14:39
14.3.2014
Russia is now adding a legal component to its strong criticism of what it says is the right-wing makeup of Ukraine's new authorities.
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the leader of Ukraine's nationalist Svoboda (Liberty) party, Oleh Tyahnybok.
The committee's spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said Friday that Tyahnybok is suspected of fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus on the side of Chechen separatists in the 1994-95 war.
Markin added that the Investigative Committee's North Caucasus branch had collected enough evidence to charge Tyahnybok and several members of his party with organizing an illegal armed gang and using force against Russian federal troops.
According to Markin, arrest warrants for Tyahnybok and his associates will be issued soon. Tyahnybok is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. He was one of the leaders of antigovernment protests in Kyiv that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in late February.
The committee's spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said Friday that Tyahnybok is suspected of fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus on the side of Chechen separatists in the 1994-95 war.
Markin added that the Investigative Committee's North Caucasus branch had collected enough evidence to charge Tyahnybok and several members of his party with organizing an illegal armed gang and using force against Russian federal troops.
According to Markin, arrest warrants for Tyahnybok and his associates will be issued soon. Tyahnybok is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. He was one of the leaders of antigovernment protests in Kyiv that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in late February.
14:35
14.3.2014
More on the regional diplomatic front from the agencies.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev about the crisis in Ukraine.
The Kazakh presidential office said the talk on Friday was initiated by London. According to Nazarbaev's office, Cameron and Nazarbaev agreed that the crisis "must be resolved by peaceful means and through reinstatement of all basic norms of international legislation in Ukraine."
Earlier this week, Nazarbaev talked by telephone with U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The White House said Obama and Nazarbaev had reiterated the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Nazarbaev also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week during which Nazarbaev expressed support for Moscow's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
The Kazakh presidential office said the talk on Friday was initiated by London. According to Nazarbaev's office, Cameron and Nazarbaev agreed that the crisis "must be resolved by peaceful means and through reinstatement of all basic norms of international legislation in Ukraine."
Earlier this week, Nazarbaev talked by telephone with U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The White House said Obama and Nazarbaev had reiterated the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Nazarbaev also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week during which Nazarbaev expressed support for Moscow's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
14:33
14.3.2014
Break is over. Match continues. pic.twitter.com/C3Dmf4rq2D
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 14, 2014
14:17
14.3.2014
Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine's first president, says country needs to urgently join NATO:
Украина должна срочно вступить в НАТО - Кравчук http://t.co/6SAouxJXbL #новини #новости #Украина #Кравчук #НАТО pic.twitter.com/yWI5rWbKD1
— Ukrinform (@UKRINFORM) March 14, 2014
14:08
14.3.2014
Russian MFA shows its funny side:
Lavrov and Kerry. Hope they will be back pic.twitter.com/ZXDFNSCzhE
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 14, 2014
14:06
14.3.2014
Rinat Akhmetov after last night's violence "We are one Donbass family and should remain so – one Donbass family, in one united Ukraine."
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) March 14, 2014
13:58
14.3.2014
Lavrov and Kerry have gone for a long walk through a field, per ForMin spox pic on FB. "Hope they'll come back," she writes.
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) March 14, 2014
13:56
14.3.2014
Meanwhile, the United Nations is deploying human rights monitors throughout Ukraine, including in Crimea, to establish the facts surrounding claims of rights abuses.
In a statement Friday, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said placing monitors in Ukraine is necessary to clear up the "preponderance of competing narratives about what exactly has transpired in the country since November."
Simonovic said warning signs about violations have been neglected for years and now "there are serious concerns about the weakness of rule of law institutions, lack of accountability, and ensuing impunity for human rights violations."
Simonovic expressed concern about allegations of excessive use of force and extrajudicial killings, including by snipers, torture, disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.
Russia used allegations of violations of the rights of Russians or Russian-speakers in Crimea to justify its military intervention.
Simonovic said warning signs about violations have been neglected for years and now "there are serious concerns about the weakness of rule of law institutions, lack of accountability, and ensuing impunity for human rights violations."
Simonovic expressed concern about allegations of excessive use of force and extrajudicial killings, including by snipers, torture, disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.
Russia used allegations of violations of the rights of Russians or Russian-speakers in Crimea to justify its military intervention.
13:55
14.3.2014
According to Reuters and AFP, Russia has called on the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to send observers to monitor Sunday's controversial referendum in Crimea, which is occupied by Russian forces.
The vote could see the region become part of Russia. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the leadership of the OSCE, its member states, and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights should renounce what it called the practice of "double standards" and monitor the vote.
The statement said the monitors would "facilitate the deescalation of the situation."
OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter said earlier this week that the referendum in Crimea "must be considered illegal" in its current form.
OSCE observers have had great difficulty in entering Crimea over the past week.
Last Saturday, warning shots were fired after OSCE monitors approached a checkpoint.
The statement said the monitors would "facilitate the deescalation of the situation."
OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter said earlier this week that the referendum in Crimea "must be considered illegal" in its current form.
OSCE observers have had great difficulty in entering Crimea over the past week.
Last Saturday, warning shots were fired after OSCE monitors approached a checkpoint.
13:55
14.3.2014
Crimea is springtime for Putin, says Prokhanov without any irony, in this demented Izvestia piece http://t.co/abgvkd9Q57
— Russian Police Watch (@RusPoliceWatch) March 14, 2014