11:30
4.4.2014
Rival demonstrators have gathered outside the city administration building in Odesa as local lawmakers gather to discuss the fate of the city's acting mayor, Oleh Brindak.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that 1,000 protesters are standing on the city's Duma Square, separated by a police cordon. Euromaidan protesters are calling for Brindak's ouster, while Antimaidan demonstrators are demanding he hold the post and that Russian be restored as a second state language.
You can watch a live feed of the protests here:
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that 1,000 protesters are standing on the city's Duma Square, separated by a police cordon. Euromaidan protesters are calling for Brindak's ouster, while Antimaidan demonstrators are demanding he hold the post and that Russian be restored as a second state language.
You can watch a live feed of the protests here:
11:19
4.4.2014
From our newsroom:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to hold talks in Moscow today with his Moldovan counterpart, Natalia Gherman. The talks are likely to focus on the situation in Transdniester amid Russian claims that the Moscow-backed separatist region, which is sandwiched between Moldova proper and Ukraine, is facing a "blockade." Lavrov earlier this week said Moscow "is worried over the steps taken by the current Ukrainian leaders concerning the freedom of movement." NATO's top military official, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, last month warned of a possible Russian incursion across Ukraine to occupy Transdniester. Transdniester declared independence from Moldova in 1990. The two sides fought a brief war in 1992 that ended when the Russian military intervened on the side of Transdniester.
10:50
4.4.2014
The World Bank has suggested that Ukrainian GDP could grow 3 percent in 2015 if its economy is reformed and stabilized, Reuters reports.
10:40
4.4.2014
AP has news of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's televised remarks today:
All the Ukrainian servicemen stationed in Crimea were allowed to leave for mainland Ukraine but 8,000 military men stayed and applied for permission to join the Russian army, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in televised comments on Friday.
Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March after Crimea residents voted overwhelmingly to seek to join Russia. The referendum was called two weeks earlier, coinciding with the military occupation of the region by armed men in unmarked uniforms.
Shoigu on Friday described claims that the Russian army has mistreated Ukrainian servicemen as "improper and provocative." Several senior Ukrainian officers including a military base commander were briefly detained by the Russian forces and kept in custody for several days.
Moscow has never admitted that the thousands of troops roaming the peninsula, seizing the airports and putting up road blocks were in fact Russian. They wore no markings but some of them drove APCs with Russian number plates.
In what seems to be a cautious acknowledgment of the Russian military involvement in the peninsula, Shoigu said that Crimea faced "a threat to civilian lives and the threat of a seizure of the Russian military infrastructure by extremist organizations," so Russia "took decisive actions" and "beefed up security of Russian military infrastructure in Crimea."
He stopped short, however, of giving details but said the military "managed to prevent bloodshed."
Shoigu said Russia's actions did not violate any international laws because Russia never exceeded the agreed amount of troops stationed on the peninsula.
Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March after Crimea residents voted overwhelmingly to seek to join Russia. The referendum was called two weeks earlier, coinciding with the military occupation of the region by armed men in unmarked uniforms.
Shoigu on Friday described claims that the Russian army has mistreated Ukrainian servicemen as "improper and provocative." Several senior Ukrainian officers including a military base commander were briefly detained by the Russian forces and kept in custody for several days.
Moscow has never admitted that the thousands of troops roaming the peninsula, seizing the airports and putting up road blocks were in fact Russian. They wore no markings but some of them drove APCs with Russian number plates.
In what seems to be a cautious acknowledgment of the Russian military involvement in the peninsula, Shoigu said that Crimea faced "a threat to civilian lives and the threat of a seizure of the Russian military infrastructure by extremist organizations," so Russia "took decisive actions" and "beefed up security of Russian military infrastructure in Crimea."
He stopped short, however, of giving details but said the military "managed to prevent bloodshed."
Shoigu said Russia's actions did not violate any international laws because Russia never exceeded the agreed amount of troops stationed on the peninsula.
10:31
4.4.2014
09:47
4.4.2014
The leader of Russia's ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, follows the McDonald's closure in Crimea by saying "the closure of McDonald’s restaurants in Crimea is a good thing; it would be great if it shut down all its restaurants in Russia."
After McDonald's, he added, "we'll deal with Pepsi-Cola."
After McDonald's, he added, "we'll deal with Pepsi-Cola."
09:19
4.4.2014
09:12
4.4.2014
McDonald's has announced it is suspending operations in Crimea due to circumstances outside the company's control, our Russian service quotes ITAR-TASS as reporting. It is offering some workers a chance to apply for jobs in other parts of Ukraine.
08:43
4.4.2014
More information came in overnight on the Russian arrests of more than two dozen Ukrainians accused of plotting attacks. From AP and NTV via our newsroom:
Russia says it has arrested 25 Ukrainian citizens on suspicion of planning attacks in the country. Russia's federal security service said on April 3 that the detained were planning attacks between March 14 and 17 in Rostov, Volgograd, Tver, Orel, Belgorod, Kalmykia, and Tatarstan regions. Russia's state-controlled NTV channel earlier said those arrested included three activists from Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist group that played a role in pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster in February. The broadcast said the suspects were assigned by Ukraine's state security service to take pictures of Russia's military equipment near the Ukrainian border. Ukraine dismissed the accusation as "nonsense." The announcement of the arrests came hours after the SBU accused FSB operatives of involvement in planning the crackdown on antigovernment protests in Kiyv that ousted Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February.
08:14
4.4.2014
U.S. President Barack Obama last night signed into law a bill providing $1 billion in loan guarantees to cash-strapped Ukraine and sanctioning Russia for its annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. After signing the legislation, Obama met with congressional leaders of both parties to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Obama briefed House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on his consultations with top world leaders in Europe last week. A White House official said Obama told the congressional leaders that "the United States continues to lead a coordinated international effort to support Ukraine and isolate Russia for its violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity." Via AP, AFP, and Reuters.