-- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kyiv as U.S. officials announced Washington is preparing a $1 billion aid package for Ukraine.
-- Speaking at a press conference at his residence, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the change of government in Ukraine an "unconstitutional overthrow and an armed seizure of power."
-- Putin also said there are no considerations to annex Crimea and no intentions to provoke separatist sentiment. He said it is up to the citizens of Crimea to determine their own future.
-- In Crimea, there are standoffs between Russian and Ukrainian troops in their bases, with conflicting reports of ultimatums given to Ukrainian troops to surrender that come and pass.
-- Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that Ukraine's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting that he use the Russian military to restore law and order in his country.
-- In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian demonstrators have occupied part of the regional government building in the city of Donetsk. Meanwhile, a few hundred pro-Russian activists tried but failed to force their way into the regional administration building in the southern city of Odesa.
NOTE: Live blog updates are listed according to local time in Kyiv
So the vote on the government pushed back to Thursday:
Ukraine's parliament has put off plans to vote on the formation of a national unity government until Thursday.
The vote had been expected on Tuesday, but Oleksander Turchynov, the speaker of the assembly and the country's acting president, told the chamber the vote was put off to allow more time for consultations.
09:5125.2.2014
The Anti-Maidan faction unfavorably compares Sevastopol's "aggressive separatists" to Kiev's "peaceful protesters." pic.twitter.com/UIJGrsQthD
Good morning. Kicking off the live blog again. Powerful photos from Lviv, where local riot police kneel as they apologize to residents for taking part in an operation against antigovernment protesters in Kyiv.
20:2424.2.2014
Freed Ukrainian ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says she's planning to receive medical treatment in Germany. A statement on Tymoshenko’s website said she had accepted an offer of treatment from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has alleged that "dictatorial and sometimes terrorist methods" are being used in Ukraine to pressure dissenters against the country's new authorities.
The Foreign Ministry also said Moscow is surprised by Western support for plans to hold an early presidential election in Ukraine.
It says constitutional reforms should first be put to a referendum, and the concerns of lawmakers in Crimea, and southern and eastern Ukraine, must be taken into account.
16:0824.2.2014
Video doing the rounds on Twitter showing a 2007 exchange between the then mayor of Kharkiv Mykhailo Dobkin and Hennadiy Kernes, who is the current mayor of the city. It's not clear in what capacity Kernes was acting in in 2007.
Dobkin is now the governor of the Kharkiv Oblast. Both are members of the Yanukovych's Party of Regions.
Be warned, the exchange is very sweary, but illuminating none the less.
Meanwhile, this from Interfax. Kernes is not planning to step down as Kharkiv mayor, although he did give the briefing from the airport.
Kernes has no plans to leave post of Kharkiv mayor
KHARKIV. Feb 24 (Interfax) - Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes has no
intention of resigning at the session of the city council scheduled for
Wednesday, February 26.
"I would like to announce that you should not expect any statements
on my resignation at the session of the Kharkiv City Council," Kernes
told a briefing at the Kharkiv international airport.
For a bit more background on Kernes, check out this story by our Ukrainian Service (in English) about the closure of local television channels, which were often critical of the authorities.
15:2224.2.2014
Balaclava today. The place where President Yanukovich was last seen at midnight last night pic.twitter.com/m6gPTLEJLv
