13:53
14.3.2014
Fascinating BuzzFeed article on the inner workings of RT based on interviews with former reporters:
"The job quickly began to seem strange. The editing process was multilayered: 'First you have somebody who’s a native English speaker, usually British,' Bivens said. This person edits the script for clarity and tightness. 'Then you have a Russian and they make sure that it fits whatever narrative they want it to fit.'"
13:37
14.3.2014
Crimean Tatar figurehead Mustafa Jemilev says NATO should intervene in Crimea, as it did in Kosovo.
He added: NATO intervention "usually only happens when there is a massacre; we want it to happen before there is a massacre."
Jemilev was speaking from Brussels, where he is due to meet with NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Verbow later today.
Read more (in Ukrainian) here:
13:21
14.3.2014
WATCH: RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service live-streaming from pro-Ukrainian rally in Crimean capital Simferopol:
13:18
14.3.2014
Germany's "Bild" and Reuters are reporting that the European Union has drawn up a list of 120 to 130 names of senior Russian officials who could be subjected to travel bans and asset freezes as part of EU sanctions over the crisis in Crimea.
Reuters quotes EU officials as saying the five-page list was drawn up by diplomats with experience in Russia and that it contains the names of generals and others from the top echelons of Russia's military and political establishment.
Germany's "Bild" newspaper reports the list for visa bans includes Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov, the secretary of the National Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, as well as several advisers of President Vladimir Putin.
EU officials are expected to discuss the list ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday.
Germany's "Bild" newspaper reports the list for visa bans includes Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov, the secretary of the National Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, as well as several advisers of President Vladimir Putin.
EU officials are expected to discuss the list ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday.
13:16
14.3.2014
Looks like a good start RT @AFPphoto: Kerry and Lavrov begin 11th-hour #Ukraine talks @b_smialowski #AFP pic.twitter.com/FhyXnnIDa0
— Glenn Kates (@gkates) March 14, 2014
13:06
14.3.2014
The UN is deploying a human rights monitoring team throughout Ukraine, including Crimea, effective immediately.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, speaking today in Kyiv, noted:
-- "the preponderance of competing narratives about what exactly has transpired in the country since November"
-- "warning signs about systemic human rights violations were neglected for many years" in Ukraine, contributing to recent unrest
-- “I have personally met with one victim of a brutal beating whose scars, both physical and mental, were clearly visible"
-- “the call is for accountability and not retribution”
Full statement available here:
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, speaking today in Kyiv, noted:
-- "the preponderance of competing narratives about what exactly has transpired in the country since November"
-- "warning signs about systemic human rights violations were neglected for many years" in Ukraine, contributing to recent unrest
-- “I have personally met with one victim of a brutal beating whose scars, both physical and mental, were clearly visible"
-- “the call is for accountability and not retribution”
Full statement available here:
12:29
14.3.2014
Interesting language from Patriarch Kirill, cited by Interfax:
"Today we are praying that no military clashes ever occur between the brothers, and that half-brothers do not clash in a cruel way so that death and destruction do not occur," the Patriarch said following a liturgy of pre-sanctified gifts in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Friday.
12:11
14.3.2014
Russia weighs in on last night's violence in Donetsk:
Russia's Foreign Ministry has said violence in eastern Ukraine overnight demonstrates that authorities in Kyiv are losing control and that Russia reserves the right to protect its citizens.
In a statement Friday, the Foreign Ministry noted the "tragic events in Donetsk on March 13, 2014, [when] blood was shed."
It blamed the violence on radical right-wing groups.
The ministry said these groups attacked peaceful protesters who were rallying against the "destructive positions of people who call themselves the Ukrainian authorities."
The Foreign Ministry said "Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of fellow citizens and compatriots in Ukraine and reserves the right to take people under its protection."
The statement noted that one person was killed in the violence in Donetsk. Organizers of the pro-EU rally said the dead man, who was stabbed to death, was from their group.
In a statement Friday, the Foreign Ministry noted the "tragic events in Donetsk on March 13, 2014, [when] blood was shed."
It blamed the violence on radical right-wing groups.
The ministry said these groups attacked peaceful protesters who were rallying against the "destructive positions of people who call themselves the Ukrainian authorities."
The Foreign Ministry said "Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of fellow citizens and compatriots in Ukraine and reserves the right to take people under its protection."
The statement noted that one person was killed in the violence in Donetsk. Organizers of the pro-EU rally said the dead man, who was stabbed to death, was from their group.
12:00
14.3.2014
AFP: Germany says result of Crimea vote will be 'irrelevant'
11:55
14.3.2014
Frustratingly little in the press about Yulia Tymoshenko meeting with fellow ex-prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Berlin, where she is currently receiving medical care at the Charite clinic.
UNIAN reports the two met at the clinic on March 13 and discussed the situation in Ukraine. Tymoshenko also thanked the "Russian intelligentsia" -- presumably including Khodorkovsky -- for supporting Ukraine at this "dramatic" time.
RFE/RL awaits the full transcript of what must have been a fascinating conversation between Ukraine's controversial "gas princess" and the former YUKOS chief turned political prisoners.