Ukrainian students have released an emotional video calling on their Russian counterparts not to believe what Russia's state-controlled media are saying about their country. RFE/RL's Arslan Saidov and Claire Bigg has been taking a closer look.
"Check what you hear, doubt what you see."
This is the advice handed out by Ukrainian students to their counterparts in Russia via a video clip aimed at tackling what is described as rampant Kremlin propaganda.
Students from several Kyiv universities have released an emotional video urging students in Moscow not to believe what Russian state-controlled media are saying about Ukraine and Ukrainians.
Russian television has accused Ukrainian soldiers of crucifying children and described pro-European protesters in Kyiv as rabid neo-Nazis.
"A war is going on in our country. Your soldiers and our soldiers are dying in our country, civilians are dying," the clip says. "We call on you to lift the information curtain!"
"We stand on opposite sides of the barricades, and between us lie kilometers of misunderstanding," it continues. "Between us lie tales about Nazis and Ukrainian nationalists."
Kyiv student Yevheniy Melnik, the video's initiator, says Ukrainians are tired of being portrayed by the Russian media as fascists child-crucifiers bent on victimizing Russian-speakers in Ukraine.
You can read the entire article here.
And here is the video in question(in Russian):
!!! BREAKING !!!
According to a draft EU statement, the asset freezes and travel bans imposed on dozens of Russians and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine due to Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula will be extended until the end of this year, Reuters reports.
More to follow...
Here's some more sanctions news from RFE/RL's news desk:
BRUSSELS -- According to a draft statement by the EU, the asset freezes and travel bans imposed on dozens of Russians, Russian entities, and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula will be extended until the end of 2015.
In the document, which was leaked ahead of an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers on January 29, the EU says that "in view of the worsening situation [in eastern Ukraine], the [EU] council agrees" to extend the sanctions until December.
The document also calls on EU officials to present a proposal on "additional listings" to the list of sanctions within one week.
It adds that the extension and any new listings to the sanctions list are designed to ensure "a swift and comprehensive implementation of the Minsk agreements, which were signed by Ukrainian, Russian, and separatist officials in September and aimed at ending hostilities and leading to the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the line of contact."
An earlier version of the draft document had said sanctions would be extended until September.
With reporting by Reuters