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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
10:24 12.3.2014

The press service of Ukraine's SBU security service reports that its officers found and detained a Russian military espionage unit in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, outside Crimea. The SBU said the Russians were attempting to gauge the readiness of Ukrainian troops in Kherson -- specifically the 3rd antimissile battalion of the 208th air defense missile brigade.

Some Ukrainian social-media watchers are having fun with the fact that the head of the group, a military intelligence officer born in 1981, had entered the country illegally with a Ukrainian passport under the name of Arbuzov -- the same name as the former deputy prime minister and (oh-so briefly) interim prime minister between Mykola Azarov and Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
10:26 12.3.2014
A reminder that five Ukrainian activists and journalists who went missing in Crimea have reportedly resurfaced, according to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and other local reports.

A member of the Automaidan activist group, Serhiy Khadzhinov, said late on March 11 that the group's press secretary, Kateryna Butko, as well as independent blogger Oleksanda Ryazantseva, "Ukrainian Week" reporter Olena Maksymenko, journalist Yevhen Rakhno, and photographer Oles Kromplyas have been freed.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Butko, Ryazantseva, and Maksymenko had been detained at a checkpoint manned by Russia Unity, a pro-Russia political party. The five are currently in Ukraine's southern region of Kherson.

They and several pro-Ukrainian activists, including Igor Kiryushchenko, the head of the Ukrainian Republican Party's Crimean branch, Andriy Shchekun, the head of Crimea's Ukrainian Council, and Anatolyy Kovalskiy, the director of the board of trustees of the Ukrainian School in Simferopol, all went missing March 9 or 10.

Ukrainian police sources confirmed the release of Ryazantseva, Butko, and Maksymenko only.
10:29 12.3.2014
Scores of Russian cultural figures have come out variously in support of and in opposition to Russia's actions in Crimea.

RFE/RL's Russian Service reports that more than 80 people, including conductor Valery Gergiev; Irina Antonova, the head of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts; actor Sergei Bezrukov; Yelena Gagarina, daughter of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; and violinist Yuri Bashmet signed an open letter of support for Putin. In a letter published on the website of the Culture Ministry, they say they "cannot be indifferent observers with cold hearts" and that they "firmly state support for the position of the president of the Russian Federation on Ukraine and Crimea."

Others, including film critic Anton Dolin, writers Lyudmila Ulitskaya and Viktor Yerofeyev, and legendary film actress Lia Akhedzhakova, signed open letters last week in which they condemned the occupation of Crimea by Russian forces.
10:40 12.3.2014
More on the U.S. Mission to the OSCE's concern about the involvement of Russian military personnel in establishing roadblocks in Crimea:

"Among the evidence cited in the report were '[Russian] pattern uniforms and combat equipment without identifying patches,' 'trucks bearing license plate numbers associated with Black Sea Fleet,' and armored personnel carriers, 'one of which is a naval infantry version displaying [Russian] markings.'

Read the full statement here:
10:46 12.3.2014
Crimea's pro-Russian PM Aksyonov tweets that peninsula is in on full alert, links to bombastic Life News video:
10:47 12.3.2014
A commentary from RFE/RL's editor in chief, Nenad Pejic -- who was previously director of RFE/RL's Balkan Service and before that, editor in chief of Bosnian Television -- titled "What's The Difference Between Vladimir Putin And Slobodan Milosevic? About 22 Years."

They are one man with two shadows; one modus operandi separated by a little more than two decades.

In fact, if Milosevic were alive today, he could probably sue Putin for plagiarism.

He goes on, in considerable detail, to compare their methods before concluding:
...Putin enjoys an advantage that Milosevic lacked. Russia, unlike Serbia, is a major geopolitical player with a seat on the UN Security Council, a nuclear power, and a crucial supplier of energy to Europe.

If, without assets like these, Milosevic managed to menace his neighbors for eight years, how long will Putin be able to do so?
10:50 12.3.2014
10:51 12.3.2014
RFE/RL Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak quotes European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso sharply criticizing Russia over the situation in Crimea, saying a proposal to Moscow for direct talks has been left unanswered.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Barroso said the commission would release a statement soon "that will leave no doubt about the determination of the G7 countries and the European Union." He said the statement will call on Russia to cease all efforts to annex Crimea.

He repeated that Brussels will impose sanctions if meaningful negotiations do not begin soon and produce results within a limited time frame. He said EU foreign ministers will convene on March 17 and may take a decision on sanctions.

Barroso added that the commission will propose macro-financial assistance worth 1 billion euros to Ukraine next week, part of a financial aid package of 11 billion euros announced last week.
10:52 12.3.2014
10:53 12.3.2014

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