15:32
13.3.2014
Pro-Russian billboard in #Sevastopol ahead of referendum in #Crimea on Sunday. Says choose Fascism or #Russia pic.twitter.com/e0AWZgot8c
— Jennifer Glasse (@JenniferGlasse) March 13, 2014
15:38
13.3.2014
A little addition to our earlier report that the Russian military is conducting exercises in it Southern Military District near Ukraine. The Defense Ministry now says it has ent six Su-27 jet fighters and three military transport planes to Belarus. It said it was responding to a request prompted by joint U.S.-Polish exercises in Poland.
15:42
13.3.2014
Also from our newsdesk:
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has changed some flight routes so that the airline's planes do not fly over Ukrainian territory.
Aeroflot spokesman Andrei Sogrin today confirmed the company's decision, which he said was made to "ensure the planes' security" due to the situation around Ukraine's Crimea region.
He said all flights from Moscow that would normally pass over the territory of Ukraine would now bypass it.
The Interfax news agency said Aeroflot was one of "several" Russian airlines that have changed routes to bypass Ukraine.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has changed some flight routes so that the airline's planes do not fly over Ukrainian territory.
Aeroflot spokesman Andrei Sogrin today confirmed the company's decision, which he said was made to "ensure the planes' security" due to the situation around Ukraine's Crimea region.
He said all flights from Moscow that would normally pass over the territory of Ukraine would now bypass it.
The Interfax news agency said Aeroflot was one of "several" Russian airlines that have changed routes to bypass Ukraine.
15:46
13.3.2014
The European Parliament calls for tough sanctions against Russia if Moscow doesn't withdraw its troops from Crimea.
The non-binding resolution urges the EU to consider "appropriate measures," including an arms embargo and asset freezes for Russians "implicated in the decision-making process linked to the invasion of Ukraine."
16:17
13.3.2014
Ukraine says Russia's move to sink three of its own ships in a lake connected to the Black Sea may pose an environmental threat to the region.
The foreign ministry has sent a note of protest to Russia, saying whitish liquid has been leaking from the capsized vessel.
The foreign ministry has sent a note of protest to Russia, saying whitish liquid has been leaking from the capsized vessel.
Ukrainian authorities accuse Russia of deliberately sinking the ships, which include a junked anti-submarine boat, to prevent Ukrainian navy ships from leaving a nearby base and going to sea.
16:25
13.3.2014
39 staffers quit Lenta Ru http://t.co/OCi5ZSJY50 | @lentaruofficial
— Russian Police Watch (@RusPoliceWatch) March 13, 2014
16:31
13.3.2014
The recovered records of Viktor Yanukovych continue to provide fresh revelations about his regime's massive monitoring of the Euromaidan movement that ousted him as Ukraine's president.
Natalia Sedletska of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, who has been working on the YanukovychLeaks project, writes that investigators have found a 100-page notebook documenting, in unstinting detail, the cars and drivers participating in Euromaidan's automotive wing, Automaidan.
In particular, the document provides a blow-by-blow account of the December 29 rally outside Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya estate, in which a convoy of some 1,000 automobiles packed with Maidan protesters lined up outside the presidential residence, stalled by a police roadblock.
It follows with concrete data about the cars' owners, as well as the brands, colors, years, number plates, and registration of all the cars involved. Nearly half of the names match up with lawyers' current lists of Maidan protesters who were later arrested on unrelated charges or otherwise subject to illegal persecution. Dozens of other Automaidan activists also had their cars set alight, although it is impossible to prove that it is connected to the secret Mezhyhirya dossier. In total, 129 cars went up in flames in the first 45 days of 2014.
Automaidan activists have yet to compile their own complete list of participants whose cars were set alight or bludgeoned by the Berkut riot police. Even so, at least 13 vehicles featured on a blacklist held by Yanukovych's personal bodyguard, Konstantyn Kobzar, belonged to Automaidan members.
No particular details were revealed about Automaidan's most well-known member, Dmytro Bulatov, who survived a brutal kidnapping ordeal during which his captors drove nails through his hands and severed off part of an ear. Bulatov has since been named the minister for youth and sport in the new Kyiv government. His abduction has yet to be properly investigated.
Watch more of Sedletska's findings in the Yanukovych papers HERE:
17:33
13.3.2014
"Ref-er-en-dum." Small but boisterous (and egg-toting) pro-Russia crowd at the Lenin statue in Donetsk tonight pic.twitter.com/IWjsZKTo9T
— Mike Giglio (@mike_giglio) March 13, 2014
18:03
13.3.2014
Is this a turnaround on the Russian position on OSCE monitors?
The Swiss chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says Russia has changed its position and now supports a plan to send an OSCE monitoring mission to Ukraine, including Crimea.
Ambassador Thomas Greminger of Switzerland, which currently chairs the European security body, described this as a possible "big step forward."
However, he said that negotiations with Russia on this issue only started in earnest on Thursday.
Russia had been the only country among the 57 OSCE members not ready to consider such a mission, which was proposed by Switzerland.
The monitoring mission would be separate from the military observer mission currently deployed in Ukraine. An unnamed Western diplomat told dpa that Russia had submitted substantial changes to the Swiss draft mandate.
The OSCE military observers have been denied entry into Crimea at least three times.
Ambassador Thomas Greminger of Switzerland, which currently chairs the European security body, described this as a possible "big step forward."
However, he said that negotiations with Russia on this issue only started in earnest on Thursday.
Russia had been the only country among the 57 OSCE members not ready to consider such a mission, which was proposed by Switzerland.
The monitoring mission would be separate from the military observer mission currently deployed in Ukraine. An unnamed Western diplomat told dpa that Russia had submitted substantial changes to the Swiss draft mandate.
The OSCE military observers have been denied entry into Crimea at least three times.
18:50
13.3.2014
Another journalist detained in Crimea:
A French television station says one of its journalists was briefly detained in Ukraine's Crimea region on Thursday.
A spokesman for Canal+ says that David Geoffrion was detained by pro-Russian gunmen at a military installation in the Crimean capital, Simferopol earlier on Thursday.
Canal+ said Geoffrion was filming a documentary when he was apprehended.The tv station's spokesman said the journalist was freed several hours later, but provided no details.
The incident comes three days after media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was "alarmed" by the violation of journalists' rights in Crimea after Ukrainian journalists were arrested.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he may go to Moscow next week for talks with Russian officials about the crisis in Crimea.
A spokesman for Canal+ says that David Geoffrion was detained by pro-Russian gunmen at a military installation in the Crimean capital, Simferopol earlier on Thursday.
Canal+ said Geoffrion was filming a documentary when he was apprehended.The tv station's spokesman said the journalist was freed several hours later, but provided no details.
The incident comes three days after media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was "alarmed" by the violation of journalists' rights in Crimea after Ukrainian journalists were arrested.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he may go to Moscow next week for talks with Russian officials about the crisis in Crimea.