U.S. Congressman announces bill to aid Ukraine:
A senior U.S. lawmaker says he plans to introduce legislation that will offer "greater assistance" to Ukraine and increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Kremlin's interference in Ukraine.
U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (Democrat-New York) announced the planned legislation on March 4, telling a Congressional hearing that it will "offer Ukraine greater assistance on a variety of fronts" and "dial up the pressure on Vladimir Putin for his reckless, destructive and destabilizing policies."
"And it will send a clear message that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine against Russian aggression," Engel, the ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told the hearing.
When contacted by RFE/RL, Engel's office did not provide immediate details on the draft bill or when it would be introduced.
Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office charges eastern mayor:
Crackdown in effect?
U.S. eyeing "deeper" Russia sanctions if Ukraine truce falters:
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says the United States and Europe are examining potential “deeper sanctions” against Russia should pro-Moscow separatists push to seize further territory in eastern Ukraine.
Nuland told a Congressional hearing on March 4 that new sanctions could be introduced should the separatists embark on a “further land grab” and that Washington is watching for a possible rebel push toward “at-risk villages" on the road to the strategic eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
She said a U.S. government sanctions team is in Europe this week and that Washington and the EU are discussing further sanctions targeting Russian economic sectors should a February cease-fire brokered in Minsk break down.
“It is important to keep these sanctions in place and to consider deepening them,” she said.
Donetsk confirms at least 17 dead in mine explosion:
The spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry in the self-proclaimed, separatist-held Donetsk People's Republic has confirmed 16 more bodies have been removed from a coal mine following an explosion.
Yuliana Bedilo said late on March 4 that the search continued for another 16 miners still missing after a blast at the Zasyadko mine earlier in the day.
One miner was already reported dead earlier in the day.
Authorities in Kyiv were attempting to send rescue teams to the region in eastern Ukraine but according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, pro-Russian separatists were refusing to allow rescue teams access to the scene.
"That is why I am publicly calling on the Russian Federation -- order these rascals to allow our mine-rescue brigades to save the lives of miners," Yatsenyuk said.
Eastern Ukraine has been devastated by a conflict between Russian-backed rebels and government forces that has killed more than 6,000 people since April.
Fighting has subsided following a February 12 cease-fire deal. (TASS and AP)
Freedom House has detailed rights abuses in Crimea:
The rights organization Freedom House released a new report on March 4 detailing rights abuses in the Crimean Peninsula since Russia "forcefully and illegally annexed" the Ukrainian territory in March 2014.
The report says Crimea's residents have faced increasingly grave, civic, political, and human rights violations.
Particularly affected were the Crimean Tatar population, which, according to Freedom House, has faced "infringement of property rights and intimidation of independent voices through selective use of law and physical force."
The report says the Kremlin has sought to suppress reporting of such abuses by creating a so-called "information ghetto" in Crimea through a crackdown on local and foreign media.
The report also notes many of these abuses have not been reported as "Western media attention shifted to the war in Ukraine's east" where government forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists for nearly one year now.
Georgia's ex-president urges U.S. to arm Ukraine:
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, now serving as an adviser to the administration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, has called on the United States to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons.
Speaking in front of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on March 4, Saakashvili said that Ukraine needs weapons, such as antitank weapons, to stall what he called the Russian advance.
He said that without weapons, there will be no country to reform.
The former president rebutted the argument that the United States should work with Europeans, saying that Germany was unlikely to agree to arming Ukraine.
Saakashvili predicted that Russia may seize more of the south and east of Ukraine, and try to destabilize the government in Kyiv.
Saakashvili was president when Russia and Georgia fought a war in 2008.