We are now closing the live blog for today. You can keep abreast of all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here. Also, don't forget to listen to the latest edition of the Power Vertical Podcast, in which Brian Whitmore and guests discuss what it is Vladimir Putin hopes to actually get out of the Ukraine imbroglio.
I'm writing a new op-ed on Russian invasion of Ukraine & Obama & Western response. Working title is "It's a War, Stupid".
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) August 29, 2014
RFE/RL's Daisy Sindelar has also been looking at what to call the Ukrainian conflict.
Oleksandr Chernov, a doctor and journalist from eastern Ukraine, spent 10 days as a captive of pro-Russian separatists based in Slovyansk.
During that time he was blindfolded, brutally beaten, and interrogated by separatist leader Igor Strelkov. He watched a hardened militant break down in tears after accidentally shooting a stray dog. And he heard countless examples of how the months of violence in Donbas had taken a deadly personal toll.
"Some people's houses had been bombed, or their children's schools. Some of their wives had been seriously injured. So they picked up their weapons and went out to fight," Chernov says. "This is a war, after all."
But is it? As fighting escalates on Ukraine's eastern front between a hazy mix of pro-Russian mercenaries, Ukrainian army soldiers, and volunteers of every stripe, officials have tied themselves in linguistic knots attempting to define what, exactly, is going on in Ukraine.
Read more here
Seriously, if Putin and Moscow were not so paranoid about NATO, they would realize it’s a house of cards and invade Estonia tomorrow.
— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) August 29, 2014
Latest from Putin: "Don't mess with us, we're a nuclear power" http://t.co/2guJ5Q3zlm pic.twitter.com/HzEFBYuOQV
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) August 29, 2014
https://t.co/UxUZs2Dmpi @lifenews_ru interviews captured Ukrainian officer who says as few as 17 of his 150 men survived rebel encirclement.
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) August 29, 2014
This group of singers-performers claiming to be pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have become a YouTube sensation:
The BBC has tracked them down and interviewed them.
Our news desk reports that the IMF has approved some more funds for Kyiv:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the release of nearly $1.4 billion in fresh loan funds to help stabilize Ukraine's economy and its currency, the hryvnya.
The disbursement, approved in Washington today, is the second release of funds under the IMF's $17 billion, two-year loan package for Kyiv.
Ukraine received $3.2 billion in May in the first tranche of the loan package.
An IMF spokesman praised Kyiv yesterday for complying with conditions of the loan program so far.
Gerry Rice also told reporters that the current level of IMF assistance might need to be "significantly recalibrated" if the conflict in eastern Ukraine gets worse.
The government's tax revenues from the eastern region have fallen, even as Kyiv continues to spend money on fighting the separatists.
(AFP, Reuters)
Here's another update from our news desk:
Several European Union foreign ministers have accused Russia of invading eastern Ukraine, saying Moscow should be punished with harsh additional economic sanctions.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said today that "we have to be aware of what we are facing: We are now in the midst of the second Russian invasion of Ukraine within a year."
He spoke as EU foreign ministers began two days of informal talks in Milan.
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said that "if Russia does not change its stance, then we can't do anything but sharpen ours."
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said the EU "should be ready to move forward with possible new measures against Russia" because the situation continues to worsen.
EU foreign ministers are expected to propose new sanctions against Russia for consideration at an EU summit in Brussels tomorrow.
(AP, dpa)