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Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.

Live Blog: UN Backs Ukraine Integrity

Final Summary For March 27

-- The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution that affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity.

-- The IMF has announced "a staff-level agreement" with Kyiv on assistance of $14 billion-$18 billion in conjunction with a reform program that will "unlock" up to $27 billion over the next two years, pending final approval next month. Tthe U.S. Congress has also passed an aid bill for Ukraine.

-- Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced plans to run for president.

-- Members of the Right Sector have been holding a demonstration outside the Ukrainian parliament building to vent their anger at the killing of prominent member Oleksander Muzychko earlier in the week.

-- Six Ukrainian military officers detained by pro-Russian troops in Crimea have been released, including Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, but five others are still being held captive.

-- Anonymous sources quoted by CNN say U.S. intelligence "concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine."

-- U.S. President Barack Obama, in the keynote speech of his visit to Europe, chided Russia for its use of "brute force" in Ukraine and vowed that a determined alliance of the United States and Europe will prevail over time.


*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
10:04 7.3.2014
09:52 7.3.2014
Pro-Russian protest leader Pavel Grubarev was arrested on March 6 and taken to Kyiv:
09:49 7.3.2014
09:49 7.3.2014
Russian Federation Coucil speaker Valentina Matviyenko speaking today, after welcoming the speaker of Crimea's parliament:
09:14 7.3.2014
These are said to be Bulgarian journalists attacked on the street:
09:02 7.3.2014
09:02 7.3.2014
From the wires:
The speaker of the Russian lower house says the State Duma will respect the "historic choice" to be made by Crimea when the Ukrainian region's people vote in a referendum on joining Russia later this month. Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, speaking at a meeting with a delegation of Crimean lawmakers Friday, said, "We support the free and democratic choice of the population of Crimea." The Crimean delegation was led by Volodymyr Konstantynov, the speaker of Crimea's legislative body. Meanwhile, several hundred people attended a rally near the Duma building Friday in favor of Crimea's joining Russia. The Crimean parliament on Thursday voted in favor of the region's joining Russia and scheduled a referendum on the issue on March 16.
08:08 7.3.2014
After reports that an independent television station was shut down almost as soon as pro-Russian forces took over Crimea, comes news of further media restrictions:

In Crimea, at least one Ukrainian TV channel has been taken off the air. A presenter at 1+1, Lidia Taran, said that reporters at the TV channel had been attacked while working in Crimea.

"Our journalists from the very start of the standoff in Crimea were in danger. Every day our local correspondents are attacked," Taran said. "There were several attempts for our Kyiv crews to drive out and work in Crimea, they were a failure, today one of our crews was taken in."

Other reports said another Ukrainian TV channel, Channel 5, had also been blocked from broadcasting on the Black Sea peninsula.

And harassment of journalists on the street continues:
18:18 6.3.2014
New piece on "Crimean Lawmakers Coordinate With Russians To Push Annexation."
17:58 6.3.2014
Van Rompuy threatens Russia with "severe and far-reaching consequences...which will include a broad range of areas."

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