Here's a report of a seemingly lighthearted anti-Putin demo in Kyiv today from our news desk:
Ukrainian activists have erected a mock tombstone to Russian President Vladimir Putin outside the Russian embassy in Kyiv, playing on speculation about his prolongued absence.
The protest was carried out by the Automaidan group, which organized anti-government car processions on Kiev's Maidan Square during the pro-Europe protests that forced Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014.
On March 15, around a dozen vehicles flying Ukrainian and Automaidan flags pulled up outside the embassy building in the southwest of the capital.
The activists proceeded to pour liquid cement on the pavement and then fix in place a black marble headstone.
The plaque, depicting the Russian president with a Hitler-style moustache, read "Khu#lo V.V. 12.03.2015," referring to Putin by his first name and patronymic Vladimir Vladimirovich, prefaced by an obscenity, with the supposed date of death.
"Don't let us down," the plaque, which was stamped with a swastika, urged Putin.
(AFP)
Here's a long piece from our news desk on Putin's remarks concerning the Crimea annexation in an eagerly anticipated documentary on the subject, which is screening in Russia tonight:
Speaking in a pre-recorded documentary about Moscow's seizure of Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych's life was in danger as a result of the "revolution" that set out to seize power in Kyiv.
Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying in the film, "For us it became clear and we received information that there were plans not only for his capture, but preferably for those who carried out the coup, also for his physical elimination." Putin was quoted as adding, "As one famous historical figure said: no person, no problem."
Mass protests over Yanukovych's sudden decision in November 2013 to back away from a key agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Moscow led to his ouster from power in February last year, and he fled to Russia.
The Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying that that, by saving the life of Yanukovych and his family, Russia did a "good deed."
Putin has not been seen in public or on live television since March 5 -- prompting a wave of often humorous speculation as to his whereabouts, despite official insistence that it was business as usual in the Kremlin.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian leader would watch the documentary, Crimea. Way Back Home, when it airs at 10:00 p.m. Moscow time on March 15.
The documentary marks a year since the widely questioned March 16, 2014, referendum in Crimea that supported its secession from Ukraine.
In the documentary, Putin said that the United States was the "puppeteer" behind the February 2014 Ukrainian coup.
"Formally, the opposition was primarily supported by Europeans, but we knew very well… that the real puppeteers were our American partners and friends. It was they who helped prepare nationalists [and] combat troops," Putin said.
A trailer of the documentary broadcast on March 8 has already prompted Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to urge the International Tribunal in The Hague to consider the footage as evidence of Russia's premeditated invasion of Crimea.
In the trailer, Putin says he told senior security officials of his decision to take Crimea just hours after Yanukovych abandoned power.
Putin described in the trailer an emergency Kremlin meeting, which he said ended at about 7 a.m. on February 23, 2014.
"As we were parting, I told all my colleagues: We will have to start work to return Crimea to Russia," Putin said.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, Interfax, TASS, and AFP