Blunt language from the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv:
On this, the 75th day of the Ukrainian military pilot's ongoing hunger strike in Russian detention, Nadia Savchenko's defense team says it has provided Russian authorities with "exhaustive procedural grounds" for releasing her from pretrial detention to "any other" method of restraint.
She is reportedly still on a water and glucose diet.
An odd story indeed.
More detail on British government's plans for Ukraine military aid:
Doug Schoen asserts flatly in Forbes that "Russian And Ukraine Are At War." Here's an excerpt:
It goes without saying that by this point no competent Western leader should take the wily Vladimir Putin at his word.
The movement of Russian forces into Ukraine signals that the Kremlin is invested in this conflict and is willing to devote significant resources, not to mention take great risks, in pursuit of victory.
America and the West must be no less invested in achieving peace, defending sovereignty, and protecting international norms by refusing to allow Russia to achieve its aims in Ukraine.
By sending regular Russian army forces into Ukraine, Putin shows that he understands the importance of this fight.
You can find the Amnesty International annual report on The State Of The World's Human Rights in 2014-15 here.
Concerning Ukraine (beginning on page 382), the report criticizes security forces' response to Euromaidan, as well as Russian occupiers in Crimea for disappearances and suppression, pro-Russian fighters and pro-Kyiv forces for summary justice during the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and "scant regard for civilians caught in the crossfire."
Here's our newsroom's writeup of the report:
Amnesty International Condemns 'Shameful' Global Response To Rights Abuses
Apart from this: