Interesting story in The Moscow Times:
KIEV/MOSCOW — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Friday that police evidence showed that a top Russian presidential aide, Vladislav Surkov, had directed "foreign sniper groups" who shot and killed protesters in Kiev a year ago.
"Just a few days ago, the head of state security told me that, in questioning, special forces operatives gave evidence that the Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov led the organization of groups of foreign snipers on the Maidan," Poroshenko said, according to his website.
Latest from Washington:
Washington says Russia's continued support for attacks by separatists agaisnt government forces in eastern Ukraine is a violation of a fresh cease-fire agreement reached in Minsk this month and "is undermining international diplomacy and multilateral institutions" that are "the foundations of our modern global order."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said the United States is "particularly concerned about new attacks near Mariupol" on the coast of the Sea of Azov by Russian-backed separatists.
More from D.C.:
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has urged Secretary of State John Kerry to tighten sanctions against Russia and provide defensive military aid to Ukraine after rebels breached this month's cease-fire agreement and seized the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve.
The senators told Kerry in a letter that "it is time to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine and to consider imposing additional sanctions and penalties that will increase the cost of Putin’s actions, including the potential removal of Russia from the SWIFT financial system."
Among those signing the letter were top Democrat Dick Durbin and Armed Services Committee Republican Chairman John McCain.
U.S. President Barack Obama has not ruled out giving the Ukrainians defensive lethal aid.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on February 20 that military operations by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine risk "increasing costs" for Russia.
Barring any major developments, that concludes the live blogging for today.
Good morning!
Led by a group of nationalist bikers, Moscow is hosting a rally to mark the one year anniversary of Ukraine's Euromaidan revolution -- an event that they call a Western-orchestrated "coup." Organizers have predicted that 10,000 people will turn out and early pictures do show large crowds congregating on Petrovka street in downtown Moscow.
Yesterday, some reports appeared on social media that protest-goers were being offered money to attend today's events, but there has not yet been definitive proof.
According to the BBC, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kyiv last year, is expected to speak at today's rally.
A group wearing matching green jacket with the mug of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov carry a banner that some in the West might call homophobic.
"We don't need Western ideology and gay-parades!" it says.
The placard says, "A thief should sit in prison." It pictures Aleksei Navalny (bottom) and his associate Vladimir Ashurkov. Navalny is currently serving a 15-day jail sentence for distributing fliers for an unsanctioned March 1 protest. Ashurkov, the executive director of Navalny's anticorruption foundation, has asked for asylum in Britain after being charged with fraud by Russia's Investigative Committee. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.
Russian Night Wolves bilker-gang leader Aleksandr Zaldostanov (aka "The Surgeon") with Oleg Tsaryov, a former Party of Regions Deputy who now is a leader in the self-proclaimed Novorossia.
TASS Russian news agency reports 20,000 have turned out for today's march.
This