Wow! #Kremlin insider Kolesnikov: #Putin looking for other sources of information as doesn't trust own http://t.co/j7mdaLLpXF h/t @b_judah
— Fabian Burkhardt (@sanwaldinjo) July 29, 2014
From @CharlesCrawford - thoughts on his former colleague calling Vladimir Putin 'thuggish, dishonest and reckless' http://t.co/AzyzvI2YL5
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) July 29, 2014
Russia cancels second ruble bond auction in a row amid threats of more sanctions.
— Paul Waldie (@pwaldieGLOBE) July 29, 2014
Here's the latest situation map for east Ukraine from Kyiv's National Security and Defense Council:
Putin is 'thuggish, dishonest and reckless', says British ambassador to US http://t.co/gQAwrn28LT pic.twitter.com/fDRNGx2X6r
— The Independent (@Independent) July 29, 2014
The Ukraine crisis is also having cultural ramifications it seems (from "The Moscow Times"):
The Ukrainian Culture Ministry has banned the distribution of two Russian films, accusing the movies of displaying "contempt" toward Ukraine and distorting historical facts in favor of Russia.
One of the movies in question, "The White Guard," is set against the backdrop of Russian Civil War clashes in Ukraine's Kiev and is based on the eponymous novel by celebrated Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. The second film, "Poddubny," is a biographical movie about famed Russian and Soviet wrestler Ivan Poddubny, who was born into a Ukrainian Cossack family in what now constitutes central Ukraine.
The ban falls under the bracket of "cultural sanctions," enacted against Russia in line with a government order to target individuals who "support and finance terrorism in Ukraine," the ministry said Monday in an online statement.
"According to the experts who have reviewed these movies, they 'show contempt for the Ukrainian language, people and the state,' and 'some facts are distorted to benefit Russia,'" the Culture Ministry said in the statement.
Read the entire article here.
Meanwhile at the MH17 crash site (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists has again prevented international investigators from going to the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine.
The Dutch Justice Ministry said July 29 that fighting "on and around the road to the crash site" was keeping a group of Dutch and Australian experts from leaving their base in Donetsk.
Kyiv said on July 28 that its troops entered a string of towns around the scene of the Malaysian airliner disaster, including Shakhtarsk which lies 10 kilometers away.
The fighting and explosions has already forced the unarmed mission of Dutch and Australian police to give up their plans to visit the site during the previous two days.
Fighting is also reported to be continuing around the city of Donetsk, with train service suspended due to damage to tracks.
(AFP, Interfax)
In what looks a direct response to sanctions against Russia, State Duma deputies want to introduce a new legal term: “aggressor countries,” Izvestia reports. Companies registered in these countries can be barred from Russia. These amendments are going to be introduced by United Russia deputies. You can read about the story in English here.
First Mistral helicopter carrier will be transferred to Russian Navy in 2015 http://t.co/BJxMXH1gCi
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) July 29, 2014
Donetsk authorities report overnight shelling of city http://t.co/L7n8QTWv6s
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) July 29, 2014