Crimean Tatars said detained after house searches:
By the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Russian-imposed authorities in Ukraine's occupied Crimea region have detained several Crimean Tatars after searching at least 25 houses, a Ukrainian human rights group says.
Crimean Solidarity, which has members in Crimea as well as Ukrainian government-controlled territory, said that the searches were conducted on March 27 in the regional capital, Simferopol, and nearby districts.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) issued a statement saying that its officers, police, and National Guard troops had searched the houses of individuals suspected of being members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group.
Since annexing the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, Russia-installed authorities have prosecuted 31 Crimean Tatars for allegedly belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir.
In February, the FSB branch in the Black Sea region launched probes against eight alleged members of the group accused of plotting to seize power in Crimea.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global organization based in London that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate.
The group can operate legally in Ukraine.
However, Russia's Supreme Court banned it in 2003, branding its supporters "extremists."
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they describe as a campaign of repression by the Russian-imposed authorities in Crimea who are targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar community and others who have spoken out against Moscow's seizure and annexation of the peninsula.
Turkish diplomat to take over OSCE monitoring mission:
The United States has said a Turkish diplomat will be taking over the international monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine as the conflict there continues to fester.
A State Department statement on March 27 said Yasar Halit Cevik will take charge of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The mission is a key component of monitoring the low-level fighting in Ukraine's Donbas region, a conflict ongoing since 2014. It's one of the only neutral sources of information on cease-fire violations.
More than 13,000 people have been killed in that time, and more than 1 million people displaced, according to the United Nations.
"The United States urges all OSCE participating states to reiterate support for the monitoring mission," it said.
"We call on Russia and the forces it arms, trains, leads, and fights alongside in Ukraine to allow the [monitoring mission] full and unhindered access to the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," the department said.
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here.