From a feature written today by RFE/RL's Robert Coalson on the repression, harassment, and intimidation directed toward the Crimean Tatar community:
On an autumn evening on a highway between Simferopol and Belogorsk, a white van pulled up next to two young Crimean Tatar men who were walking on the street. Several unknown men jumped out and pushed 18-year-old Islyam Dzheparov and 23-year-old Dzhebdet Islyamov into the vehicle.
The van drove off and the two men have not been seen or heard from since.
The abduction, which took place on September 27, is just one in a series of incidents of harassment and intimidation directed against the Crimean Tatar community since Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March. The campaign has included both legal and extrajudicial measures and has ranged from petty harassment to torture and killings, activists say.
In addition to other abductions, it has included raids on mosques, criminal cases against Tatar leaders, and the barring of top figures like Mustafa Dzhemilev from the territory.
Read the entire story here.
This just in from Reuters:
RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS MORTAR BOMB FIRE THAT KILLED SWISS RED CROSS WORKER CAME FROM TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY UKRAINE FORCES - STATEMENT
From AFP on today's fighting in Ukraine and the death of a Red Cross worker from shelling:
Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian forces were engaged in fresh clashes in the eastern city of Donetsk on Friday as they traded blame over the death of a foreign aid worker four weeks into their shaky truce.
Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov claimed the cease-fire has been breached "over a thousand times" while the Kyiv government blamed the separatists for the death of a Swiss Red Cross employee on Thursday evening.
The shelling of the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Donetsk, which prompted a firm rebuke from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was described as an "act of terror" by Kyiv.
"This terrorist act cannot be justified," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Bandits and terrorists, in a barbaric way, dared to take up arms against those who came... with a humanitarian mission."
Kyiv's military said in a statement the rebels have repeatedly fired on central Donetsk "to discredit the antiterrorist operation."
Ten civilians were killed on Wednesday when a school and bus stop was shelled on the first day of class.
The rebels blamed the recent attack on indiscriminate shelling by the Ukrainian Army from distant positions.
This report claims #Ukraine signed a deal to buy Norwegian gas, with no details as to how much. http://t.co/BuzMEnKPF4 via @EuropeanPravda
— Chrystyna Lapychak (@chryslap) October 3, 2014
Situation on Mariupol is under control, more reinforcements of RF units near the city registered
— NSDC of Ukraine (@NSDC_ua) October 3, 2014
Warmly greet Chancellor Angela Merkel with the Day of German Unity and wish peace and prosperity.
— Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) October 3, 2014
Yanukovich family & friends settling in near Moscow where Azarov has house, & St. Pete where Yanuk Jr. registered co. http://t.co/if4E370nhi
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) October 3, 2014
Map of how much land #Russians/"#separatists" have gained since "#ceasefire" with #Ukraine: http://t.co/lEVSByDhBP
— English EuroMaidan (@EuroMaidanEN) October 3, 2014