15:15
16.6.2014
Our Ukrainian Service quotes the Donetsk city council as saying "negotiations" with the "Donetsk People's Republic" will allow for a reopening tomorrow of the Ukrainian National Bank and Treasury offices in Donetsk, which were raided by gunmen earlier today.
AFP meanwhile quoted "a senior rebel commander distinguished by his camouflage jacket and a crossed hammers tattoo on his neck," Oleksandr Matyushyn, as saying the talks were over granting control of the local treasury and tax collections to separatists and adding: "We are gradually taking control of the banking system."
AFP meanwhile quoted "a senior rebel commander distinguished by his camouflage jacket and a crossed hammers tattoo on his neck," Oleksandr Matyushyn, as saying the talks were over granting control of the local treasury and tax collections to separatists and adding: "We are gradually taking control of the banking system."
15:27
16.6.2014
15:29
16.6.2014
Hromadske TV reports a growing threat of disease in Slovyansk from "mass graves."
16:01
16.6.2014
On the likelihood of Ukraine and EU signing the economic portion of an association agreement:
Speaking at a roundtable organized by the U.S-Ukraine Business Council in Kyiv on June 16, the Ukrainian government’s Commissioner for European Integration Valeriy Pyatnytskiy confirmed there is a “very high probability” that the deal will be signed on June 27.
16:14
16.6.2014
Via AFP:
The United Nations said Monday 34,000 Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes as a violent pro-Russian insurgency rages in the east of the country.
The UN said it had identified 19,000 displaced people in Ukraine, while estimates from local authorities indicated another 15,000 had been forced from their homes in areas it does not monitor.
There are "credible reports of movements inside Donetsk and Lugansk provinces... including an estimated 15,000 people from Slavyansk," said UN humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos.
Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine are at the epicentre of a pro-Russia insurgency that began in March and triggered a military operation that has killed more than 300 people.
The UN said it had identified 19,000 displaced people in Ukraine, while estimates from local authorities indicated another 15,000 had been forced from their homes in areas it does not monitor.
There are "credible reports of movements inside Donetsk and Lugansk provinces... including an estimated 15,000 people from Slavyansk," said UN humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos.
Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine are at the epicentre of a pro-Russia insurgency that began in March and triggered a military operation that has killed more than 300 people.
16:19
16.6.2014
16:35
16.6.2014
Pro-Ukrainian activists staged a protest outside New York's Carnegie Hall yesterday during a performance by Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who was among the 500 or so Russian celebrities who signed an open letter in March supporting President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea. Some Russian members of the audience showed their disapproval of the rally and cursed at the protesters. Olga Loginova was there for the RFE/RL's Russian Service.
17:11
16.6.2014
Russian media say two journalists for the Defense Ministry's Zvezda TV who were detained by Ukrainian authorities near Slovyansk on June 7 have been repatriated.
17:43
16.6.2014
17:51
16.6.2014
ITAR-TASS quotes Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev as saying that Ukrainian representatives will visit their European counterparts tomorrow for talks on reverse-flow gas supplies following offers of gas at cheaper rates than Gazprom is demanding in its negotiations.