Corey Flintoff

A rooster crowing in the dead of night? A sinister ice-cream truck playing a creepy tune as it trundles through the streets of Moscow? No, it's the musical automaton clock at the Puppet Theater.

Nearly 30 percent of Russian children with disabilities end up in state orphanages, where they can suffer neglect and abuse at understaffed facilities, according to a human rights group.

Separatists in eastern Ukraine held their own elections on Sunday. The government in Kiev calls it "an illegal farce," saying pro-Moscow militants control the process.

Separatists in eastern Ukraine hold their own elections Sunday as part of an effort to create an independent state. Meanwhile, fighting for control of Donetsk's airport continues, despite a ceasefire.

Ukraine's parliament election is tapping into the raw frustrations of a country ripped apart by war. In the first ballot since the Moscow-backed president was removed, can the damage be repaired?

Russia's parliament, the Duma, approved a bill on Friday that would limit foreign ownership of Russian media to less than 20 percent.

Russia's ban on imported foods hasn't stopped its trendiest restaurants from sourcing top-quality ingredients like Italian cheese and Norwegian fish. How? Just slap on a "made in Belarus" label.

It could be the next big spy movie: an Estonian intelligence agent nabbed by Russia on spy charges. Russia says he was spying on them; Estonia says he was kidnapped in a cross-border raid.

Ukraine and the West insist that the Russian army has been fighting in eastern Ukraine, a charge Russia denies. But reports from Russia now acknowledge that Russian soldiers are part of the battle.

There's some confusion in Ukraine, as conflicting reports surface about Moscow and Kiev's conversations on ways to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, President Obama is in Estonia, ahead of this week's NATO meeting.

Some foreign policy analysts say that factions in Moscow are competing to influence Russian President Vladimir Putin as he decides policy on Ukraine. Others say that Putin is pursuing his own line.

Fierce fighting continued overnight in eastern Ukraine along the Russian border, and Russia's foreign minister rejected U.S. claims that his country has been supporting pro-Russia fighters there.