Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this item from our news desk. It seems like there'll be no bienvenue for Gerard Depardieu in Ukraine anytime soon:
Ukraine has blacklisted French film star, now Russian national, Gerard Depardieu, barring him from entering the country for five years, a spokeswoman for the National Security Service of Ukraine said on July 28.
Ukraine's Culture Ministry has identified Depardieu and other Russia-friendly international film stars as national security threats whose movies should be banned.
Depardieu first exasperated Kyiv's new pro-Western leaders thanks to his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He once reportedly even denied the very existence of an independent Ukraine.
"I love Russia and Ukraine, which is part of Russia," the actor was widely quoted as saying last year.
Depardieu never denied making the comments or enjoying warm relations with Putin, who backed the rule of corruption-tainted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych ousted by pro-European protests last year.
The acclaimed but controversial French actor left Paris in protest over a proposed tax on the super-rich and was handed a Russian passport by Putin in January 2013.
(AP, AFP)
Wrapping up the live blog for the night. Will leave you with our very own Brian Whitmore at The Power Vertical on the suspicions that the United States and Europe might have give Ukraine up in exchange for Moscow's support in securing an Iran deal.
Latest on Savchenko. Her trial starts on July 30:
The lawyers of jailed Ukrainian pilot and parliament member Nadia Savchenko said on July 28 that they have proof she was already captive when the two Russian journalists she is accused of killing died in shelling.
Savchenko is accused of direct participation in the killing of two Russian reporters who died last year while covering the conflict in Ukraine as well as charged with attempted murder and illegally entering Russian territory.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for July 30 in Russia's Rostov region.
Savchenko’s lawyer Ilya Novikov said at a news conference in Kyiv that he had phone billing data that shows she was already the prisoner for pro-Russian separatists when the journalists were killed.
However, he expressed doubt about the fairness of her trial.
Savchenko says she was illegally brought into Russia after being abducted by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.