13:17
22.6.2014
#Donetsk today. RT @ARothNYT: Novorossiya's new recruits pic.twitter.com/ZM3sWZkGb4
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) June 22, 2014
13:16
22.6.2014
Okean Elzy concert was a hit! http://t.co/6FvFCkKsOA pic.twitter.com/bsAG4eZiHN
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) June 22, 2014
12:09
22.6.2014
Here's another update from our news desk:
Russian television has shown President Vladimir Putin giving cautious support to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's unilateral cease-fire but adding that any cessation of hostilities is meaningless without "dialogue."
Appearing on the Rossiya 24 television channel today 22, Putin said fighting in Ukraine needs to stop.
But Putin said reconciliation in Ukraine is dependent on a "dialogue among the all the opposing factions" in order to find solutions that are acceptable to everyone, particularly people in southeastern Ukraine.
Putin said there was artillery fire overnight from Ukraine, some of which landed on Russian territory although he added it was not clear who was responsible.
Putin made his comments to reporters as he laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin.
June 22 is the anniversary of the start of World War Two in the Soviet Union as it marks the date Hitler's forces invaded the country in 1941.
Appearing on the Rossiya 24 television channel today 22, Putin said fighting in Ukraine needs to stop.
But Putin said reconciliation in Ukraine is dependent on a "dialogue among the all the opposing factions" in order to find solutions that are acceptable to everyone, particularly people in southeastern Ukraine.
Putin said there was artillery fire overnight from Ukraine, some of which landed on Russian territory although he added it was not clear who was responsible.
Putin made his comments to reporters as he laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin.
June 22 is the anniversary of the start of World War Two in the Soviet Union as it marks the date Hitler's forces invaded the country in 1941.
11:43
22.6.2014
It seems the repercussions of the Ukraine crisis are being felt half a world away, as this report on vandals attacking a Ukrainian church in Sydney, Australia, illustrates:
11:08
22.6.2014
#ukraine at its most United. Huge crowd and Ukrainian flags everywhere for #ОкеанЕльзи in Kyiv. Awesome pic.twitter.com/edXD5pTF17
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) June 22, 2014
10:54
22.6.2014
There's a nice left-field take on things here from Al Jazeera's John Wendle, who has written a piece on those selling nationalist souvenirs and bric-a-brac in central Kyiv:
Read the entire article here
Poroshenko and his government are now promoting unity through reconciliation. "As president, with what will I come to you in the nearest time? With peace. With the project of government decentralisation. With a guarantee of the free usage of the Russian language in your region. With the strong intention not to divide people into right and wrong Ukrainians," he said in his inauguration speech.
But Ukraine's souvenir manufacturers appear not to have gotten the message.
"People from Kiev and Lvov and the people from the east and the south, we are all alike. We all have one motherland and we all have the same future," said Aleksander Korobka, travelling with his wife on a business trip from his native city of Kharkiv, in Ukraine's restive east. "I don't see that those other regions will have a separate future from Ukraine ... I hope that [the fighting] finishes quickly and that our country holds together."
Nevertheless, he still decided to buy a doormat with the words "wipe here" and a picture of Yanukovich's face. "If we have guests, the blank side will be for them. For those we know well, we'll flip it over." Korobka's contradictory sentiments highlight the extremely confused mix of feelings, politics, beliefs, history and geography that make the current knot that is Ukraine so difficult to unpick.
But Ukraine's souvenir manufacturers appear not to have gotten the message.
"People from Kiev and Lvov and the people from the east and the south, we are all alike. We all have one motherland and we all have the same future," said Aleksander Korobka, travelling with his wife on a business trip from his native city of Kharkiv, in Ukraine's restive east. "I don't see that those other regions will have a separate future from Ukraine ... I hope that [the fighting] finishes quickly and that our country holds together."
Nevertheless, he still decided to buy a doormat with the words "wipe here" and a picture of Yanukovich's face. "If we have guests, the blank side will be for them. For those we know well, we'll flip it over." Korobka's contradictory sentiments highlight the extremely confused mix of feelings, politics, beliefs, history and geography that make the current knot that is Ukraine so difficult to unpick.
Read the entire article here
10:48
22.6.2014
John Reed nearly a century ago on being turned on by a revolutionary mob. Bizarrely, chillingly familiar. http://t.co/KfdJlqIlPE
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) June 22, 2014
10:45
22.6.2014
Kremlin on Poroshenko's ceasefire plan: a good thing, with some caveats. http://t.co/GxI6HwoEOQ
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) June 22, 2014
10:03
22.6.2014
Rachel Denber from Human Rights Watch has been tackling claims by the pro-Kremlin Russian media outlet LifeNews that white phosphorous has been used by pro-Kyiv forces in eastern Ukraine:
Read the entire article here
After analyzing the LifeNews video clip, Human Rights Watch arms researchers concluded that it didn’t show a white phosphorous – or an incendiary weapon – attack. What the video actually appears to show is an illuminant or a pyrotechnic. First, the intensity of the burning and the amount of smoke it generated aren’t consistent with white phosphorus. Second, the substance falling from the sky in the video has a haphazard pattern, unlike an incendiary weapon. Third, there is no flash of an explosive bursting charge, no instantaneous uniform ignition of the substance, both characteristic of white phosphorus munitions. Whatever is falling from the sky is breaking apart in a non-uniform manner, more akin to crumbling or disintegrating – incendiary weapons don’t do this.
(...)
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Russian state media has manufactured montages about eastern Ukraine, twisted the truth, or outright misstated facts. It’s difficult to avoid the impression that aside from mobilizing public outrage in Russia about Ukraine, these manipulations aim to distract and exhaust the experts whose job it is to sift between fact and fiction. It’s like an incendiary weapon that explodes, leaving in its wake anger and disorientation until the media cycle moves on. The Ukrainian media is also no stranger to this tactic.
(...)
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Russian state media has manufactured montages about eastern Ukraine, twisted the truth, or outright misstated facts. It’s difficult to avoid the impression that aside from mobilizing public outrage in Russia about Ukraine, these manipulations aim to distract and exhaust the experts whose job it is to sift between fact and fiction. It’s like an incendiary weapon that explodes, leaving in its wake anger and disorientation until the media cycle moves on. The Ukrainian media is also no stranger to this tactic.
Read the entire article here
09:41
22.6.2014
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this latest update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned he has an alternative plan in case pro-Russian separatists will use a unilaterally-declared Ukrainian cease-fire to gain more time.
Poroshenko, who on June 20 declared the week-long cease-fire during a visit to the Donetsk region, said in a televised address late on June 21, "for those who hope to use the ceasefire to play for time, to regroup their forces, they have to know -- we have a plan B."
Poroshenko did not elaborate, saying he hoped that his 15-point peace plan "will work."
Poroshenko has said the cease-fire is aimed to give separatists time to disarm.
Poroshenko has met regional leaders and offered to respect the use of the Russian language in the east but has refused to enter into direct dialogue with separatist leaders.
Earlier on June 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports Poroshenko's decision to declare a cease-fire in southeastern Ukraine, but added the plan would not be "viable" without "practical actions."
Putin said in a statement that Poroshenko's peace plan should not be an "ultimatum," and called on all sides to cease fighting and begin negotiations.
However, Pavel Gubarev, a prominent rebel leader, told Rossiya-24 TV channel that either Ukrainian forces were not obeying orders or Poroshenko "is lying." Gubarev, who describes himself as the governor of the Donetsk People's Republic, said, "There is no cease-fire at all."
The Ukrainian Border Guard Service said on June 21 that pro-Russian separatists attacked two border posts and a military base in the eastern Donetsk region.
The agency said nine border guards were injured in one of the overnight attacks.
Meanwhile, Canada announced economic sanctions and travel bans on 11 Russians and Ukrainians, as well as Crimean oil company Feodosia Enterprise, saying they facilitated the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.
The European Union has already imposed sanctions against Feodosia Enterprise.
Poroshenko, who on June 20 declared the week-long cease-fire during a visit to the Donetsk region, said in a televised address late on June 21, "for those who hope to use the ceasefire to play for time, to regroup their forces, they have to know -- we have a plan B."
Poroshenko did not elaborate, saying he hoped that his 15-point peace plan "will work."
Poroshenko has said the cease-fire is aimed to give separatists time to disarm.
Poroshenko has met regional leaders and offered to respect the use of the Russian language in the east but has refused to enter into direct dialogue with separatist leaders.
Earlier on June 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports Poroshenko's decision to declare a cease-fire in southeastern Ukraine, but added the plan would not be "viable" without "practical actions."
Putin said in a statement that Poroshenko's peace plan should not be an "ultimatum," and called on all sides to cease fighting and begin negotiations.
However, Pavel Gubarev, a prominent rebel leader, told Rossiya-24 TV channel that either Ukrainian forces were not obeying orders or Poroshenko "is lying." Gubarev, who describes himself as the governor of the Donetsk People's Republic, said, "There is no cease-fire at all."
The Ukrainian Border Guard Service said on June 21 that pro-Russian separatists attacked two border posts and a military base in the eastern Donetsk region.
The agency said nine border guards were injured in one of the overnight attacks.
Meanwhile, Canada announced economic sanctions and travel bans on 11 Russians and Ukrainians, as well as Crimean oil company Feodosia Enterprise, saying they facilitated the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.
The European Union has already imposed sanctions against Feodosia Enterprise.