Here's a new item from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Kyiv Court Hears Nasirov's Appeal Against Pretrial Detention
KYIV -- A Kyiv court is reviewing an appeal by Roman Nasirov, Ukraine's suspended tax and customs service chief, against a ruling placing him in pretrial detention on embezzlement charges.
In a rare attempt to prosecute a high-level official in Ukraine over allegations of corruption, Nasirov is being investigated on suspicion of defrauding the state of 2 billion hryvnias ($74 million).
He was suspended from his post on March 3, and a district court in the capital on March 7 ordered him placed in pretrial detention for two months.
The court ruled that he could be granted house arrest if he pays $3.7 million bail, a record high for Ukraine.
Dozens of demonstrators who want to ensure Nasirov does not avoid trial rallied outside the appeals court building as the hearing progressed, chanting "Nasirov Belongs Behind Bars!"
The National Anticorruption Bureau says that Nasirov 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.
President Petro Poroshenko's government is under pressure from Ukrainians and the West to fight deep-seated corruption, which observers say hurts the country's chances of throwing off influence from Russia, which seized the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and backs separatists in a deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The Eurovision plot thickens:
Here's an item from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
EU To Extend Sanctions Over Crimea Annexation
BRUSSELS -- The European Union is expected to extend sanctions against dozens of individuals and entities over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
The March 13 decision will extend sanctions against 150 individuals and 37 entities that, according to Brussels, are responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Asset freezes and visa bans were first imposed by the EU in March 2014 after Russia illegally annexed Crimea. Those sanctions have been continued and expanded by a series of additional votes by EU officials in Brussels
The official sanctions list includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, President Vladimir Putin's adviser Sergei Glazyev, Russian Armed Forces General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and Dmitry Kiselyov, who many regard as the Kremlin's chief propagandist.
There also are 37 entities targeted by EU sanctions. They include companies active in Crimea and military battalions formed by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The EU's economic sanctions against Russia's energy, military, and financial sectors are up for renewal in June.