16:15
14.3.2014
This is from RFE/RL's newsdesk:
Three Automaidan activists have reportedly gone missing in Crimea.
Ukrainian lawmaker and former Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko wrote on Facebook today that his son Oleksiy Hrytsenko and two other activists, Natalya Lukyanchenko and Serhiy Suprun, informed their relatives by phone that they were chased by unknown people and tried to hide in the building of the Mejlis -- Crimean Tatars' self-governing body in Simferopol -- yesterday evening.
Their phones have not been responding since then. Anatoliy Hrytsenko said the mobile monitoring system indicates that the three activists are currently in the premises of the Military Commission Office in Simferopol recently taken over by pro-Russian forces.
However, Hrytsenko said the Military Commission Office's security personnel denied the activists' presence in the building.
Three Automaidan activists have reportedly gone missing in Crimea.
Ukrainian lawmaker and former Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko wrote on Facebook today that his son Oleksiy Hrytsenko and two other activists, Natalya Lukyanchenko and Serhiy Suprun, informed their relatives by phone that they were chased by unknown people and tried to hide in the building of the Mejlis -- Crimean Tatars' self-governing body in Simferopol -- yesterday evening.
Their phones have not been responding since then. Anatoliy Hrytsenko said the mobile monitoring system indicates that the three activists are currently in the premises of the Military Commission Office in Simferopol recently taken over by pro-Russian forces.
However, Hrytsenko said the Military Commission Office's security personnel denied the activists' presence in the building.
15:03
14.3.2014
Former Ukrainian Defense Ministery Anatoliy Hrytsenko says his son, Automaidan founder Oleksiy Hrytsenko, has been kidnapped along with two other Automaidan activists in Simferopol.
Grytsenko: At this time we're dealing with disappearance in Simferopol of three #automaidan activists, one of them is my son. #terrorism
— uacrisis (@uacrisis) March 14, 2014
14:58
14.3.2014
In Kyiv, EU flag now flying in front of Ukrainian Parliament. In Simferopol, meanwhile, Ukrainian trident has been replaced with Russian flag.
EU flag already flying out front of Ukrainian parliament. #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/k8jOuy0aV7
— Paul Waldie (@pwaldieGLOBE) March 14, 2014
Huge Russian flag already covers Crimea parliament building. Do they still need that referendum, really? pic.twitter.com/uQVkaDjIRU
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) March 14, 2014
14:55
14.3.2014
US Embassy Moscow (@USEmbRu) calls Russian statement about mistreatment of its reporters at White House meeting "absolutely absurd."
— Steven Lee Myers (@slmmoscow) March 14, 2014
14:39
14.3.2014
Russia is now adding a legal component to its strong criticism of what it says is the right-wing makeup of Ukraine's new authorities.
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the leader of Ukraine's nationalist Svoboda (Liberty) party, Oleh Tyahnybok.
The committee's spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said Friday that Tyahnybok is suspected of fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus on the side of Chechen separatists in the 1994-95 war.
Markin added that the Investigative Committee's North Caucasus branch had collected enough evidence to charge Tyahnybok and several members of his party with organizing an illegal armed gang and using force against Russian federal troops.
According to Markin, arrest warrants for Tyahnybok and his associates will be issued soon. Tyahnybok is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. He was one of the leaders of antigovernment protests in Kyiv that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in late February.
The committee's spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said Friday that Tyahnybok is suspected of fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus on the side of Chechen separatists in the 1994-95 war.
Markin added that the Investigative Committee's North Caucasus branch had collected enough evidence to charge Tyahnybok and several members of his party with organizing an illegal armed gang and using force against Russian federal troops.
According to Markin, arrest warrants for Tyahnybok and his associates will be issued soon. Tyahnybok is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. He was one of the leaders of antigovernment protests in Kyiv that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in late February.
14:35
14.3.2014
More on the regional diplomatic front from the agencies.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev about the crisis in Ukraine.
The Kazakh presidential office said the talk on Friday was initiated by London. According to Nazarbaev's office, Cameron and Nazarbaev agreed that the crisis "must be resolved by peaceful means and through reinstatement of all basic norms of international legislation in Ukraine."
Earlier this week, Nazarbaev talked by telephone with U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The White House said Obama and Nazarbaev had reiterated the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Nazarbaev also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week during which Nazarbaev expressed support for Moscow's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
The Kazakh presidential office said the talk on Friday was initiated by London. According to Nazarbaev's office, Cameron and Nazarbaev agreed that the crisis "must be resolved by peaceful means and through reinstatement of all basic norms of international legislation in Ukraine."
Earlier this week, Nazarbaev talked by telephone with U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The White House said Obama and Nazarbaev had reiterated the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Nazarbaev also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week during which Nazarbaev expressed support for Moscow's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
14:33
14.3.2014
Break is over. Match continues. pic.twitter.com/C3Dmf4rq2D
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 14, 2014
14:17
14.3.2014
Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine's first president, says country needs to urgently join NATO:
Украина должна срочно вступить в НАТО - Кравчук http://t.co/6SAouxJXbL #новини #новости #Украина #Кравчук #НАТО pic.twitter.com/yWI5rWbKD1
— Ukrinform (@UKRINFORM) March 14, 2014
14:08
14.3.2014
Russian MFA shows its funny side:
Lavrov and Kerry. Hope they will be back pic.twitter.com/ZXDFNSCzhE
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 14, 2014
14:06
14.3.2014
Rinat Akhmetov after last night's violence "We are one Donbass family and should remain so – one Donbass family, in one united Ukraine."
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) March 14, 2014