New on our Transmission blog: 'Crimea' Filmmaker's Propaganda Dreams Come True
The filmmaker behind a Kremlin-backed program making headlines for its revelations about Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine is on the record asserting that propaganda and journalism are indistinguishable.
Andrei Kondrashev appeared to have made the remarks to RFE/RL's Russian Service around the time he was embarking on the "full-length documentary" for Russian state TV whose promotional clips have garnered considerable attention in the past week.
Latest:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $17.5 billion bailout of Ukraine.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on March 11, the new four-year aid program "will support immediate economic stabilization in Ukraine and a set of deep and wide-ranging policy reforms aimed at restoring robust growth over the medium term and improving living standards for the Ukrainian people."
Earlier on March 11, Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said her country expects to receive $5 billion in credit from the IMF in the coming days to boost its international reserves, which are at their lowest level in more than a decade.
The Ukrainian economy is forecast to contract by 5.5 percent in 2015 as government forces fight pro-Russian separatists in the country's east and trade with Russia has almost ceased.
Last week, Ukrainian lawmakers passed austerity measures, including pension cuts and tax increases, intended to help secure the fresh IMF bailout package.
More on the nonlethal aid:
The United States has announced it will send more non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including unarmed drones and Humvee vehicles.
The White House released a statement on March 11 saying Vice President Joe Biden had telephoned Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to inform him of the decision.
Administration officials were quoted as saying the package includes unarmed Raven drones, which can be launched by hand, 30 heavily armored Humvees, and 200 other regular Humvees, as well as radios, counter-mortar radars, and other equipment.
The armored Humvees were expected to be delivered within a few weeks but other equipment will take longer to arrive.
Ukrainian government troops have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.
Kyiv and the West accuse of helping the rebels with weapons and soldiers -- a claim denied by Moscow.
More from Reuters on the non-lethal aid:
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The United States is preparing to send additional non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including unarmed drones and Humvee vehicles, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said parts of the U.S. package, including 30 Humvees fortified with additional armor, could come within weeks, while other parts could take longer. The aid comes as Ukraine fights against a Russian-backed rebellion in the east. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
More U.S. sanctions, including Dugin:
The United States has issued a new list of individuals and entities to be sanctioned over Russia's interference in Ukraine, including Kremlin-connected nationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
The Treasury Department on March 11 also sanctioned a bank in Crimea -- the Russian National Commercial Bank -- two other former officials from the government of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, eight Ukrainian separatists, and two other leaders of Dugin's Eurasian Youth Union.
Any U.S. property held by those individuals is frozen, and U.S. citizens are prohibited from doing business with them.
The United States took the action to "hold accountable those responsible for violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Russian FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov, who has been targeted by sanctions in the EU and Canada, was not on the list of individuals targeted by the Treasury Department in this latest round of sanctions.
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