From our newsroom:
Crimea's Russian-backed leader, Sergei Aksyonov, says the self-governing body of the peninsula's Crimean Tatar community, the Mejlis (Assembly), does not exist.
Aksyonov's remarks come days after law enforcement authorities seized the Mejlis building in the regional capital, Simferopol, increasing pressure on a minority group that largely opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March.
In an interview published in the Russian daily Kommersant on September 22, Aksyonov said "there is no such organization as the Mejlis."
He said the assembly "has never been properly registered."
Aksyonov said he would "expel from Crimea anyone who incites ethnic hatred."
Two Crimean Tatar leaders have been barred from the peninsula since its annexation on the grounds that their activities incite ethnic hatred.
A court hearing on a Crimean Tatar appeal against the impoundment of the Mejlis is set for September 29.
A reminder of our main story from yesterday, when tens of thousands of people marched in Moscow and more gathered in other Russian cities to protest what they regard as a covert war in Ukraine:
Thousands March Against War In Moscow, St. Petersburg
Our Ukrainian Service quotes parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Turchynov as calling legislators who last week visited a Russian Duma session in Moscow "traitors" and saying he will propose that they be banned from the Verkhovna Rada. He suggested that the Ukrainian prosecutor and security services were investigation.
The group of 24 lawmakers -- reportedly former Party of Regions members now allied under a grouping called For Peace and Stability -- visited the Russian capital "in order to establish a dialogue between parliamentarians of the two countries," one of the deputies was quoted as saying.
A YouTube video from the pro-Russian "Patriotic Forces of Donbas TV" showing a purported American who has joined the pro-Russian Vostok Battalion.
No word on the identity of the individual, who says he's been with the battalion for about a month. He certainly appears to be American.
Asked about the political situation and the eastern Ukrainian conflict in general, he responds:
"Well, from what i know about the political situation in Kyiv is limited, but it seems that...the Kyiv junta wants to maintain control over this area, Donbas, and the people of Donbas want to be independent from the Kyiv junta. It seems to be a very straightforward, simple situation. And the Kyiv junta does not necessarily, I believe, reflect -- they don't, they don't consider the popular opinion of the people in Donbas. So that's why this issue is happening."
Asked to say something to potential recruits from abroad, he says:
"Yeah.... If people want to come here, particularly from the West, Western world, it'd be good to come here -- especially if they have military experience. People with U.S. military experience would be very valuable here, too, because there's a lot of them...."
Watch for yourself:
This ends our live-blogging for September 21. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.