17:56
10.3.2014
Now saw this with own eyes. Sad how truth distorted and hatred stirred up on #Crimea pic.twitter.com/NDfbXw3fh7
— MareikeAden (@MareikeAden) March 10, 2014
17:40
10.3.2014
From the agencies:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has declined an invitation to visit Russia later today for further talks on the Ukraine crisis.
Lavrov, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on March 10, also said he had been handed proposals last week by Kerry to resolve the situation which, he said, "did not completely suit us." In a reference to the post-Yanukovych government, Lavrov suggested Moscow objected to wording in the U.S. proposal that accepted as a starting point the "de facto situation...that has been created thanks to the coup."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has declined an invitation to visit Russia later today for further talks on the Ukraine crisis.
Lavrov, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on March 10, also said he had been handed proposals last week by Kerry to resolve the situation which, he said, "did not completely suit us." In a reference to the post-Yanukovych government, Lavrov suggested Moscow objected to wording in the U.S. proposal that accepted as a starting point the "de facto situation...that has been created thanks to the coup."
16:29
10.3.2014
The escalating crisis in Ukraine is sending shivers through Kazakhstan, where politicians have begun to openly express reservations about the wisdom of proceeding with the Eurasian Union, Vladimir Putin's highly sought EU counterpart linking Russia with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and preferably more post-Soviet states.
Asylkhan Mamashuly of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that Kazakh authorities and analysts have begun to urge putting the brakes on the project -- tentatively due for a January 2015 debut -- amid a growing realization that an ostensibly economic union with Russia could easily turn political.
No less a figure than President Nursultan Nazarbaev has signalled his alarm. The Kazakh leader, who traveled to Moscow on March 5 for a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission, returned home the next day to hold a series of defense meetings during which he reportedly suggested that it might be time to strengthen army forces along its massive 12,000-kilometer border.
Among others urging caution is Yerlan Karin, the former Nur Otan party secretary, who points to Russia's refusal in Ukraine to recognize the terms of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which newly independent Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan traded in their nuclear weapons in return for territorial independence. Events in Ukraine, he told "Kursiv" newspaper, signaled the need for a "time out" in Astana's integration projects.
Read the whole story (in Russian) here:
15:51
10.3.2014
Now "random" survey of people on Crimean TV asking how they will vote. Some of them very pro joining Russia. Others VERY pro joining Russia.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 10, 2014
15:39
10.3.2014
Euromaidan activist Ivan Nakonechniy died Friday as a result of a severe brain trauma that had left him in a coma. Nakonechniy, a retired Soviet naval officer, had attended Maidan protests every day before being critically beaten in violence on February 19. He was 83 years old.
15:17
10.3.2014
From the wires:
U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone conversation late Sunday.
A White House statement said the two leaders agreed on the importance of upholding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It said the presidents have a shared interest in reducing tensions and finding a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
A White House statement said the two leaders agreed on the importance of upholding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It said the presidents have a shared interest in reducing tensions and finding a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
15:15
10.3.2014
Ukraine's UNIAN news agency is reporting that another activist has been kidnapped in Crimea.
Ihor Kyryushchenko, the regional head of Ukrainian Republican party and an outspoken opponent of Russia's Crimea takeover, was last heard from early Monday afternoon, when he called his party office in Sevastopol, saying, "Farewell. They've come for me." Calls to his phone have since gone unanswered.
Kyryushchenko's apparent abduction comes a day after he participated in demonstrations marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. He also actively supported Ukrainian soldiers serving on military bases that have been occupied by pro-Russian forces.
At least five other activists and journalists have gone missing in recent days, including Andriy Shchekun, the head of Crimea's Ukrainian Council and a co-organizer of Sunday protests against the Russian occupation.
UNIAN reports that his wife, Lyudmyla, has managed to contact one of the hostage-takers, who reported that Kyryushchenko, who has severe asthma and suffered a heart attack two years ago, was being properly cared for. Kyryushchenko, together with a second activist, Anatolyy Kovalskiy, was abducted Sunday at the train station in Simferopol. Their current location is unknown.
Ihor Kyryushchenko, the regional head of Ukrainian Republican party and an outspoken opponent of Russia's Crimea takeover, was last heard from early Monday afternoon, when he called his party office in Sevastopol, saying, "Farewell. They've come for me." Calls to his phone have since gone unanswered.
Kyryushchenko's apparent abduction comes a day after he participated in demonstrations marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. He also actively supported Ukrainian soldiers serving on military bases that have been occupied by pro-Russian forces.
At least five other activists and journalists have gone missing in recent days, including Andriy Shchekun, the head of Crimea's Ukrainian Council and a co-organizer of Sunday protests against the Russian occupation.
UNIAN reports that his wife, Lyudmyla, has managed to contact one of the hostage-takers, who reported that Kyryushchenko, who has severe asthma and suffered a heart attack two years ago, was being properly cared for. Kyryushchenko, together with a second activist, Anatolyy Kovalskiy, was abducted Sunday at the train station in Simferopol. Their current location is unknown.
14:45
10.3.2014
EU imports of Russian gas - great map from @ReutersGraphics #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/1pBaWJmIaV
— Pierre Briançon (@pierrebri) March 10, 2014
14:33
10.3.2014
Oksana Grytsenko of the "Kyiv Post" reports that pro-Russian forces have taken over Ukraine's main military hospital in Simferopol today. Forces threatened staff and patients, many of them Ukrainian soldiers.
14:27
10.3.2014
This video from RFE/RL's Ukraine Service in Kharkiv shows just how few people it takes to run a press conference off the rails. Several journalists were denied entrance to Vitali Klitschko's presser today.
Afterwards, Klitschko was reportedly pelted with eggs by residents who support a referendum on the region's status.
Afterwards, Klitschko was reportedly pelted with eggs by residents who support a referendum on the region's status.
#УДАР:На мітингу у Харкові "спортивні туристи" кидали яйця і взривпакети. Міліція спостерігала http://t.co/KRam4EW2ZB pic.twitter.com/p0RtWpQTg4
— УДАР Віталія Кличка (@udarKlichko) March 10, 2014