support to the embattled leader , sending troops and aircraft to pound rebel fighters . In October , U.S. Special Forces strafed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan , killing at least 42 patients , medical staffers and caretakers . President Obama apologized for the airstrike , which the U.S. military described as a mistake during missions to drive out Taliban fighters .
- Russian debt - Ukraine 's standoff with Russia has most recently been accompanied by an escalating trade war and a heated disputed over an overdue $ 3-billion ( 2.8-billion - euro ) loan that Moscow extended to Yanukovych and which cash - strapped Kiev now refuses repay in full . Poroshenko 's team argues that Moscow lenttransaction.transferownership.naits ally the money on preferential terms as a bribe for Yanukovych 's shock November 2013 decision to scuttle a free trade agreement with the European Union that Kiev has since signed . The new government wants Russia to accept a 20-percent debt write - down -- the same terms accepted last year by Ukraine 's private creditors . Russia has refused and promised to launch legal proceedings against Ukraine in a London court by the end of the month .