Separatist rebels in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region say they plan to introduce the Russian curriculum into schools under their control. Ihor Kostenok, the education "minister" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), said the Russian education system was "recognized around the world as one of the best." See the video and read more about it here.
A Crimean Tatar scholar says masked assailants dragged him from his car and took his passport in an attack meant to prevent him from attending a UN conference in New York.
The attack on Nadir Bekir (pictured above) late on September 18 came hours after Russian authorities moved to seize the Crimean Tatar assembly, the Mejlis, piling pressure on the Muslim minority group that largely opposed Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in March.
Read a full story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir and Ukrainian services here.
Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council:
