Some of the protesting that went on outside the Ukrainian parliament as deputies granted some eastern swaths "special status" and passed an amnesty for less serious crimes, in addition to backing the Association Agreement with the EU.
Eskender Bariyev, a member of the Crimean Tatar Parliament, the Mejlis, told RFE/RL about a Russian police raid on his home this morning. Police also searched the parliament's offices. The officers told Bariyev they were searching for weapons and "illegal literature," he said. They confiscated his computer and materials relating to a planned conference on security in the Black Sea.
From our newsroom:
Russia's state-owned air carrier Aeroflot is establishing a new low-cost subsidiary, one month after its discount airline Dobrolyot had to close because of EU sanctions over Ukraine.
Aeroflot said on September 16 that it had registered a subsidiary under the name Byudzhetny Perevozchik (Budget Carrier), but that the name might be changed.
Its first flight is expected on October 27.
In early August, the EU imposed sanctions against Dobrolyot because it offered flights to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula whose annexation by Russia earlier this year is rejected by the EU and the United States.
Dobrolyot began operating in May but stopped flying on August 4 after the EU sanctions prompted several European companies to annul leasing, maintenance and insurance contracts.
Russian media reports said the new airline is unlikely to offer flights to Crimea.
Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and Interfax