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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
18:20 15.3.2014



18:21 15.3.2014
More from Roland Oliphant of "The Telegraph" on storming of the Moscow hotel in Simferopol:
18:50 15.3.2014
Barring any major developments, this wraps up our live blogging for March 15. We'll leave you with this Facebook post from former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul:
08:15 16.3.2014
RFE/RL Ukrainian Service video of a polling station in Crimea opening for the disputed referendum.
08:23 16.3.2014
Agency reports say Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the eve of the vote that Russia considers the referendum in Crimea to be "fully in line with international law."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov, in a telephone call with Kerry, also said Ukrainian authorities should curb what the statement described as "the rampant ultranationalist and radical groups that are terrorizing dissidents and Russian-speaking people" in Ukraine.

The phone call came as Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution declaring the referendum invalid. Thirteen council members voted in favor, while Moscow ally China abstained.
08:32 16.3.2014
A priest in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church detained in Sevastopol and reportedly accused of "provocation" has been released, according to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

The church has reported multiple oral and written threats against its priests and warnings that they should leave Crimea, the report says.
08:39 16.3.2014
Russian broadcaster RT states disingenuously:

Some 10,000 members of the Crimean military recently formed from self-defense squads, and over 5,000 police officers are ensuring the referendum goes smoothly.
08:41 16.3.2014
08:45 16.3.2014
Wonder which way he broke. :-)
08:49 16.3.2014
In Dnepropetrovsk, around 2,000 football fans rallied in support of "Crimea in Ukraine":

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