11:00
12.3.2014
BREAKING: #OSCE military observer team say evidence #Russia military involved in #Crimea roadblocks – more soon.
— U.S. Mission to OSCE (@usosce) March 12, 2014
10:55
12.3.2014
Flights to #Crimea to be limited until March 17 to keep provocateurs out - authorities http://t.co/ezl6gixHzV
— The Voice of Russia (@VoiceofRussia) March 12, 2014
09:58
12.3.2014
Mustafa Jemilev, the former head of the Crimean Tatar assembly, or Mejlis, spoke to RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service shortly before departing for talks in Moscow this morning.
Jemilev said a meeting with Vladimir Putin is not yet certain, and that the Crimean Tatar community's sole demand is the withdrawal of Russian forces from Crimea. He said none of the decisions adopted by the Crimean parliament in recent days are legitimate, and that the parliament -- which is proceeding with an independence referendum this weekend -- is a "separatist structure."
09:48
12.3.2014
RFE/RL's Russian Service is reporting that LDPR lawmaker Roman Khudyakov has asked state prosecutors to examine Mikhail Khodorkovsky's March 10 speech in Kyiv for possible extremist sentiment.
Khudyakov says Khodorkovsky, speaking before a packed hall of university students, accused Russia of distributing false propaganda about recent events in Ukraine and giving the former government of Viktor Yanukovych the go-ahead to shoot at protesters during clashes in Kyiv.
Khudyakov said the actions constitute criminal behavior under Russian libel law. The Russian State Duma has also noted that Khodorkovsky, who was released from jail in December following a presidential pardon, publicly promised not to engage in political activities.
09:24
12.3.2014
In the Crimean "referendum," the local election commission is requiring journalists "not to distribute materials of a negative character." Only positive.
На крымском "референдуме" местный ЦИК требует от журналистов "не распространять материалы негативного характера". Можно только позитивного
— Ilya Varlamov (@varlamov) March 12, 2014
09:15
12.3.2014
76 years ago today, the nazi anschluss of Austria occored. It'd be really awkward if there was a historical parallel with #Crimea.
— Vladimir Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) March 12, 2014
09:12
12.3.2014
Meanwhile at Simferopol airport, all flights with the exception of Moscow are cancelled pic.twitter.com/AecKIKMQXx
— Russian Market (@russian_market) March 12, 2014
08:56
12.3.2014
Reuters photo gallery of images from Crimea:
Фотогалерея. Крымский кризис http://t.co/0pkoE6BanB pic.twitter.com/F7MzxpvWEz
— Агентство Рейтер (@reuters_russia) March 12, 2014
08:48
12.3.2014
Mark Mackinnon reports for the "Globe and Mail" from Odesa, where fears of a Russian invasion are mounting.
He writes:
"Odesa still feels like the city Catherine the Great envisioned, a southern St. Petersburg. Residents speak Russian and think fondly of Russia, or did until recent events. The scenic waterfront is dominated by a statue of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived briefly here, and the 142-metre-long Potemkin Staircase that was immortalized in film by Sergei Eisenstein. The region’s economy is dependent on the tens of thousands of Russian tourists who come every year to enjoy the region's sandy beaches and relatively balmy climate.
"But unlike Crimea, which only became part of Ukraine in 1954, the majority of Odesans are ethnic Ukrainians who have come to treasure their distance and independence from Moscow."
He writes:
"Odesa still feels like the city Catherine the Great envisioned, a southern St. Petersburg. Residents speak Russian and think fondly of Russia, or did until recent events. The scenic waterfront is dominated by a statue of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived briefly here, and the 142-metre-long Potemkin Staircase that was immortalized in film by Sergei Eisenstein. The region’s economy is dependent on the tens of thousands of Russian tourists who come every year to enjoy the region's sandy beaches and relatively balmy climate.
"But unlike Crimea, which only became part of Ukraine in 1954, the majority of Odesans are ethnic Ukrainians who have come to treasure their distance and independence from Moscow."