ICYMI
Here's an update on the Nasirov case from our news desk:
Ukrainian Court Orders Arrest Of Top Tax Official
A court in Kyiv has placed Roman Nasirov, Ukraine's tax and customs service chief, under arrest pending trial on embezzlement charges.
A special prosecutor tasked with fighting corruption has sought Nasirov's arrest on suspicion of "abuse of office leading to serious financial losses," citing concerns that he could try to flee the country.
After a 14-hour long hearing, the Kyiv district court ruled on March 7 to send Nasirov to pretrial detention for two months.
He was suspended from his post on March 3 pending an investigation, alleging that the tax chief defrauded the state of 2 billion hryvnias ($74 million).
The probe marks a rare attempt to prosecute a senior Ukrainian official on suspicion of corruption.
Nasirov can be granted house arrest if he pays bail of $3.7 million-- a record amount for Ukraine.
The National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) said Nasirov has signed off on grace periods for a number of taxpayers, including companies linked to a former lawmaker who fled abroad last year while facing a corruption investigation.
Based on reporting by AP and UNIAN
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling this morning with a few of the things that caught our eye overnight:
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 catch up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
Russian Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya has been mocked online for claiming that a bust of Nicholas II wept holy tears as Russia marked 100 years since the tsar was forced to abdicate power amid revolution. RFE/RL's Tom Balmforth has been on the story:
Claim That Nicholas II Is Weeping Holy Tears In Crimea Prompts Laughter
MOSCOW -- Russian lawmaker Natalya Poklonskaya has claimed that a bust of Tsar Nicholas II wept tears on the centennial of his abdication of power.
And the Internet is laughing.
Poklonskaya made the claim on March 3 on Tsargrad TV, a channel financed by Konstantin Malofeyev, a wealthy Russian Orthodox believer and noted nationalist. She said she had been informed of the "miracle" by colleagues in Crimea, where she served as prosecutor under the Moscow-imposed government after the Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014.
She noted the significance of the timing, with Russia marking 100 years since the tsar abdicated power following the February Revolution. The monarch was executed along with his entire family in 1918 by the Bolsheviks, who by then had seized power with their own coup.
"It's a miracle that no scientists, no one can explain," she said. "And this is the 100th anniversary! The statesman is helping us -- after they all died so that we could make Russia prosperous and great."
Poklonskaya, currently a deputy in the Russian State Duma, leaped to prominence during the Kremlin's seizure of her native Crimea and has carved out a reputation as an outspoken monarchist. She has repeatedly venerated Nicholas II in public and recently sought the ban of a feature film due for release in autumn that depicts the young prince's love affair with a beautiful, teenage ballerina before he ascended to the throne.
Nicholas II, his wife, and children were canonized after the collapse of the Soviet Union by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
Although some pro-Kremlin, albeit bemused, observers offered support following Poklonskaya's comment, the Russian Orthodox Church refused to be drawn into the story. Spokesman Vakhtang Kipshidze simply told Govorit Moskva radio: "You can say that we declined to comment."
Playful Response
But online the mood was more playful. A volley of social-network users suddenly reported seeing holy tears rolling down the cheeks of Lenin statues, a Stalin bust, and even the nose of Marshall Zhukov's mounted horse near Red Square. One claimed smoke had emanated from a picture of Bob Marley.
Read the rest of the article here.
From the BBC's Moscow correspondent: