Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
On The Eve Of His Trial, A Deeper Look Into How Paul Manafort Elected Ukraine’s President
By Christopher Miller and Mike Eckel
Paul Manafort didn’t think very much of Viktor Yanukovych.
The longtime U.S. political consultant and lobbyist voiced serious misgivings in 2005 when he was brought on by several Ukrainian oligarchs to rehabilitate Yanukovych after his loss the previous year in Ukraine's presidential election to Viktor Yushchenko, amid mass protests known as the Orange Revolution.
"Yanukovych's designation as the candidate of the [previous Leonid Kuchma] Administration poisoned his appeal as much as the dioxin poisoned the body of Yushchenko,” Manafort wrote in a memo, referring to the mysterious poisoning that almost killed Yushchenko and badly disfigured him.
From the analysis set out in the previous section of this Report, the answer to the problem is clear -- Victor Yanukovych must be replaced.”-- Paul Manafort in a June 2005 memo
Fast-forward five years: Yanukovych wins the presidency of Ukraine, giving Manafort a feather in his cap and new work trying to burnish Yanukovych’s image in the West.
That effort, and the vast sums that Manafort was paid, are now in the crosshairs of the U.S. justice system and the politically explosive investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Released as part of the court docket ahead of Manafort’s first trial on financial crimes, the Yanukovych memo is one of hundreds of pages of documents that offer a glimpse into Manafort's political wiles and give new dimension to a case that continues to rattle President Donald Trump’s presidency.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, July 27, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.