Me: "Is this a ceasefire?" DNR commander "Botsman": "This is the start of WWIII…"
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) October 7, 2014
"Ceasefire in Ukraine is a Mirage" http://t.co/7bSCFPtRlN
— Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (@JSaryuszWolski) October 7, 2014
Here's a Crimea-related update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says at least five people are still missing after "hostile encounters" in the annexed Crimea region that contribute to an "atmosphere of fear and hostility for anyone who is pro-Ukraine, including Crimean Tatars."
HRW made the announcement after Edem Asanov, a Crimean Tatar missing since September 29, was found dead.
It said the five had been "forcefully disappeared".
They included Islam Dzhepparov and Dzhevdet Islamov, two young Crimean Tatars who disappeared on September 27 after being bundled into a minivan by men in black uniforms.
The others are three pro-Ukraine activists, one of them a Crimean Tatar, who disappeared in late May after they said they had hostile encounters with pro-Russian militants.
HRW said other Crimean Tatars have been found dead, with signs of torture, since the peninsula's annexation by Russia in March.
Better late than never. Here's a video of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland:
At least 2 houses was hit by grad rockets today in # Donetsk district of Gladkovka, airport ~4km NW from there. pic.twitter.com/dlfCfs5OUL
— Silver Meikar (@meikar) October 7, 2014
Some worrying economic news for Russia according to this report issued by Bloomberg:
Russia’s central bank spent as much as $1.75 billion to prop up the ruble over the last two trading days, its biggest market intervention since President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into Ukraine in March.
Russia’s central bank spent the equivalent of $980 million to shore up the ruble on Oct. 3, the latest data on the authority’s website showed today. The bank also said it shifted the upper boundary of the currency’s trading band by 10 kopeks yesterday, a move that may have involved spending between $420 million and $769 million that day. The exchange rate weakened 0.3 percent to 44.6234 versus the basket by 5:12 p.m. in Moscow, set for a record low for the fourth time this month.
Putin is suffering the consequences for shaking up the post-Cold War order in eastern Europe as the U.S. and European Union impose sanctions on his economy and investors pull money out of the country. Demand for dollars and euros is growing among Russian companies locked out of western debt markets as they contend with $54.7 billion of debt repayments in the next three months, according to central bank data.
Read the entire article here
Victoria Nuland @ Shevchenko University: #Ukraine will be able to send over 300 students to the US each year via FLEX pic.twitter.com/R8abrEy86E
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) October 7, 2014
These reported comments by Russia's finance minister are somewhat surprising and could have implications for Moscow's military build-up (and probably not what Vladimir Putin wants to hear on his birthday):
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the country's military spending plans need to be "more realistic" and take into consideration forecasts for economic growth and budget revenue.
Siluanov addressed Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, on October 7 and said his ministry wanted to reconsider the amount to be spent from the state budget on Russia's multibillion dollar program to rearm and modernize the military.
Siluanov said currently Russian simply could not afford such spending and added the finance and defense ministries have already started talks on which programs could be financed from state coffers.
The current plan calls for spending some $576 billion on defense in the next six years.
Western sanctions against Russia over the Kremlin's interference in Ukraine have hit Russian energy companies especially hard and those companies are responsible for bringing in a large amount of revenue to the Russian state.
(Interfax, Reuters)
This is, indeed, pretty horrific...
What can happen when people get driven mad by grief and rage in a war - a public beating in Ukraine. Sickening: http://t.co/Mp48k7WHhf
— Tom Parfitt (@parfitt_tom) October 7, 2014
As our news desk reports, it's just been announced in Brussels that the Euromaidan movement is in the running for the Sakharov Prize:
The European Parliament has shortlisted Ukraine's pro-Western Euromaidan movement, Azerbaijani rights defender Leyla Yunus, and a Congolese doctor for the 2014 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought.
The Euromaidan movement derived from a wave of pro-EU demonstrations across Ukraine that led to President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster in February.
As the movement has no designated leader, four people were cited as its representatives -- journalists Mustafa Nayem and Tetyana Chornovol, Eurovision Song contest winner Ruslana Lyzhychko, and student Yelyzaveta Schepetylnykova.
Yunus of Azerbaijan is known for her work helping citizens affected by forced evictions in Baku and compiling lists of political prisoners in her country. She and her husband are currently in pre-trial detention on high treason charges.
The 50,000-euro ($64,200) Sakharov Prize is awarded annually to honor defenders of human rights and freedom of expression.
The laureate will be announced October 16.