KIEV, May 29 - Pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukrainian army helicopter on Thursday, killing 12 soldiers including a general, as government forces pressed ahead with an offensive to crush rebellions in the east.

MINSK, May 29 - Ukraine is not going to limit itself to observer status in the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union and is willing to join a number of agreements that make up the Customs Union's and the Common Economic Area's legal basis, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

KIEV, May 29 - Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has denied allegations that the government was not holding talks with Russia to amend the gas contract signed in 2009 and says that this question could be resolved only through talks.

ASTANA, May 29 – Ukraine will be granted observer status at the Customs Union, a Russian-led trading bloc, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced Wednesday.

KIEV, May 28 – The International Monetary Fund doubts the Ukrainian government's ability to keep the national budget's deficit at 1.8% of GDP in 2012, and suggests the authorities increase the taxation of wealthy citizens, IMF Mission head Christopher Jarvis said, commenting on the results of his work in Kiev last week.

KIEV, May 29 - European Championship co-hosts Ukraine and Poland denounced a BBC report that portrayed their fans as racist, and European soccer’s governing body reiterated that all foreign guests will be safe, The Associated Press reported.

KIEV, May 29 – Ukraine in 2012 will harvest 14.5 million tons of winter crops, a fall of 43% year-over-year, of the Ukrainian Weather Center Director Mykola Kulbida said.

KIEV, May 29 - Ukraine may have overpaid $150 million for an offshore drilling oil rig earlier this year, potentially highlighting a massive case of government corruption, according to an investigation by Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper.

KIEV, May 26 – A court in the state of Oregon (the United States) has ruled that over $19 million spent illegally on vaccine at artificially high prices by the government led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is to be reimbursed to the Ukrainian national budget, the press service of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers reported.

KIEV, May 28 - By vetoing the government's decision imposing quotas on sunflower oil exports, President Viktor Yushchenko has assumed responsibility for the inflation processes in the country, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.