13:48
9.3.2014
Kanal 5 reports that Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service is warning that provacative acts are being planned in Ukraine, claiming that pro-Russia and Crimean self-defense forces are buying Ukrainian military uniforms and that fake videos are being disseminated via the Internet.
13:50
9.3.2014
Ukraine flag outside donetsk gov building taken down by pro Rus protesters who hoist Russian flag, chanting 'Putin, Putin!'
— tom balmforth (@BalmforthTom) March 9, 2014
14:06
9.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukraine Service tweeting that 500 people showed up to protest referendum during rally in Simferopol.
У Сімферополі півтисячі людей виступають проти референдуму - http://t.co/ZJPcDIU6Yp
— Радіо Свобода (@radiosvoboda) March 9, 2014
Adds that a second Maidan activist, Anatoliy Kovalsky, has gone missing. Earlier reports said that Ukrainian Crimean Council head Andriy Shchekun was detained at Simferopol's train station.
14:12
9.3.2014
Russian Foreign Ministry website says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on the telephone with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier today to discuss prospects for normalization of the situation in Ukraine.
14:19
9.3.2014
Pro-Russia and pro-Maidan rallies taking place on same square in Luhansk result in clashes, according to a Kanal 5 correspondent reporting from the scene. Estimates that at least 10 were injured, with the pro-Russia camp getting the upper hand. Says a crowd carrying Russian flags then headed toward regional administration buiding, after which the Russian tri-color was raised.
14:21
9.3.2014
The "pro-Ukraine" demonstration in Donetsk was essentially abandoned after hundreds of pro-Russians turned up, according to RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth.
14:25
9.3.2014
Mikhail Khodorkovsky speaking at Maidan rally in Kyiv:
Ходорковський на Майдані. Фото Мустафи Найєма pic.twitter.com/NTMaD1S1S9
— Hromadske.TV (@HromadskeTV) March 9, 2014
14:29
9.3.2014
From Itar-Tass:
The legitimate authorities in Crimea are taking steps which are in compliance with international law with an aim to ensure the lawful interests of Crimea's population, Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone on Sunday.
"The Russian president also called his interlocutors' attention to the fact that the current authorities in Kiev were doing nothing to curb the rampage of ultra-nationalist and radical forces in the Ukrainian capital and in many other regions," the Kremlin press service reports.
The legitimate authorities in Crimea are taking steps which are in compliance with international law with an aim to ensure the lawful interests of Crimea's population, Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone on Sunday.
"The Russian president also called his interlocutors' attention to the fact that the current authorities in Kiev were doing nothing to curb the rampage of ultra-nationalist and radical forces in the Ukrainian capital and in many other regions," the Kremlin press service reports.
14:35
9.3.2014
Donetsk pro Ukr demo outside cathedral appears to have been abandoned after 100s of pro Rus protesters turn up chanting for referendum
— tom balmforth (@BalmforthTom) March 9, 2014
15:10
9.3.2014
YouTube footage of assault on Lugasnk regional administration building.