22:25
6.5.2014
Barring any dramatic developments, we are closing our live blog for today. Before we go, we will leave you with the U.S. State Department's latest comments on the Ukraine crisis (from RFE/RL's news desk)
The United States has denounced what it called "bogus" plans by pro-Russia separatist groups in eastern Ukraine to conduct referendums on self-determination.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said "This is the Crimea play-book all over again," alluding to the referendum held in Crimea last March in which voters were asked whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
Psaki said, "No civilized nation will recognize the results" of the referendums in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions that pro-Russian separatist leaders controlling those two regions say will be held on May 11.
Psaki also warned that "if Russia takes the next step" and moves into eastern Ukraine and tries to annex it, "harsh EU and U.S. sanctions will follow."
The United States has denounced what it called "bogus" plans by pro-Russia separatist groups in eastern Ukraine to conduct referendums on self-determination.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said "This is the Crimea play-book all over again," alluding to the referendum held in Crimea last March in which voters were asked whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
Psaki said, "No civilized nation will recognize the results" of the referendums in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions that pro-Russian separatist leaders controlling those two regions say will be held on May 11.
Psaki also warned that "if Russia takes the next step" and moves into eastern Ukraine and tries to annex it, "harsh EU and U.S. sanctions will follow."
08:08
7.5.2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets today in Moscow with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter -- the current chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). After a Russian envoy intervened for the release of the OSCE monitors being held by eastern Ukrainian separatists, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed in a telephone conversation that the OSCE should play a bigger role in the effort to de-escalate Ukraine’s crisis.
09:04
7.5.2014
Pro-Kyiv military analyst Dmitry Tymchuk writes on Facebook this morning that Ukrainian forces have thwarted an attempt by "a group of terrorists" to break out of the military cordon around the town of Slovyansk, our Ukrainian Service reports.
Here's Tymchuk's post (in Ukrainian):
Here's Tymchuk's post (in Ukrainian):
09:09
7.5.2014
A report in Russia's "Komsomolskaya pravda" notes that bus fares have been raised in Crimea.
09:23
7.5.2014
First edition of the official newspaper of the People's Republic of Donetsk pic.twitter.com/TGpmkBX4bs
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) May 7, 2014
09:37
7.5.2014
#Mariupol city council vacated from separatists this morning, #Ukraine's flag raised, barricades being dismantled pic.twitter.com/KC9g8xSfA2
— Natalia Melnychuk (@pravolivo) May 7, 2014
09:49
7.5.2014
More intercepts from SBU: One of the Donetsk separatist joints leader with Moscow politician (explicit language) https://t.co/782mrBjvZ1
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) May 7, 2014
10:09
7.5.2014
RFE/RL's news desk has issued this item on reports that government forces have retaken an administration building in Mariupol:
Ukrainian media reports say Kyiv's forces have retaken the city hall in the eastern port of Mariupol after heavy fighting with pro-Russian militants overnight.
Ukraine's Channel 5 television said the National Guard had seized the building, forcing rebels into the streets, where they blocked the main thoroughfare.
By the norning of May 7, the report said that traffic could again move.
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted a pro-Russia source in Mariupol who confirmed that the city hall was now under Ukrainian forces' control.
Separatists also told Interfax that Ukrainian security forces detained 11 people who were campaigning for a referendum on the region's independence scheduled for the weekend.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the planned referendum "contrived and bogus", and said Washington rejected it as an "illegal effort to further divide Ukraine."
Pro-Russia separatists have captured official buildings in dozens of towns in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.
Ukraine's Channel 5 television said the National Guard had seized the building, forcing rebels into the streets, where they blocked the main thoroughfare.
By the norning of May 7, the report said that traffic could again move.
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted a pro-Russia source in Mariupol who confirmed that the city hall was now under Ukrainian forces' control.
Separatists also told Interfax that Ukrainian security forces detained 11 people who were campaigning for a referendum on the region's independence scheduled for the weekend.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the planned referendum "contrived and bogus", and said Washington rejected it as an "illegal effort to further divide Ukraine."
Pro-Russia separatists have captured official buildings in dozens of towns in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.
10:12
7.5.2014
The "Moscow Times" has published a report on how property prices in Crimea have skyrocketed since the peninsula's annexation:
Read more here
"The demand for apartments and commercial-recreational facilities is beating all records from 2005 to 2007," Ruslan Burdeiny, general director of Crimean construction company Monolit, told Itar-Tass. Burdeiny added that he has seen prices rising by 50 to 60 percent in the last two months alone.
Konsol-Stroi, a major Crimean construction company has seen prices rise by 20 to 50 percent in the last month and half. The cost of a square meter has risen to $1,500 from an average of $1,000, according to Konsol-Stroi director Galina Kovalenko, RIA Novosti reported.
Konsol-Stroi, a major Crimean construction company has seen prices rise by 20 to 50 percent in the last month and half. The cost of a square meter has risen to $1,500 from an average of $1,000, according to Konsol-Stroi director Galina Kovalenko, RIA Novosti reported.
Read more here
10:26
7.5.2014
SBU has evidence of Russia's involvement in preparation of 'referendum' in east Ukraine http://t.co/FR5cq1PL9G
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) May 7, 2014