More on the Estonian security officer detained by Russia:
An Estonian Interior Ministry officer detained by Russian security services has reportedly been charged with espionage.
Eston Kohver’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, said on September 11 that his client faces up to 20 years in prison.
Russia says Kohver was seized inside Russia on September 5, while Estonian officials say he was captured at gunpoint near the border and taken to Russia.
Estonia says the group of Russians who abducted Kohver used a smoke grenade and jammed radio communications.
Estonia's Foreign Ministry called the case "very disturbing" and summoned Russia's ambassador in Tallinn, Yury Merzlakov, for an explanation.
The U.S. State Department said on September 9 that Kohver should be "safely" and "immediately" returned to Estonia by Russian officials.
It seems the markets have already been reacting to the announcement of more EU sanctions (from RFE/RL's news desk):
The Russian ruble fell to a record low of 37.57 to the U.S. dollar on September 11, a day before new European Union sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis are due to enter into force.
The EU sanctions will take effect on September 12 following their publication in the EU's official journal.
The new sanctions will broaden earlier penalties targeting Russia's oil and arms sectors, including a further tightening of access to international capital markets.
Curbing access to Western capital markets could weigh down Russia's already-flagging economic growth.
(AP, AFP, Interfax)
Andrei Babitsky from RFE/RL's Moldovan Service is in the Donetsk region and has sent us this news:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's offer of "special status" within Ukraine for the breakaway eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk is insufficient, says a senior figure in the separatist leadership in Donetsk.
Aleksandr Karaman, deputy prime minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, told RFE/RL on September 9 that the separatist government has decided that any negotiations with Kyiv must "be based on the principle of the sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic."
He said the people of the region have made their decision in favor of independence. "The point of no return has already been passed" and "too many people have died" to be able to talk about the region remaining within Ukraine, Karaman said.
Karaman added Donetsk rejects former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma as the negotiator for Kyiv, saying the negotiations must be held "on the basis of equality."
Russia's state bodies are being checked for war readiness today on Putin's orders. More brinkmanship. http://t.co/MQpxHKA9y3
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) September 11, 2014
Here's an English version of the latest situation map from Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, which appears to show substantial gains for the separatists:
And here are some more details from our news desk about the latest raft of EU sanctions:
European Union officials have told RFE/RL that new sanctions against Russia for its role in the conflict in Ukraine will go into effect tomorrow.
They will take effect when published in the European Union’s "Official Journal."
The sanctions include a ban on financing and loans from EU countries to major Russian energy firms such as Rosneft, Transneft, and Gazprom Neft.
The measures were agreed by EU leaders on the sidelines of a NATO summit on September 5 and formally approved in Brussels on September 8.
But publication of the decision was delayed to allow time to assess the implementation of a cease-fire agreement in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv and pro-Russian separatists.
Meanwhile, Poland says Russian natural gas deliveries have dropped by 45 percent since September 8, when Russia’s Foreign Ministry threatened an unspecified "reaction" to more sanctions.
Ukraine's growing PR-disaster: neo-Nazi military battalions http://t.co/PKxiJVsdv5 pic.twitter.com/FG3lmr2kmF
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) September 11, 2014
As international journalists arrive for YES conference, authorities are evacuating eastern part of Kiev due to mercury leak @InfoResist
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) September 11, 2014
!!! BREAKING NEWS !!!
RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak says European Union officials have told him that a new round of sanctions against Russia for its role in the Ukraine conflict will go into effect tomorrow. The sanctions, which include a ban on financing and loans from EU countries to major Russian energy firms, will take effect when they are published in the European Union’s “Official Journal.”
Here is another gas-related update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Poland's gas monopoly says Russian natural-gas deliveries have dropped by 45 percent in recent days amid heightened tensions between Russia and the EU over the Ukraine crisis.
The company, PGNiG, said today that volumes began dropping on September 9.
Germany and Slovakia have reported less dramatic reductions in deliveries from Russia.
Russia's state-controlled Gazprom company has denied that it has reduced supplies.
Ukraine's gas monopoly, the state-owned Naftogaz, has accused Gazprom of reducing volumes in order to stop "reverse flows" to Ukraine.
Poland and other EU countries began selling some of their Russian gas in so-called "reverse flows" to Ukraine, after Gazprom cut off deliveries to Kyiv in a politically charged pricing dispute earlier this year.
Poland's pipeline operator Gaz-System said the reduction in supplies from Russia had forced it temporarily to stop re-exporting gas to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Gazprom says its net profit in the first quarter of 2014 has fallen substantially, partly because of Ukraine's unpaid gas debt.
The company said today that its profits in the January-March period fell 41 percent compared to the same period in 2013.
It said that, although its gas sales increased, its expenses went up because it had to account for some 71.3 billion rubles ($1.9 billion) in "doubtful trade accounts."
Gazprom said these accounts are mainly a result of debts owed by Ukraine's Naftogaz.
Ukraine normally received about half of its natural gas from Russia before Gazprom cut off its supply in June as a result of the pricing dispute.
Moscow and Kyiv also disagree on the amount of Ukraine's debt to Gazprom.
(AP, AFP, MarketWatch)