13:19
31.3.2014
Russians hurrying to buy real estate in Crimea (in Russian). What will Crimean Tatars think? http://t.co/AbzV6tnDnk
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) March 31, 2014
13:46
31.3.2014
Hungary's right-wing Jobbik party held a Budapest demonstration for separation of Transcarpathia from Ukraine http://t.co/El5fXUvFHE
— Glenn Kates (@gkates) March 31, 2014
14:01
31.3.2014
This just in from RFE/RL's newsdesk:
Ukraine's Defense Ministry says Russia appears to be reducing the number of its troops on the Ukrainian border.
Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy, spokesman for the ministry's general staff, told the French AFP news agency on March 31 that "Russian forces have been gradually withdrawing from the border" in recent days.
Dmytrashkivskiy said he could not confirm the numbers involved nor how many Russian troops remain near the border.
He said Ukraine was not officially notified of a drawdown and he did not know why troops were being moved.
In the past month, Russia massed tens of thousands of soldiers on its border with Ukraine, raising concerns that, after annexing Crimea, it might invade other parts of Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 30 that Washington was concerned about the troop buildup. (AFP)
Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy, spokesman for the ministry's general staff, told the French AFP news agency on March 31 that "Russian forces have been gradually withdrawing from the border" in recent days.
Dmytrashkivskiy said he could not confirm the numbers involved nor how many Russian troops remain near the border.
He said Ukraine was not officially notified of a drawdown and he did not know why troops were being moved.
In the past month, Russia massed tens of thousands of soldiers on its border with Ukraine, raising concerns that, after annexing Crimea, it might invade other parts of Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 30 that Washington was concerned about the troop buildup. (AFP)
14:10
31.3.2014
Some reax just in to Medvedev's Crimea visit:
Ukraine has denounced the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Crimea, describing it as a "crude violation of the rules of international behavior."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis told journalists in Kyiv today that Ukraine sent a note to the Russian Federation expressing "a categorical protest" about the visit. (Reuters, AP, AFP)
Foreign Ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis told journalists in Kyiv today that Ukraine sent a note to the Russian Federation expressing "a categorical protest" about the visit. (Reuters, AP, AFP)
14:54
31.3.2014
ITV: 'Darth Vader' makes #Ukraine presidency bid. http://t.co/NQf9WjWiIB pic.twitter.com/Yrq2m8RoEL
— Just Hovens Greve (@JustHovensGreve) March 31, 2014
15:30
31.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and other sources say Russia's lower house of parliament has given unanimous preliminary approval to a bill scrapping agreements with Ukraine on the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea. The bill was in its first reading in the State Duma. In 2010, Russia and Ukraine agreed to extend the lease of the fleet's base in the city of Sevastopol until 2042, a deal that included an annual rent of $98 million and price discounts for Russian natural-gas imports to Ukraine. The Kremlin contends that since Crimea is no longer part of Ukraine following its annexation, there are no legal grounds for the treaties. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has suggested Russia will seek $11 billion in lost revenues from Kyiv over the gas discount.
15:58
31.3.2014
U.S. Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan expresses support for #UnitedForUkraine:
16:22
31.3.2014
Ukraine's ultranationalist Right Sector movement has set up a recruitment center in the capital, Kyiv. One volunteer told RFE/RL he was joining the group because he didn't trust Ukrainian security services. But a leading political analyst says Right Sector's anti-Russian rhetoric and role as an armed group outside government control may be helping Moscow's propaganda campaign against Ukraine. (Video by Marija Arnautovic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service)
16:35
31.3.2014
Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Filaret announces fundraising for the Ukrainian military (in Ukrainian):
16:46
31.3.2014
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has suggested Russia's public reasoning for its unrecognized annexation of Ukraine's Crimea are similar to arguments used by Hitler's Germany to annex a heavily ethnic German region of western Czechoslovakia in 1938.
The statement drew a quick response from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said, "I regard the case of the annexation of Crimea as a stand-alone case" and a violation of international law, according to Reuters.
"We know all about that from history," Schaeuble told a group of students and added, "Those are the methods that Hitler used to take over the Sudetenland."
The statement drew a quick response from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said, "I regard the case of the annexation of Crimea as a stand-alone case" and a violation of international law, according to Reuters.