A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.
-- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says that Moscow and Kyiv have reached a "mutual understanding" on key parts of a plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko for ending violence in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
-- Reports say up to 20 armed gunmen were trying to seize property from a factory (Topaz) that makes communications and electronic-warfare equipment in the Donetsk region.
-- A deputy foreign minister says Russia will consider any expansion of NATO forces near its borders a "demonstration of hostile intentions" and "take the necessary political and military-technological measures to support our security."
-- A two-man crew for Russian Zvezda TV arrived in Moscow after being released from detention in Ukraine.
-- Serbian officials say their own work on the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline will have to be suspended after Bulgaria stopped construction of its portion based on EU and U.S. concerns.
-- Ukrainian security forces are reportedly still battling pro-Russian separatists in the east near Slovyansk and Donetsk.
*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
UN monitors in Ukraine said there has been an "alarming deterioration" in the human rights situation in the eastern part of the country and report serious problems in Russian-controlled Crimea.
In a report issued on May 16, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said "those with influence on the armed groups responsible for much of the violence in eastern Ukraine" [must]...rein in these men who seem bent on tearing the country apart."
It added that there are "serious problems" of harassment and intimidation facing the Tatar community in Crimea.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in the report lacked any "objectivity" and was full of "double standards" that proved that it was trying to "whitewash" the activities of the Kyiv government.
Information for the report -- which covered the period of April 2 to May 6 -- was gathered by 34 UN monitors in Ukraine.
Based on reporting by Reuters and ITAR-TASS
12:0716.5.2014
12:0516.5.2014
11:3216.5.2014
Donetsk separatists might be taking on eastern Ukrainian magnate Rinat Akhmetov, whose workers this week began patrolling cities alongside pro-Kyiv police, potentially turning the tide against pro-Russians and other separatists. It is suggesting he should pay his (considerable) taxes to the "Donetsk People's Republic," according to this Interfax report.
11:1716.5.2014
11:1616.5.2014
"Ukrayinskaya Pravda" reports that another local election official has been kidnapped, in Luhansk. It quotes Oleksandr Chernenko, who heads the watchdog group Committee of Voters of Ukraine. (via @LeonidRagozin)
11:1016.5.2014
11:0716.5.2014
Noting that Donetsk separatists' 24-hour deadline on an ultimatum for Ukrainian authorities to withdraw armored vehicles and remove its checkpoints from Donetsk has now expired, Interfax quotes breakaway "deputy commander" Serhiy Zdrylyuk as saying ahead of the deadline:
"I will wash my hands of it unless armored vehicles, personnel and etc are pulled back from Donetsk within the next few hours. I will no longer care who I am dealing with, either conscripts, young boys aged 18, or elderly professionals or especially mercenaries. Everything will be burned down and destroyed unless the hardware is pulled 20-30 kilometers back from Donetsk. I already have intelligence and sabotage groups."
