HAPPENING NOW: Putin tells ambassadors that if Russia hadn't acted in Crimea, NATO forces would have come to Crimea
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 1, 2014
Putin:"Killing journalists unacceptable",says attempts in Ukraine to "liquidate the press..Who fears objective info?Those committing crimes"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 1, 2014
Vlaidmir Putin accuses Kiev of "blackmail" in gas talks
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 1, 2014
Putin on relations with the US: "We've always tried to be predictable partners...but our rightful interests have been ignored"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 1, 2014
Putin on Poroshenko ending ceasefire: "Till now (Poroshenko) had no direct link to orders for military action.Now he takes full responsib'y"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 1, 2014
Yesterday, Mashable suggested that there may have been more to the fatal shooting of a Russian cameraman than meets the eye. Now "The Moscow Times" has issued a follow-up piece on these rather sensational allegations:
A Forbes correspondent who was with a group of journalists that came under fire from a military base in eastern Ukraine has said the news crews were set up by separatists, leading to an incident in which a Russian television cameraman died.
Ahead of the Sunday night shootout that killed Channel One cameraman Anatoly Klyan, the press service of the separatist People's Republic of Donetsk called journalists and told them to assemble near the rebel administration building, Forbes correspondent Orkhan Dzhemal wrote Monday in anarticle posted on the magazine's Russian-language website.
A separatist rebel identified by his nom de guerre Gyurza, or Viper, addressed the gathering, telling reporters that they would travel with a group of Ukrainian women — the mothers of conscript servicemen — to a government military base whose commander had supposedly agreed to surrender to the rebels, Dzhemal wrote.
"A deal has been reached with the base commander to surrender without a fight," the article quoted Gyurza as saying. "The servicemens' mothers will appear with signs … and you will be able to prepare a sensational report. I will be the one conducting the actual talks; I have experience in that."
But no surrender agreement appeared to have been in place, as the bus came under fire outside of the army base.
"Most likely, there now will be a lot of statements about the inhumane Kiev fascists who shoot at journalists," Dzhemal wrote. "But everyone who was in that shootout understands that we were simply set up [in the line of fire]."
Read the entire article here
My guess is #Putin's speech to envoys due soon may have needed few last minute changes Live feed: http://t.co/KHFpvsMfIn #Russia #Ukraine
— Thomas Grove (@tggrove) July 1, 2014
And here's another Reuters video, this time of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's message to the nation, announcing that he would no renew the cease-fire:
Remember two Mistral carriers that France is building for Russia in $1.64 billion deal, which the United States and other allies asked Paris to reconsider because of Moscow's involvement in the Ukraine crisis? French officials insisted that they were going to honour the contract and now Reuters has this video of some 400 Russian soldier arriving in Saint-Nazare in western France on June 30 to receive training on operating the French warships:
Donetsk mayor's office says shooting taking place in city centre around police station http://t.co/bvvmkPA06w #Ukraine #Russia
— Thomas Grove (@tggrove) July 1, 2014
Russ's @rentvchannel reports journalist wounded by shell fired from #Ukraine side at Izvarino near #Luhansk border https://t.co/pXpuYDj9XI
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 1, 2014
Excellent talks with Ukraine PM Yatsenyuk. Economy in focus. Turning the country around. Key reforms on the way. pic.twitter.com/j7ZKQOmO8V
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) July 1, 2014
Huge column of Ukrainian armor moving towards Sloviansk. Heavy self-propelled Howitzers and Uragan multiple rocket launchers.
— Simon Ostrovsky (@SimonOstrovsky) June 30, 2014
Here's another update from our news desk:
The Ukrainian government says its forces have relaunched an "antiterrorist operation" against pro-Russian separatists in the east after a 10-day truce failed to resolve the crisis.
Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov told parliament today that "this morning, the active phase of the antiterrorist operation was resumed. Our armed forces are attacking the terrorists' bases and strongholds."
President Petro Poroshenko announced late yesterday that he was not renewing the cease-fire and that Ukrainian forces would go on the offensive.
"We will free our country," Poroshenko said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a senior lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats told German radio that the EU would decide today whether to ratchet up sanctions against Russia.
Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, said the EU had made "concrete, accomplishable" demands to President Vladimir Putin that had been largely unmet.