Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (ARCHIVE)

Meanwhile, in western Ukraine, illegal amber extraction is causing environmental havoc:

Industrial-scale mining is causing devastation to swathes of forest in western Ukraine. The country's interior ministry says the business is controlled by criminal gangs that make up to $500 million a year. Despite the fact that the activity is illegal, the gangs carry out their work quite openly. The police say they don't have the resources to stop it – but activists say local officials have been paid off. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)

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Illegal Amber Digging Lays Waste To Ukrainian Forest

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Here's a map of the military situation in the Donbas region today -- issued by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (click image to enlarge):