Is it just us, or does Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's Twitter feed seem unfathomably oblivious to the tragedy in Kharkiv?
Via AFP:
Regional prosecutor Yuri Danilchenko said two people died, one of them a police officer, revising down an earlier toll of three killed.
"It was a homemade bomb packed with shrapnel, put in a plastic bag and hidden in snow by the side of the road," he told reporters.
This is the Facebook post by the Ukrainian Security Council's Markian Lubkivskiy, with the auto-translate below it:
Following today's attack in Kharkiv, @AB_Chapman wisely flagged this piece by our own @GKates from a year ago:
Ukraine's East-West Divide: It's Not That Simple
Re-upping a fine AP investigative piece with further evidence of Moscow's direct influence on the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
When Alexander was due to finish his year of mandatory military service in October, his commander told him he had no choice: He had to sign a contract to extend his stay in the army and head to southern Russia for troop exercises.
The 20-year-old knew that meant he might end up fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Other soldiers he talked to had been sent there.
His commanders "didn't talk about it, but other soldiers told us about it, primarily paratroopers who had been there," Alexander said in an interview with The Associated Press, which is not using his surname for his safety.
Read more here:
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaking at a news briefing in Nairobi, Kenya, today about reports of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine:
"Regarding Ukraine, we are receiving contradictory reports at the moment. The OSCE reported that shooting has taken place on both sides, which means a violation of the cease-fire. We also have reports at military level that there have obviously been talks taking place about the beginning of a withdrawal of heavy armor. As to the amassment of separatist troops that points to the possibility they may be moving towards Mariupol, I have so far received only intelligence from the Ukrainian army, but I have no confirmation from the OSCE."