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A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.
A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of September 3, 2018. You can find it here.

-- Tens of thousands of people gathered on September 2 in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to mourn a top rebel leader who was recently killed in a bomb attack.

-- Prominent Ukrainian historian Mykola Shityuk has been found dead in his home city of Mykolaiv, police said on September 2.​

-- Ukraine says it has imprisoned the man it accused of being recruited by Russia’s secret services to organize a murder plot against self-exiled Russian reporter and Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko.

-- Ukraine and Russia are trading blame for the killing of a top separatist leader in eastern Ukraine.

-- Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the head of the head of the breakaway separatist entity known as the Donetsk People’s Republic, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in Donetsk on August 31.

-- The United States is ready to widen arms supplies to Ukraine to help build up the country's naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told The Guardian.

-- The spiritual head of the worldwide Orthodox Church in Istanbul has hosted Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for talks on Ukraine's bid to split from the Russian church, a move strongly opposed by Moscow.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Ukraine

23:16 25.10.2017

That concludes our coverage for tonight. Please join us again tomorrow for more on the crisis in Ukraine.

23:13 25.10.2017

A longer piece from RFE/RL's News Desk on the assassination attempt in Kyiv tonight:

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

An explosion in Kyiv late on October 25 killed one man and wounded three others, including Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk of the opposition nationalist Radical Party, an Interior Ministry official said in a post on Facebook.

The explosion occurred as Mosiychuk and several other people were leaving the building of a local television station in Kyiv's Solomyanskiy district.

"A total of four people were wounded in the explosion," ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said on Facebook.

"Unfortunately, one could not be saved. He died from the wounds he received on the way to the hospital. This man is around 30 years old and his identity is being checked," Shkiryak said, adding that both Mosiychuk and Ukrainian political analyst Vitaliy Bala, who was with him at the time of the blast, are in the hospital.

Shkiryak said the explosion appears to have been caused by a motorcycle parked near the exit of the TV station, and looked like "an attempt on somebody's life.”

Mosiychuk's press service said on Facebook: “There was an attempt on the life of Ihor Mosiychuk, a direct explosion when he was coming out of the building of Expreso TV6."

Mosiychuk did not suffer life-threatening injuries, his press service said.

Mosiychuck's fellow Radical Party lawmaker Dmytro Linko said on Facebook: “Ihor has many fragmentation wounds and is being operated on, an aide is also seriously wounded.”

Kyiv police spokeswoman Oksana Blyshchyk said at 9:05 p.m. that authorities had received information about a car explosion in the Solomyanskiy district of Kyiv. There was no immediate word from police on possible suspects or a motive for the attack.

Radical party lawmaker Evhen Deidei posted photos on his Facebook page that showed the burnt-out shell of a motorcycle in front of a blast-hit vehicle.

"Judging by the damage to the car and the shrapnel holes in the doors, the power of the explosion was pretty strong," he said.

Mosiychuck's fellow Radical Party lawmaker Dmytro Linko said on Facebook: “Ihor has many fragmentation wounds and is being operated on, an aide is also seriously wounded.”

With reporting by Serhiy Drachuk and Reuters

22:52 25.10.2017

22:51 25.10.2017

22:51 25.10.2017

22:50 25.10.2017

Speaking with Putin at the Kremlin, German President Steinmeier called Ukraine an "open wound" in relations with Russia:

22:48 25.10.2017

The OSCE condemned the beating of journalists in Kyiv:

22:46 25.10.2017

22:45 25.10.2017

Dzhemilev on details of the release of the two Mejlis leaders:

22:43 25.10.2017

A captured Russian tank has become a showpiece in the town of Chernihiv:

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