition protesters spray tear gas against riot police in front of the Ukrainian House in central Kiev on July 4, 2012.

    Efrem Lukatsky / AP

    Blood is seen on a face of a riot policeman during a clash with opposition protesters in central Kiev on July 4, 2012.

    Reuters reports — Police fired teargas and used batons to disperse hundreds of protesters in Kiev on Wednesday and Ukraine's parliament speaker offered to quit after the passing of a law to boost the status of the Russian language in the former Soviet republic.

    Protesters, led by opposition members of parliament defending the role of Ukrainian as the only state language, had massed in front of a building where President Viktor Yanukovich was due to hold a press briefing.

    "There are millions of us and they cannot pretend that nothing has happened," said Vitali Klitschko, the world heavyweight boxing champion who has founded his own opposition party - Udar (Blow), and took part in Wednesday's protest.

     Read the full story.

    Reuters

    Vitali Klitschko, center, heavyweight boxing champion and leader of Ukrainian political party UDAR, looks at blood on his hand as he walks away after police fired teargas in Kiev on July 4, 2012.

    Anatolii Stepanov / Reuters

    Riot police block opposition activists during a rally to protest against a Russian language bill in Kiev on July 4, 2012.

    Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA

    Supporters of Ukrainian opposition parties clash with riot police in downtown Kiev on July 4, 2012.

     

  • Netherlands fans get wet and wild

    Kim Ludbrook / EPA

    A Netherlands national soccer team fan gets soaked with water in the fan zone in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, hours before the Netherlands' UEFA EURO 2012 Group B preliminary round against Germany, Wednesday.

    By Jonathan Sanger, NBC News

    Racist chants during a training session and a loss to Denmark last week have not dampened the spirits of Netherlands fans ahead of this afternoon's game against Germany. Defeating Germany is even more important now to keep the Dutch competitive in the tournament. For a preview of today's game, check out NBC Sports.

    Jerry Lampen / EPA

    The Netherlands national soccer team fans arrive at a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to join fans in the fan zone hours before their UEFA EURO 2012 Group B preliminary round against Germany Wednesday.

    Jerry Lampen / EPA

    The Netherlands national soccer team fans arrive at a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, before their UEFA EURO 2012 Group B preliminary round against Germany on Wednesday.

    Kim Ludbrook / EPA

    The Netherlands national soccer team fans enjoy the atmosphere in the fan zone in central Kharkiv before their game against Germany.

     

    Everything you need to know about Euro 2012.

    More Euro 2012 on PhotoBlog

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