According to an indictment read by the Ukrainian prosecution, Russians Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev “committed a terrorist attack against the Ukrainian military.”
“On May 16, 2015 close to Shchastya, Luhansk Oblast, Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov, along with other unidentified military men of the Russian Armed Forces, for the purpose of provocation, committed a terrorist act against the 92nd Motor Rifle Divisions and the SBU staff that were providing security,” the indictment reads.
The trial of the two men started today.
In a video published in May, Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev said they were on active duty with the Russian military in eastern Ukraine when they were captured on May 16.
Moscow says the two men were no longer employed by the state when they were captured.
Ukraine received more than $2.5 million from the U.S. to prevent proliferation of biological weapons in 2015-2017.
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for today.
Here's video of Mogherini's comments in Kyiv today:
Some wire reporting on EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's visit to Kyiv:
From AFP:
"EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Monday to take tougher and more immediate action against corruption as his ex-Soviet country moves closer to Europe.
But Mogherini's visit was clouded by a decision by Ukrainian lawmakers the prior week to block a bill bannning discrimination against gays at work -- a precondition for visa-free travel to most EU nations."
From Interfax:
KYIV. Nov 9 (Interfax) - Federica Mogherini, High Representative of
the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, pointed out some
progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the resolution
of the armed conflict in Donbas, in particular, in terms of the weapons
withdrawal and observation of the ceasefire regime.