Meanwhile, in Moldova....
-- Russia and Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester say they have signed a series of agreements to minimize the impact of Chisinau's new ties with the European Union.
On July 3, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Transdniester leader Yevgeny Shevchuk oversaw the signing of agreements covering economics, trade, transport, agriculture, and science.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said fostering closer cooperation was especially important due to "regional and economic conditions becoming more complicated."
Shevchuk said Moldova's increased ties with the EU would bring more disadvantages than advantages.
Meanwhile, Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced it will restrict meat imports from Moldova from July 5 over "violations of veterinary-sanitary demands and norms" -- a move the EU said looked like retaliation.
Moldova's parliament ratified the country's Association Agreement with the EU on July 2 despite Moscow's objections.
Meanwhile, in Moldova....
-- Russia and Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester say they have signed a series of agreements to minimize the impact of Chisinau's new ties with the European Union.
On July 3, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Transdniester leader Yevgeny Shevchuk oversaw the signing of agreements covering economics, trade, transport, agriculture, and science.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said fostering closer cooperation was especially important due to "regional and economic conditions becoming more complicated."
Shevchuk said Moldova's increased ties with the EU would bring more disadvantages than advantages.
Meanwhile, Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced it will restrict meat imports from Moldova from July 5 over "violations of veterinary-sanitary demands and norms" -- a move the EU said looked like retaliation.
Moldova's parliament ratified the country's Association Agreement with the EU on July 2 despite Moscow's objections.
Lovely, melancholy look at rural life in Ukraine's Sumy villages bordering Russia.
Made by Ukrainian filmmaker Maria Shcherbak and shared with RFE's Ukrainian Service.
"We deplore the incident in which two Russian journalists were injured on Tuesday, only a few days after the death of Russian journalist Anatoly Klyan, which demonstrates the gravity of the situation in Eastern Ukraine. Another example is the recent illegal detention of two Ukrainian journalists for two days by pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk region."
Photos of the Cossack ataman reportedly detained at the Ukraine border on July 2.
The Security Service of Ukraine reports that border guards on July 2 detained Valery Popov, the ataman of the Siberian Cossack Battalion, who was attempting to enter Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists. The SBU press service said Popov had earlier announced to Russian journalists that his battalion was going to Donetsk and Slavyansk to fight against Ukrainian authorities, and had called on those "specializing in armored vehicles" to join his ranks.
The SBU says it is now investigating whether Popov had been in Ukraine before and what activities he was involved in. "We known that [Popov's] colleague, Nikolai Kozitsyn, who presents himself as the general of the Cossack army, used OSCE monitors as human shields, mined roads and bridges, attacked Ukrainian border guards, enabled weapons transfers to the Donbas, and committed crimes against the civilian population," the SBU said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says he is in talks with protesters who remain in the Maidan tent camp on Independence Square in an attempt to persuade them to move.
Klitschko said he had proposed that the remaining Maidan activists move to an unfinished sanatorium just outside the capital, where they were welcome to live "temporarily."
He added, however, that the city will not attempt to remove the protesters by force.
Street traffic has resumed on a portion of Khreshchatyk street after it was recently cleared of tents.
Ukrainska Pravda reports that pro-Russian separatists used projectile explosives to blow up a family car traveling near the village of Kryva Luka near Kramatorsk. A 10-year-old girl sustained serious injuries; both of her parents were killed.