Our Ukrainian Service spoke to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, who said Vladimir Putin's past as a Soviet intelligence officer has affected his policies with regard to Russia's neighboring nations. He also said that the Kremlin's philosophy "focuses on aggression and disregard for the interests of its neighbors."
More from our news desk on Poroshenko's defense appointments:
Ukraine's president has nominated new officials to top defense posts.
A statement published online late on July 2 announced the appointments of Colonel General Valeriy Heletey as defense minister and Lieutenant General Viktor Muzhenko as chief of the military's General Staff.
Poroshenko also appointed Yury Kosyuk, an agriculture magnate and one of Ukraine's richest men, to oversee defense issues in the presidential administration.
In announcing the appointments, Poroshenko promised to "purge the army of thieves and grafters."
He has pledged to stamp out corruption within the country's armed forces, who are battling to assert control over pro-Russian separatists in the country's industrial east.
The appointments must be approved by parliament.
Video obtained from Ukrainian military television shows artillery being fired from a field near the eastern city of Slovyansk. The target of the shelling was not identified. The video was distributed on July 2 as the Ukrainian military said it had regained control of several small towns near Slovyansk, a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists. (Video from Reuters)
Good piece in the "Wall Street Journal" looking at the Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Russia:
As a result, some refugees traversing the Russian border expressed a conviction that Ukrainian forces had moved in not to neutralize separatists but to force people like them out. Chistka was the word on their lips, the Russian term for purge that has become a buzzword in reports by Russian state news.
"To them, we have always been Moskaly," said Ms. Vasilieva, using the Ukrainian slur for Russians.
She and others looked on with envy when Russia took control of Crimea, hoping that their region, too, would become Russian. "We always considered ourselves Russians," she said.
Not so sanguine take from the Ukrainian foreign minister after the Berlin talks:
President Poroshenko has named his candidate for defense minister, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has named Valery Heletey as his candidate for defense minister, the presidential website said on Thursday.
If endorsed by parliament, Heletey, a 46-year-old colonel-general who is head of security at the presidential and parliamentary administration, will replace acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval.
Good morning, starting off the live blog for another day.
That ends today's live blogging.