Our news desk is reporting that Vladimir Putin's United Russia party seems to be pretty popular in Crimea, at least according to official figures:
Russian ultranationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky claims regional elections in five Russian constituencies, including Moscow, were rigged.
Zhirinovsky's statement today came amid reports that the ruling United Russia party is winning more than 70 percent of the votes in parliamentary elections in Crimea, which Russia controversially annexed from Ukraine in March.
Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is running second in Crimea with just over 8 percent of the vote.
Russia's Communist Party also refused to recognize the election results in Kirov Oblast.
United Russia candidates are reportedly winning the overhwhelming majority of contests held in the 84 Russian regions where general and local elections were held on September 14.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the elections in Crimea "prove that powers in Russia are based on legal procedures."
Ukraine has called the elections in Crimea "illegal."
(AFP, Interfax)
Here are the latest situation maps for eastern Ukraine from both Kyiv's Security and Defense Council and the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR):
THE SITUATION IN THE EASTERN REGIONS OF UKRAINE – 15.09.14 http://t.co/hso4sNO5pP pic.twitter.com/OviCZCHbZz
— NSDC of Ukraine (@NSDC_ua) September 15, 2014
Карта боевых действий 12-14 сентября pic.twitter.com/EkpvfxjOcM
— ДНР Новороссия (@press_dnr) September 15, 2014
Number of IDPs from Crimea and Donbas exceeds 310,000 people UNHCR http://t.co/de14i3wU6I #ukraine
— Ian Bateson (@ianbateson) September 15, 2014
Statement on the reported holding of local "elections" in #Crimea http://t.co/MIIx7YfaUe #Ukraine
— Maja Kocijančič (@AshtonSpox_Maja) September 15, 2014
#Austria to give ten drones to OSCE mission to monitor situation in east #Ukraine http://t.co/N5qbxCOE8H
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) September 15, 2014
Here's another update from RFE/RL's news desk:
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says alliance members must come together to battle security threats both from Russia and Islamic State (IS) militants.
In a farewell speech as NATO chief at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on September 15, Rasmussen said the alliance must "stand strong as a force for freedom" and be prepared to use military force.
He said that Russia had "trampled all the rules and commitments" that kept Europe peaceful since the end of the Cold War and had conducted illegal military actions against Ukraine.
Rasmussen, whose five-year term as NATO chief ends on September 30, said history teaches that "appeasement does not lead to peace" but rather "incites" tyrants.
He said NATO members must realize the new security challenges posed by Russia and IS could last for years.
(Reuters, AP)
So it begins? MP asked to ban Euronews in Russia for showing news report that featured Ukrainian military shooting at portrait of Putin.
— Yulia Bragina (@YuliaSkyNews) September 15, 2014
Crimea six months after the annexation: Export down, industrial production down, oil and gas extraction up. http://t.co/t5fkBlwI4c
— Simon Kruse (@crusoes) September 15, 2014