Accessibility links

Breaking News
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

15:06 3.11.2017

15:04 3.11.2017

15:03 3.11.2017

14:40 3.11.2017

Here's an item that's not directly related to the crisis, but will presumably be of interest to Ukraine-watchers:

Kazakh Blogger Who Fled To Kyiv Ordered Held 60 Days Pending Extradition Decision

A Kyiv court has ordered a Kazakh blogger who fled to Ukraine after criticizing President Nursultan Nazarbaev's government held under arrest for two months as authorities consider handing her over to Kazakhstan.

The Shevchenko District Court ruled late on November 2 that Zhanar Akhmet must remain in detention for 60 days while a decision on her extradition is made.

Akhmet was detained in Kyiv on October 21, based on a Kazakh arrest warrant that accuses her of fraud, and was initially ordered held for 18 days.

Akhmet fled Kazakhstan in March with her 9-year-old son, saying she feared for her safety if she remained in the Central Asian country.

Akhmet told RFE/RL that she decided to flee when she learned from sources that she could face charges of "organizing an illegal group" that uses the Internet to advocate self-immolation.

Akhmet previously faced a series of court hearings in Almaty for alleged legal violations, including jaywalking, that she considered to be harassment by Kazakh authorities.

She says all of the accusations against her have been politically motivated retaliation for her writing.

At least four other Kazakh opposition and rights activists -- Ermek Narymbaev, Moldir Adilova, Aidos Sadyqov, and Natalya Sadyqova -- also have fled to Ukraine in recent years.

Nazarbaev, 77, has held power in Kazakhstan since before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

He has established tight control over politics and the media and tolerates little dissent in the oil-producing country of 18 million. (Gordonua.com, Zn.ua)

13:53 3.11.2017

Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

13:50 3.11.2017

13:49 3.11.2017

12:19 3.11.2017

Here's more from RFE/RL's news desk on the killing of a councilor in the Luhansk region:

City Council Member Found Dead With Broken Skull In Eastern Ukraine, Murder Probe Launched

Ukrainian councilor Serhiy Samarskiy
Ukrainian councilor Serhiy Samarskiy

Police in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine have launched a murder investigation after a city council member in the government-held Luhansk region city of Syevyerodonetsk was found dead, his skull broken.

Serhiy Samarskiy's body was found outside his apartment building shortly after midnight, regional police spokeswoman Tatyana Pohukay wrote on Facebook on November 3.

She said an investigation on suspicion of "premeditated murder" has been opened.

Syevyerdonetsk became the de-facto capital of the Luhansk region after Russia-backed separatists sezied control of the official capital, Luhansk, and several other districts in 2014.

Samarskiy, 55, was a member of President Petro Poroshenko's party. He initiated a 2015 decision by the Syevyerodonetsk city council to label Russia an aggressor country.

Syevyerodonetsk is about 50 kilometers from the front line in the conflict between government forces and the Russian-backed separatists, which has killed more than 10,000 people in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions since April 2014.

11:51 3.11.2017

11:49 3.11.2017

Load more

XS
SM
MD
LG