Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
An excerpt:
ODESSA, Ukraine -- Defense lawyer Yuriy Grabovskiy often told his friends and colleagues: “Surprisingly, nobody has rubbed me out yet.” But his words were never taken seriously. None of his friends thought of recommending that the charismatic lawyer hire bodyguards. Openly gay, Jewish, with a good sense of humor, he was famous for kidding around, even under pressure.
He was also famous for his personal style, wearing expensive suits, excellent perfume, smoking shisha pipes in restaurants with friends, driving a luxurious convertible, and always keeping his papers in perfect order. Instead of business cards, Grabovskiy gave his friends match boxes with a picture of him holding a baby tiger on the cover.
Only when investigators announced last month that somebody had kidnapped Grabovskiy, drugged him, humiliated him on video, cracked his skull, burned his fingertips, shot him in the side and in the head, and buried his body in a muddy field between Odessa and Kiev, did people realize just how great were the risks taken by the 43-year-old attorney.
Savchenko Begins 'Dry' Hunger Strike
Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko, who has been sentenced by a Russian court to 22 years in prison, has started a "dry" hunger strike, refusing to consume both food and water.
Savchenko's lawyer, Mark Feigin, said on April 6 that his client's demand is "her immediate return to Ukraine."
Savchenko, 34, was sentenced on March 22 on charges including complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The sentence came into effect on April 5.
She refused to appeal the verdict and sentence, saying she does not recognize the legitimacy of the probe against her.
Savchenko denies the charges and has gone on several hunger strikes protesting her detention and the court case.
Savchenko said she was seized in eastern Ukraine in June 2014 while fighting with a volunteer battalion against Russia-backed separatists and taken to Russia illegally.