Some interesting statistics here from the Levada polling institute:
65 percent of Russians believe Moscow should recognize the self-proclaimed "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent nations.
This is down from 72 percent in May, but only 12 percent said Russia should not recognize them; the rest were undecided.
The Kremlin-run international media outlet Sputnik has been reporting on the possibility of banking cooperation between the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia and the separatist entitites in Donetsk and Luhansk:
MOSCOW, December 1 (Sputnik) – The authorities of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) are holding talks with Abkhazia, discussing the possibility of Abkhazian banks opening branches in Donbas (Ukraine's south-eastern regions), the Russian Izvestia newspaper reports.
"Talks between Novorossiya [the DPR and LPR union] and Abkhazia are being conducted at a high level, but a final decision has not been reached yet," Izvestia reported Monday, citing a DPR source.
Talks are also being held with other foreign banks, according to the newspaper.
In mid-November, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree ordering Ukrainian banks to stop serving the accounts of Donbas enterprises and residents within one month.
LPR head Igor Plotnitsky has called Poroshenko's economic blockade of south-eastern Ukraine an act on genocide and devastation of the people in the region.
Addressing the same issue, DPR Deputy Prime Minister Denis Pushilin said the republic's authorities have started to work on the implementation of a dual-currency system. According to Pushilin, state lawyers are currently working out the feasibility of trading with Russia in roubles "while remaining within the legal field".
Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has called the possibility of introducing a dual-currency system in Donbas technically possible, but inconvenient and inefficient.
Good morning. We'll start our live blog today with a hat tip to Ian Bateson, who wrote a nice piece for Al-Jazeera over the weekend about various efforts to preserve the history of the Maidan for future generations:
Tatiana Kovtunovich and Ivanna Kobielieva both work on the Maidan Oral History project based at the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, originally established after the Orange Revolution to catalogue the abuses of the Soviet period.
So far they have collected 143 audio interviews and 74 video interviews. They started doing interviews on the Maidan in March with dictaphones and smartphones but since the protest camp was shut down over the summer they have focused on inviting people to do video interviews.
"We aren't strict. People can say whatever they want. We just want them to feel comfortable so they can remember everything they can," says Tatiana, adding that they try and walk people through the main events.
In many ways Tatiana and Ivanna represent the inclusive kind of Ukrainian identity supported during the Maidan. Tatiana is a Russian speaker and Ivanna is a Ukrainian speaker with each speaking in her language of choice but understanding the other.
"It is the first time Ukrainianness isn't just for ethnic Ukrainians. That is very important in a post-totalitarian society," says Ivanna.
What is important as well is that Maidan is not just understood as a physical space. They give the example of a young student in the western Ukrainian city of Drohobych who didn't go to Kiev, but was active in their local protest in solidarity with Maidan. She was there every day telling people what was happening in Kiev and collecting supplies to send to the protesters there.
Read the entire article here
Barring any major developments, that concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Sunday, November 30. Check back here in the morning for our continuing coverage.