11:27
21.3.2014
Today is 22nd anniv of sovereignty referendum in Tatarstan (62% in favor of sovereignty). Not all referendums equal: http://t.co/tnjLtzWKNq
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) March 21, 2014
11:30
21.3.2014
What obligations does #Russia have as an occupying power in #Crimea, #Ukraine? - Q&A from @HRW http://t.co/aWYWxnleEs pic.twitter.com/YrUqt5ovJV
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) March 21, 2014
11:34
21.3.2014
Bit of perspective from our own Robert Coalson...
"Russia's Const Court ruled the referendum's wording was unconstitutional, saying it implied altering Russian Federation's state structure."
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) March 21, 2014
11:48
21.3.2014
Via Russian and international agencies, Medvedev has upped Kyiv's ante:
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Ukraine owes Russia a total of $16 billion. Medvedev, in a meeting on Friday, told President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine should pay back $11 billion to Russia because an agreement under which Russia provided cheap gas in exchange for the lease of the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea was "subject to denunciation."
11:52
21.3.2014
Ukraine's border authorities say about 1,000 people have fled Crimea since Putin called for its annexation earlier this week. Many headed to the Lviv region. Some have also traveled to Poland, where they plan to ask for political asylum.
11:59
21.3.2014
International courier DHL is sending out messages informing customers that despite the "complete resumption" of service to Ukraine, "no Crimean cities can receive packages with a declared value of more than 200 euros" because such items are being halted at the "gateway" in Kyiv.
12:01
21.3.2014
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says at the signing of the political provisions of an EU Association Agreement in Brussels, via our Brussels correspondent:
"This is a historic day for my country and we believe that this is a historic day for the entire Europe. We want to be a part of the big European family. This is the first tremendous step in order to achieve for Ukraine its ultimate goal, a full-fledged membership."
"My country faces a number of challenges, both economic, political and military, and signing this treaty we will show to the entire world that we are together, that Ukraine shares the European values and we can together be successful. We do understand that this is a very bumpy road. But that is our job, to deliver everything that Ukrainian people were fighting for."
"It started as a protest, a pro-European protest, and let me commemorate those who gave their lives for this treaty, too, and for our freedoms and liberties and for our European future."
"My country faces a number of challenges, both economic, political and military, and signing this treaty we will show to the entire world that we are together, that Ukraine shares the European values and we can together be successful. We do understand that this is a very bumpy road. But that is our job, to deliver everything that Ukrainian people were fighting for."
"It started as a protest, a pro-European protest, and let me commemorate those who gave their lives for this treaty, too, and for our freedoms and liberties and for our European future."
12:11
21.3.2014
Crimean pro-Euromaidan activist Andriy Shchekun tells RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service about his abduction in Simferopol. He was held and tortured for 10 days by unidentified assailants.
They beat me, tortured me, electroshocked me, hit me on the back. They asked me whether I had ties to Right Sektor... Several of the guards also abused me, they shot me in the arms and legs with pneumatic guns. They didn't give me anything to eat, and sometimes nothing to drink either. It was very, very hard.
They beat me, tortured me, electroshocked me, hit me on the back. They asked me whether I had ties to Right Sektor... Several of the guards also abused me, they shot me in the arms and legs with pneumatic guns. They didn't give me anything to eat, and sometimes nothing to drink either. It was very, very hard.
Звільнений із полону кримський активіст Щекун: Катували, випитували, чи пов'язаний з «Правим сектором» http://t.co/JS4rlyRDH3
— Радіо Свобода (@radiosvoboda) March 21, 2014
12:32
21.3.2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin has formally signed a treaty -- already approved by both houses of parliament -- that makes Crimea part of the Russian Federation.
12:33
21.3.2014
Tit for tat? Moscow has frozen the Russian accounts of Roshen, the chocolate empire of Ukrainian billionaire and Euromaidan supporter Petro Poroshenko, on unspecified criminal charges. Total amount blocked: 2.8 billion rubles ($77 million).