That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, August 3, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our ongoing coverage.
U.S. General Says Russia Not 'Transparent' About Upcoming Exercises
A senior U.S. general in Europe says the U.S. military is keeping a close eye on Moscow's planned military exercises in Russia and Belarus --- exercises that some experts say could involve 100,000 troops.
U.S. Air Force Brigadier General John Healy, who directs U.S. forces' military exercises in Europe, told Reuters on August 3 that Moscow was not being "transparent" in regard to its Zapad 2017 exercises because it is not allowing Western observers.
He said Russian observers attended the recent U.S. and NATO exercises in the Black Sea region, but a similar invitation has not been extended for the Zapad maneuvers set for September.
Russia has said the war games do not require invitations to outside observers, claiming they will involve fewer than 13,000 troops.
Healy said the U.S. military is stepping up its own global exercises in response to a more aggressive Russia and other worldwide threats.
He said the goal was to carry out more challenging exercises that involve forces from all nine U.S. combatant commands -- instead of focusing on specific regions or one military service.
Healy said it was important to conduct war games and training events that reflect the global nature of military threats in the current environment, including cyberwarfare.
He said the U.S. military plans 11 major exercises in the next year that will include air, ground, and naval forces with a range of NATO allies.
Based on reporting by Reuters
Mother Hunts For Sons Missing In Action In Ukraine
The mother of two Ukrainian government soldiers is on desperate hunt to learn the fate of her sons who went missing in action in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Kateryna Khomyak's sons were among more than 400 soldiers the Ukrainian government says are missing after battling Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. (YouTube, RFE/RL's Current Time TV)
Jailed Pro-Kyiv Russian Activist Starts Hunger Strike
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
A Russian activist in the southern region of Krasnodar jailed for propagating extremism and separatism online has started a hunger strike in custody, her mother says.
Darya Polyudova's mother, Tatyana Polyudova, says her daughter started the hunger strike on August 2 to protest conditions in the penal colony.
According to Tatyana Polyudova, other inmates in the penal colony constantly mistreat her daughter and provoke her into conflicts.
She added that political prisoners should be kept separately from other convicts.
Tatyana Polyudova said her daughter suspects the penal colony's administration is behind the pressure on her.
Darya Polyudova was sentenced to two years in a minimum-security penal colony in December 2015, becoming the first person in Russia convicted under a law criminalizing calls for separatism on the Internet, legislation that came into force in May 2014.
She was indicted in 2014 after she made pro-Ukrainian statements online critical of Moscow for its support of pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between government forces and the separatists has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has added Polyudova to its list of political prisoners in Russia.