You want to know what President Putin said on august 14th in Yalta, Crimea? Here you are (Kremlin translation) http://t.co/BMQx5fQrlp
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) August 18, 2014
ITAR-TASS (and now Interfax) quote "Donetsk People's Republic" militants saying that a blackout caused by fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatists has trapped "about 30" miners underground at the Komsomolets-Donbassa mine.
Missed this earlier:
Here's what that's all about, courtesy of ITAR-TASS:
Russian lawmakers consider stripping country's rock star Andrei Makarevich of all state awards for his last week's performance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, which was organized by a pro-Kiev foundation.
The initiative to deprive the 60-year-old singer of the state awards and to introduce a draft law on stripping "of state wards people, who turned into traitors of their Fatherland," was proposed by Yevgeny Fyodorov, a lawmaker with the ruling United Russia political party.
From AP:
Russian army helicopters have landed in northern China to take part in multinational anti-terrorism drills, underscoring continuing close ties between Beijing and Moscow despite tensions with the West over Ukraine.
"The Interpreter" points out that "Donetsk People's Republic" leader Andrei Purgin's statement (via Reuters) that "we don't have the ability to send Grads" into the area around Luhansk where the refugee convoy was hit this morning "does not tally with the widely documented use of such weapons by separatist fighters, who regularly fire on nearby Lugansk Airport with Grads."