This just in from our news desk:
Authorities in Ukraine have detained Oleksandr Yefremov, the former governor of Luhansk Oblast and the former head of the parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions.
Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin announced in Kyiv on February 15 that Yefremov would be charged with abuse of power. He said Yefremov had been detained the previous day but did not say under what circumstances.
Yefremov was a close political ally of former President Viktor Yanukovych until the deposed leader fled the country for Russia in February 2014. After Yanukovych left, Yefremov issued a statement blaming him and his close advisers inside the presidential administration for the chaos in the country.
In January, a Verkhovna Rada deputy asked prosecutors to look into allegations that Yefremov provided financial support to Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(TV Dozhd, Interfax)