08:20
5.5.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has this update regarding detainees in Odesa:
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says 42 people detained over recent deadly violence in Odesa have been transferred to detention facilities in central Ukraine.
The transfer was announced today following the release of more than 60 pro-Russia detainees yesterday after a crowd of some 2,000 attacked the police headquarters in the southern port city demanding that they be freed.
On May 2, more than 40 people died in a blaze inside the building where pro-Russia activists had sought refuge amid street fighting with pro-Ukraine demonstrators.
Avakov voiced his "indignation" over the "shameful" release of people who he said were among those who had provoked the violence.
Meanwhile, Ivan Katerynchuk has been appointed the head of Odesa's police after his predecessor was fired for failing to prevent the violence.
The transfer was announced today following the release of more than 60 pro-Russia detainees yesterday after a crowd of some 2,000 attacked the police headquarters in the southern port city demanding that they be freed.
On May 2, more than 40 people died in a blaze inside the building where pro-Russia activists had sought refuge amid street fighting with pro-Ukraine demonstrators.
Avakov voiced his "indignation" over the "shameful" release of people who he said were among those who had provoked the violence.
Meanwhile, Ivan Katerynchuk has been appointed the head of Odesa's police after his predecessor was fired for failing to prevent the violence.
08:10
5.5.2014
Amazing pic by @stopnarcotics: An activist climbs up the flagpole carrying #Ukraine's flag with him in #Odessa pic.twitter.com/rH3gqEkgLP
— Fabian Burkhardt (@sanwaldinjo) May 5, 2014
08:07
5.5.2014
putin awarded 300 journos for "objectivity in covering events in #Crimea", most of them NTV, LifeNews, Rossiya24, RT http://t.co/2IsvqNEfOD
— Natalia Melnychuk (@pravolivo) May 5, 2014
07:50
5.5.2014
"The Guardian" newspaper has published a piece on what it believes is an orchestrated pro-Kremlin campaign to monopolize debate on Ukraine in its "Comments" sections:
Trolling covers a multitude of sins but a particularly nasty strain has emerged in the midst of the armed conflict in Ukraine, which infests comment threads on the Guardian and elsewhere, despite the best efforts of moderators. Readers and reporters alike are concerned that these are from those paid to troll, and to denigrate in abusive terms anyone criticising Russia or President Vladimir Putin.
Read more here
07:11
5.5.2014
Russian envoy to UN: By launching operation in southeastern Ukraine, Kyiv makes nationwide dialogue impossible http://t.co/8uCEkSH4yU
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) May 5, 2014
06:36
5.5.2014
Euronews: Gun shots heard and more government buildings seized in east Ukraine (VIDEO) http://t.co/SvU946k8sP
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) May 5, 2014
06:19
5.5.2014
Reading Kom.Pravda,it feels Russia edging towards military interv'n in Ukraine ("If Russia doesn't stop this war,history won't forgive us")
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) May 5, 2014
Kom.Pravda: "If we're in any case facing a new wave of sanctions, then we may as well step up efforts to overthrow the illegal Kiev regime"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) May 5, 2014
05:42
5.5.2014
Map of eastern #Ukraine detailing latest developments. pic.twitter.com/8e3gsaYWZP
— Just Hovens Greve (@JustHovensGreve) May 4, 2014
05:15
5.5.2014
Good morning. We'll start our live blog today with the latest comments from acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchynov as reported by RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukraine's acting President Oleksander Turchynov says Russia "is at war" with his country, and that local and institutional support for Moscow is a "colossal problem" in eastern Ukraine.
Speaking on May 4 with Ukraine's Channel 5 TV, Turchynov accused Moscow of trying "to destabilize the situation completely" in eastern and southern Ukraine.
He said Odesa is "one of the Russian Federation's main targets."
But he said "patriotic" Ukrainians had blocked the efforts of "local provocateurs and separatists" whom he accuses of "organizing" violence in an attempt to bring the Odesa "to its knees."
Turchynov also said pro-Russian "organizers and perpetrators" of violence in Odesa during the weekend included "a lot of people with Russian passports and guest stars" from Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdniester.
He said many police in eastern Ukraine also are "sympathetic to separatist groups."
Speaking on May 4 with Ukraine's Channel 5 TV, Turchynov accused Moscow of trying "to destabilize the situation completely" in eastern and southern Ukraine.
He said Odesa is "one of the Russian Federation's main targets."
But he said "patriotic" Ukrainians had blocked the efforts of "local provocateurs and separatists" whom he accuses of "organizing" violence in an attempt to bring the Odesa "to its knees."
Turchynov also said pro-Russian "organizers and perpetrators" of violence in Odesa during the weekend included "a lot of people with Russian passports and guest stars" from Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdniester.
He said many police in eastern Ukraine also are "sympathetic to separatist groups."
19:41
4.5.2014
Barring any dramatic developments, we are now closing the live blog for today. Before we go, we'll leave you with an item from our news desk about the warning issued by the Crimean prosecutor-general over "extremist" activities in the Tatar community:
Prosecutors have warned Crimean Tatars that their main self-government body will be liquidated if it engages in "extremist" activities, a move that comes amid protests by local Tatars over the authorities' refusal to allow their leader, Mustafa Dzhemilev, into the region.
Natalya Poklonskaya, prosecutor general of the Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia last month, issued the warning on May 4 to Refat Chubarov, the leader of the organization, known as the Mejlis, according to a video of the meeting posted on YouTube.
Poklonskaya also accused Chubarov of organizing illegal demonstrations in support of Dzhemilev, who was denied entry into Crimea on May 3, a day after being turned back at a Moscow airport.
Thousands of Crimean Tatars broke through lines of Russian troops to meet Dzhemilev at a border-crossing point on May 3.
Natalya Poklonskaya, prosecutor general of the Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia last month, issued the warning on May 4 to Refat Chubarov, the leader of the organization, known as the Mejlis, according to a video of the meeting posted on YouTube.
Poklonskaya also accused Chubarov of organizing illegal demonstrations in support of Dzhemilev, who was denied entry into Crimea on May 3, a day after being turned back at a Moscow airport.
Thousands of Crimean Tatars broke through lines of Russian troops to meet Dzhemilev at a border-crossing point on May 3.