13:20
3.5.2014
Away from Odesa, our Tatar-Bashkir Service is reporting that Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev has again been denied entry into Crimea, after first being turned back at a Moscow airport on his way from Kyiv to Simferopol on May 2.
Thousands of Crimean Tatars who had gone to a border-crossing point near Armyansk to meet Dzhemilev on May 3 broke through lines of Russian troops to reach their leader. They say they will return to Crimea only if Dzhemilev is with them.
Leyla Muslimova, a spokeswoman for the Crimean Tatar's main self-government body, the Mejlis, says Crimea's Interior Ministry told Mejlis leader Refat Chubarov that Dzhemilev will not be allowed into Crimea.
Regional Mejlis officials have called for a blockade of roads across the peninsula to protest the move.
The acting head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, was quoted on May 2 as saying Dzhemilev had been "tasked by Western special services with destabilizing the situation" and would be prevented from entering.
Leyla Muslimova, a spokeswoman for the Crimean Tatar's main self-government body, the Mejlis, says Crimea's Interior Ministry told Mejlis leader Refat Chubarov that Dzhemilev will not be allowed into Crimea.
Regional Mejlis officials have called for a blockade of roads across the peninsula to protest the move.
The acting head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, was quoted on May 2 as saying Dzhemilev had been "tasked by Western special services with destabilizing the situation" and would be prevented from entering.
13:14
3.5.2014
12:54
3.5.2014
BuzzFeed's Mike Giglio recounts his time in captivity in eastern Ukraine.
She decided to perform an interrogation on the prisoners, to determine that they were really who they claimed to be. The questions were basic, almost laughable, as if a regular person — which most of the captors certainly were — were trying hard to act like they thought a hostage-taker should.
To prove that I was a U.S. citizen as advertised, the woman asked me to name the U.S. capital, then to pronounce the word “garden.” I passed, but a British journalist wasn’t so lucky, receiving two stiff punches from one of the armed men when the English-speaking woman questioned the integrity of his accent. “Are you American?” the woman demanded of the poor man.
To prove that I was a U.S. citizen as advertised, the woman asked me to name the U.S. capital, then to pronounce the word “garden.” I passed, but a British journalist wasn’t so lucky, receiving two stiff punches from one of the armed men when the English-speaking woman questioned the integrity of his accent. “Are you American?” the woman demanded of the poor man.
11:56
3.5.2014
11:41
3.5.2014
11:18
3.5.2014
10:47
3.5.2014
More on Russia's reaction to the violence and fire in Odesa yesterday:
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin is quoted as saying those who regard the "junta" in Kyiv as lawful are participants in the May 2 tragedy in Odesa.
Dmitry Peskov said Putin had extended his "deep condolences" to the victims and families of those killed in the Odesa fire.
More than 30 people -- many of them pro-Russian activists -- died in a fire in the southern port city on May 2. Some reports say Molotov cocktails had been thrown at the building.
Peskov also said Moscow "no longer has influence" over Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.
Peskov said Moscow does not know how to respond to the growing violence and regrets the West's "approval" of the "punitive operation."
He also dismissed the idea that a presidential election can be held later this month as "absurd" given the violence.
Dmitry Peskov said Putin had extended his "deep condolences" to the victims and families of those killed in the Odesa fire.
More than 30 people -- many of them pro-Russian activists -- died in a fire in the southern port city on May 2. Some reports say Molotov cocktails had been thrown at the building.
Peskov also said Moscow "no longer has influence" over Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.
Peskov said Moscow does not know how to respond to the growing violence and regrets the West's "approval" of the "punitive operation."
He also dismissed the idea that a presidential election can be held later this month as "absurd" given the violence.
10:32
3.5.2014
10:30
3.5.2014
BREAKING: Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his "deep condolences" to the victims and families of those killed in the Odesa fire. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow has received thousands of requests for help from southeastern Ukraine. He said Moscow does not yet know how to respond to the growing violence in eastern Ukraine.
10:09
3.5.2014
More from our news desk on the release of the OSCE monitors.
A group of seven OSCE observers and their Ukrainian assistants who were being held by pro-Russian forces in the eastern Ukrainian town of Slovyansk have been freed.
Vladimir Lukin, a special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is quoted as saying on May 3 that "all 12 people on my list have been freed."
The team of observers was detained on April 25.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Interior Ministry reports that Ukrainian forces have taken control of the airport and a television tower in the town of Kramatorsk.
The ministry's website said on May 3 that all checkpoints around the town are now under the control of Ukrainian troops.
Earlier, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said military operations against pro-Russian separatists in the east resumed at dawn on May 3.
Vladimir Lukin, a special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is quoted as saying on May 3 that "all 12 people on my list have been freed."
The team of observers was detained on April 25.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Interior Ministry reports that Ukrainian forces have taken control of the airport and a television tower in the town of Kramatorsk.
The ministry's website said on May 3 that all checkpoints around the town are now under the control of Ukrainian troops.
Earlier, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said military operations against pro-Russian separatists in the east resumed at dawn on May 3.