Interfax reports that the five Ukrainian soldiers at one point suspected by the Russian Investigative Committee of "war crimes" against two Ukrainian villages, and part of the several hundred troops who under unclear circumstances crossed into Russia a week ago, are back in Ukraine:
Five Ukrainian army officers who crossed over to Russian territory and were later detained returned to Ukraine last night, Interfax was told in [sic] law enforcement bodies of Rostov region on Sunday.
Yakunin is among the individuals targeted by Western sanctions and widely regarded as a close Putin confidant.
Here are comments in Kharkiv yesterday by the head of the Dutch recovery mission, Pieter Jaap Aalbersberg, on his decision to halt the recovery mission at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
"Especially on the Wednesday [August 6], there was rifle fire only one 150 meters off our search team. And our search team is unarmed, it cannot protect itself. That was one. Secondly, over the last days, we have been getting less access to certain areas we want to search."
"We are not taking everything back [to the Netherlands] out of Kharkiv. We will deploy a unit of about 10-14 officers here in Kharkiv with specialized equipment, so that when human remains are brought to Kharkiv, they will be directly dealt with correctly by forensic experts and also can be directly send to the Netherlands. The same [applies] for personal belongings. In the Netherlands we are prepared, whenever the situation in the crash area is safe, to be back within 24 or 48 hours with our search team and [proceed according to] our original plan."
"DNA material will stay intact for a long time, so even a later search can make a difference."
A report that a "Russian drone" active around Mariupol was shot down overnight. Also, it notes that Mariupol was cut off from Donetsk by damage to a rail line near that city.
Our Ukrainian Service notes that President Poroshenko, in a telephone conversation with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, invited the United States to join a possible humanitarian to eastern Ukraine. Both men reportedly agreed that no military forces should accompany the aid.
Our overnight wrap-up from the newsroom:
President Petro Poroshenko says Ukraine is ready to accept a humanitarian mission to the separatist-controlled city of Luhansk, but only if it is an unarmed international team entering the country through Kyiv-controlled border checkpoints.
Poroshenko’s office said on August 9 that the president made the comments in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Poroshenko said he was in discussions with Red Cross President Peter Maurer over such a possible mission.
Kyiv earlier said it prevented a Russian attempt to send troops across the border under the guise of a humanitarian mission.
Valeriy Chaliy, deputy head of President Petro Poroshenko's office said late on August 8, "A huge convoy moved towards the Ukrainian border, accompanied by Russian troops and military hardware."
He said that the action "was meant to enter apparently in order to provoke a full-scale conflict."
Chaliy said the move was averted through diplomatic channels, without going into details.
He added that the Red Cross denied that Russia had coordinated this alleged humanitarian column with them.
Chaliy said Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, who assured him that the Russian attempts at the border "will be stopped."
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegations, saying "We have difficulty understanding what the Ukrainians are talking about."
Peskov insisted that Russian troops “made no attempt” to enter Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry described the Ukrainian report as a "fairy tale."
The West has long warned that Russia's build-up of troops on the border with eastern Ukraine, where government troops are battling pro-Russian separatists, could see Moscow invade its troubled neighbor.
U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron discussed the crisis on August 9 and said tougher sanctions should be imposed on Russia if it sends troops into Ukraine, according to a statement from Cameron's office.
The White House said that during a call, Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that any Russian intervention in Ukraine would “provoke additional consequences."
Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to seek U.S. support for a humanitarian mission in southeastern Ukraine.
Lavrov said such a mission is needed because of large civilian casualties in the area he blamed on "the escalation by Kyiv of its army operation."
Also August 9, pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said they were ready for a cease-fire with the Ukrainian government to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe."
Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk people's republic, said the area is surrounded by Ukrainian government forces.
In a statement, he warned that the city of Donetsk faced a lack of food, water, and electricity, adding that the rebels were ready to defend it.
Meanwhile, Donetsk city council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky said some 2,000 residential buildings were now without electricity.
With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and ITAR-TASS