Good morning. We'll start the live blog this morning with this update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Amnesty International says it has new evidence of "execution-style killings" by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The London-based human rights organization said on April 9 that it had videos of three government soldiers shown alive in captivity, then dead in a morgue with bullet wounds to their heads and upper bodies.
It also quoted witnesses as saying that another soldier was shot at point-blank range by a separatist commander.
Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director Denis Krivosheev said the torture, ill-treatment, and killing of captured, surrendered, or wounded soldiers are war crimes.
He said such claims "must be promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators prosecuted in fair trials by recognized authorities."
The allegations come after a rebel commander told the Kyiv Post newspaper that he had killed 15 captured Ukrainian soldiers.
More than 6,000 people have been killed in the conflict between government forces and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine over the past year.
Rights groups have accused both sides of abuses.
This ends our live-blogging for April 8. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Putin won't use gas to pressure Ukraine:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with the head of gas giant Gazprom and said Russia will not use the price of gas as an instrument to pressure Ukraine.
Putin told Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller the price of gas for Ukraine should be consistent with the price Ukraine's neighbors pay.
Russia was criticized last year for hiking the price of gas to Ukraine to a rate that was some $100 higher than the world market price.
Putin also told Miller that Gazprom should ensure uninterrupted supplies to "all partners, especially in the southeast of Ukraine," an apparent reference to the Luhansk and Donetsk regions currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Miller said Gazprom had withdrawn the "take or pay" clause from gas agreements with Ukraine, which required Ukraine to pay for all the gas it signed contracts for whether Ukraine took all the gas or not.
Miller also said the price of gas for Ukraine as of April 1 was $247 per 1,000 cubic meters and that price included a discount. (TASS and Interfax)
It's official, the sanctions are hurting...
Moscow's latest Potemkin people's republic - the Peoples Council of Bessarabia (from OdessaTalk):
As the historical concept of “Novorussiya” failed miserably to take hold in Odessa when The Kremlin forcibly intervened in Ukraine a year ago – it appears another historical dead horse called Bessarabia is about to be resurrected and publicly flogged in the hope it moves in the very westernmost regions of Ukraine (and within Moldova too). Attempting to destabilise two nations for the price of one historical resurrection in such hard economic times, for The Kremlin, currently makes good fiscal sense.
There were about 100 people present at the launch of the People’s Council of Bessarabia. Naturally there were journalists and a few deputies from local councils, whether in support, or whether to gauge first hand what the People’s Council of Bessarabia is all about should they have to confront it, remains unclear – but time will tell as it always does.
According to Britain's Express, Russia killed the separatist militants who shot down MH17 last year:
Sources have claimed that Vladimir Putin's regime has tried to eliminate all traces of any involvement from Russian supporters in the air disaster.
The anonymous insiders told the Dutch-led investigation into the crash that Moscow are trying "hide" anything that could incriminate them.
The claims were revealed during a report from Netherlands' state broadcaster NOS.
Dutch journalist Robert Bas said: "My sources believe that these people might have changed their identities or even been executed by Russian secret service in order to hide everything."
Mr Bas added that those who allegedly fired BUK missiles at the passenger jet have been "untraceable" for investigators.
He added: "So in the end there may be no trial, unfortunately, just the report on the results of the investigation."
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July 2014 - all 298 people onboard the Boeing 777 were killed.
Moscow claimed that the jet had been blown out of the sky by Ukrainian forces while Kiev said it was hit by a missile fired by pro-Russian insurgents.
The investigation into the air disaster is due to be published in October, but NOS said it has been hampered by persistent hackings by the Russian secret service.
Phones and laptops used by investigators in Ukraine had to be "destroyed" subsequently because they were reportedly infected with spyware.
This item from our news desk highlights some of the cultural fallout from the annexation of Crimea:
A Dutch court has granted Ukraine's request to be a party in the high-profile Scythian gold lawsuit.
Amsterdam's district court ruled April 8 that Ukraine is eligible to claims rights to the disputed objects.
Ukraine will now have to file an application to participate in the proceedings by May 20.
A collection of more than 1,000 gold items representing ancient Scythian civilization, was sent to the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam in February 2014 for an exhibition titled Crimea: Gold And Secrets Of The Black Sea."
The artifacts came from five Ukrainian museums, four of which are located in Crimea.
In March, following Crimea's annexation by Russia, the Ukrainian government demanded the entire collection be returned to Kyiv. Crimea's Kremlin-backed authorities have dismissed the claims.
The exhibition closed on August 31, but the items remain in the Netherlands.
In November, the four Crimean museums filed a lawsuit to a court in Amsterdam demanding that the Allard Pierson Museum return the Crimean part of the collection.
(TASS, Ekho Moskvy)