Here's an item from our news desk:
Russian Official Warns Of Potential Destabilization In Crimea
The head of Russia's Security Council says Ukrainian nationalism and economic pressures could destabilize the security situation on the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine two years ago.
"This is mainly connected with political challenges and economic pressure from our Western opponents," Nikolai Patrushev said in the Crimean city of Yalta on March 21.
Patrushev said Kyiv could seek to destabilize the peninsula by using the "nationalism factor."
He added that extremists, nationalists, and paramilitary groups were forming near Ukraine's disputed border with Crimea.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the seizure of Crimea as a long-awaited moment of "historic justice."
Crimea's annexation via a referendum in March 2014 was widely seen as illegitimate by the international community and followed a military takeover of the Black Sea peninsula.
Based on reporting by dpa, Interfax, and TASS
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, courtesy of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
Here's a video of Nadia Savchenko receiving the court's verdict today:
Savchenko Faces Murder Verdict In Russian Court
A court in Russia's southern region of Rostov appears to have found the Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko guilty of complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Russian news agencies reported. The ruling will not be official until the judge finishes reading it, but his wording strongly indicated that the court accepted the prosecution's accusations, pointing a guilty verdict.
