In Artemivsk, in the Donetsk region, a retired woman has been holding a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies. She sits at a central trolleybus stop in the city with a sign that has a photograph of Putin with a glass of wine in his hand along with the caption, "To idiots! Without you, I wouldn’t be here."
The woman, whose name is Oleksandra, has been coming to the bus stop for a few days now. She has decided that to hold the protest on a daily basis -- she promises to be at same spot every day from 10 a.m.to 11:30 a.m.
Oleksandra explained that an article on the way Putin "is destroying Russia" prompted her to protest. According to her, passers-by have had different opinions about her sign.
"Every day, I record the ratio," she says. "The amounts of people who support me, and those who say nothing, are equal. Thirty percent don't themselves understand what they are saying. I can’t even call this a reaction or aggression -- it's madness."
The Lviv district administrative court begins hearings today about Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov not speaking Ukrainian, but Russian. Lviv activist Svyatoslav Litynskyy is demanding that the Interior Ministry provide him with Ukrainian translations of the minister's statements.
First Litynskyy asked the ministry to give him the information it published on its YouTube channel in Ukrainian. The videos of Avakov on the channel were of him speaking Russian. However, the ministry never answered his demands, so Litynskyy took the matter to court.
"I was told that they didn't understand what I was asking; that it wasn't the ministry who uploaded videos to its YouTube channel, but other people, and that's not true," Litynskyy said. "Avakov must, I believe, make all the official commentaries in Ukrainian."
Avakov himself said that he knows how to speak Ukrainian -- particularly when he is in Lviv. The minister thinks that the court hearings are a PR stunt on Litynskyy's part.
"What's important is that you understand me, whether I speak Russian or Ukrainian," Avakov said. "If somebody wants to show off, sorry. To sue the minister and get fame out of it -- let him have it."
NATO hails 'fresh opportunity' for Ukraine peace
Vilnius, Sept 3, 2015 (AFP) -- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday a renewed ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and Kiev's decentralisation reforms created a new opportunity for peace and asked Moscow to stop backing the rebels.
"I welcome the efforts to have a renewed ceasefire," Stoltenberg said, referring to an agreement between the government and separatists to end ceasefire violations from Tuesday as children went back to school.
He said NATO was getting "mixed" reports from Ukraine, undrescoring that the situation remained "very fragile."
"It's a bit too early to tell exactly what's going on on the ground. But at least the renewed commitment offers a fresh opportunity for all parties to fully implement the Minsk agreements", Stoltenberg said.
The Ukrainian parliament's initial approval of reforms granting pro-Russian separatists a degree of autonomy proves that Kiev was sticking to a Western-brokered ceasefire agreed in February, he said.
"I welcome the decision... on decentralisation," Stoltenberg said, adding that "Russia continues to support the separatists... thereby violating the Minsk agreement."
Moscow denies any military involvement in the Ukraine conflict and accuses NATO of closing in on Russia's borders.
Ukraine says foiled bombing of Kiev apartment block
Kiev, Sept 3, 2015 (AFP) -- Ukraine's security services said Thursday they had detained four members of a pro-Russian group suspected of plotting to blow up a block of flats in Kiev.
"They planned to blow up a building in Obolon and were caught red-handed," Olena Gitlyanska, spokeswoman for the SBU security services, told AFP, referring to a large residential area in northern Kiev.
The four men resisted arrest and threw a hand grenade at special forces as they were seized, the SBU said in a statement.
The SBU agents fired back, wounding one of the suspects in the leg.
The targetted block of flats had on the ground floor a centre collecting public donations for the armed forces battling pro-Russian separatists in the east and the men were seized close to the centre.
Donation centres accept financial contributions as well as clothing, tents and other items for soldiers, including children's letters and drawings.
The men arrested are all Ukrainian citizens, although the leader was born in Russia, the SBU spokeswoman said.
The group's leader planned to flee after the planned attack to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, the SBU said.
Ukraine has regularly accused Russia of attempting to destabilise the situation in the country as the conflict in the east has claimed more than 6,800 lives since April last year.
Kiev and the West say Russia provides military support for the rebels, which Moscow denies.
The foiled attack came after street battles between hundreds of protesters and police broke out in the Ukrainian capital Monday as lawmakers gave initial approval to legislation granting more autonomy to the rebel-held eastern regions.
As a result of the clashes three members of the National Guard were killed and more than 140 people wounded.
Authorities blamed ultra-nationalists, who oppose the controversial legislation, for the unrest.