The last of the barricades are gone from Independence Square following the morning operation to remove the Euromaidan hindrances from downtown Kyiv. Mayor Klitschko reportedly struck a deal with those who were refusing to leave that some tents might remain, so long as they did not block public access to the site.
Pro-Kyiv military blogger Dmitry Tymchuk says today that "the threat of invasion by Russia under the guise of a 'peacekeeping' action or operation remains." He goes on to point out that there is no international mandate of any sort for such an operation.
He also quotes the Kyiv head of the ICRC as saying that organization was "stepping up its activities to assist the affected population [in eastern Ukraine] in the deteriorating humanitarian situation and security situation." But having noted the abortive "humanitarian" convoy from Russia overnight, Tymchuk suggests Moscow was trying to use the ICRC as a fig leaf and says the ICRC would not have launched a humanitarian mission "in defiance of the [UN] Security Council."
Here's today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, commissioned by the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council's information-analytical center:
AFP quotes the National Security and Defense Council's spokesman as saying that 13 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the past day in fighting against separatist forces in the east.
"Kommersant" quotes the Russian Investigative Committee as saying that the five Ukrainian soldiers it accused of possible "war crimes" and requested be held in pretrial custody have been released based on "the principles of humanity."
A Rostov regional court yesterday had ordered the five -- including a battalion commander and other officers -- to be held for two months.
They are all said to be among the several hundred Ukrainian troops who crossed the border into Russia under unclear circumstances -- with Moscow suggesting they defected and Kyiv saying they were fleeing pro-Russian shelling.
The Russian investigators had suggested the five men were culpable for ordering shelling of Ukrainian towns in the Luhansk region.
It appears that all those Ukrainian troops remain in Russia.
There has been no confirmation from the U.S. side, as far as we know.