From RFE/RL's News Desk:
A lawyer for a Russian woman accused of treason for allegedly reporting to the Ukrainian Embassy about possible troop movements says his client will be released from custody by the end of February 3.
Sergei Badamshin, a lawyer for Svetlana Davydova, said on February 3 that Russian authorities had agreed to release Davydova from Moscow's Lefortovo detention center on condition that she does not leave Moscow.
The 36-year-old Davydova was detained January 21 at a home she shares with her husband and seven children, including an infant daughter, in Vyazma, about 240 kilometers west of Moscow.
A court initially ordered her held in detention through March 19 ahead of her trial.
She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of treason.
Another of Davydova's lawyers, Ivan Pavlov, said on February 2 that an appeal had been filed with the Moscow City Court in an effort to win his client's release.
By RFE/RL
Amnesty International says the situation in the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve is “catastrophic,” with thousands of residents “desperately sheltering from heavy shelling" and in need of running water, food, electricity, and basic medical supplies.
The London-based human rights group said on February 3 that Debaltseve has been under constant shelling by the pro-Russian separatists who have been attempting to seize it from government forces.
Amensty researchers on the ground said some attacks may have been indiscriminate.
Debaltseve is within a narrow strip of land in the eastern region of Donestk that is under Ukrainian government control in the midst of territory controlled by separatists.
It has been the scene of heavy fighting for more than two weeks, with separatists pushing forward with an offensive they say is aimed at controlling all of the Donetsk region.
Amnesty says Debaltseve's population of 25,000 has dwindled to about 7,000, and constant shelling of the only road out of town makes the escape of the remaining civilians "even more dangerous."