-- Self-appointed leaders of the Ukrainian separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Russia to consider absorbing it to "restore historic justice" and to send in troops.
-- Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk said they would not allow voting for the May 25 presidential election to be conducted.
-- Diplomats say the European Union agreed to impose sanctions against 13 additional individuals and two companies, believed to be the first time the EU has targeted companies over the Ukraine crisis.
-- Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called the votes a "sham" and the United States said they were illegal and merely "an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country."
-- RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service said one of its affiliate radio stations in Donetsk was taken off the air by gunmen and replaced by a pro-Russian broadcaster.
-- The Kremlin said Ukrainian officials in Kyiv should hold talks with pro-Russian separatists on the results of the self-rule referendums, adding that it respected the "expression of the people's will."
Some of the images coming out of the Slovyansk area of Ukraine's industrial east, where the government's "anti-terrorist" operation continues.
A checkpoint set on fire and abandoned by pro-Russian separatists.
A man talks on the phone as he flees a checkpoint after Ukrainian special forces took up positions in the city of Slovyansk.
Ukrainian special forces approach residents waving the Ukrainian national flag.
Ukrainian security troops walk past a checkpoint set on fire and vacated by pro-Russian separatists near Slovyansk.
12:5524.4.2014
ITAR-TASS quotes Russia's Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov as telling an international conference on EU energy policy regarding gas supplies to Ukraine that "We expect that consultations between Russia, the European Commission, and Ukraine will take place shortly to produce a solution to this complex and critical situation."
13:0724.4.2014
Our multimedia desk has provided an English translation of the recordings presented by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) of what it says are suspects in the abduction, torture, and apparent murder of Horlivka city councilor Volodymyr Rybak.
The SBU describes the individuals as members of a subversive group of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The names used in this transcript are based on the video's identification of the speakers and have not been independently confirmed by RFE/RL.
Introduction: The illegal detention and abduction of V. Rybak was carried out by the order of Main Intelligence Directorate Lieutenant Colonel Igor Bezler (alias Bes). The action was carried out by a group led by a saboteur known as Alf.
Bezler: Alf, listen to me carefully. Go inside the city administration building. Rybak is making trouble. People are trying to restrain him. Put some pressure on him. Look, put some pressure on him. [Put him in] in your car and take him some place far f***ing out. Then make a stop and tell me where to come. Did you get that? Go.
Don’t disconnect. Guys, get him, pack him up, and take him out. When you pack him up, tie his arms, cover his eyes so he doesn’t see anything.
Later on, the criminals took measures to cover up their crime.
Balu, Alf’s subordinate: Bes, so we looked at the video. You can’t see anything in it. The video shows him trying to take down the [Russian] flag from the city administration. And people were about to f*** him up. There’s nothing else.
Bezler: OK, I got it.
Balu: None of our guys were spotted there. So it’s all good.
Measures to hide the body were taken by the self-declared “mayor” of Slovyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, on orders from I. Strelkov (a.k.a. Strelok).
Strelkov: Slava, please take care of the stiff. We want it out of here, fast. It’s lying here, stinking the place up.
Ponomaryov: The corpse? Yes, yes. I’m finishing up with the journalists now and I’ll take care of it. The boys are going to take it to where you guys are, to the basement. I’m going to get going now and take care of this fag's burial.
Strelkov: OK, bye.
Ponomaryov: OK.
13:1424.4.2014
Impressive video of moments from the Ukrainian security operations around Slovyansk today:
13:1924.4.2014
There are anonymously sourced reports (including from @ChristopherJM) suggesting that Ukrainian officials are suspending their "anti-terrorist" operation in the east amid news that Russian troops appear to be amassing near the Ukraine border.
Here's more from our newsroom, compiled from agency reports:
Russia's defense minister says Russia has launched new military drills near the Ukrainian border in response to Ukrainian action against pro-Russian separatists and a NATO buildup of forces in Poland and the Baltic countries.
Sergei Shoigu said Russia was forced to react after Ukraine’s military launched an assault April 24 to retake the rebel-held flashpoint town of Slovyansk.
Up to five separatists were reported killed in the Ukrainian operation.
Shoigu alleged more than 11,000 Ukrainian troops were taking part in a military operation against civilians in Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking southeast.
Shoigu said the Ukrainian force included tanks, armored vehicles, and aircraft.
He called the Ukrainian force a “military machine” and said if it is not stopped, it will lead to greater numbers of dead and wounded.
Shoigu also said planned NATO exercises in Poland and the Baltic states are not helping to calm the situation.
Fortunately, that isn't happening yet — and, according to one of the leading scholars of warfare, probably won't. "I think it is important to start out by saying that what we're seeing here is not a civil war," Stanford University professor James Fearon told me. "Rather, it's a land grab by President Putin that's boosting his popularity at home."
14:0824.4.2014
French President Francois Hollande and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met today and spoke at a joint news conference in Paris. Some highlights:
Hollande:
"We must condemn everything that is going in the direction of increasing tensions, military pressure, anything that could degenerate into a conflict which would be extremely dangerous for all of Europe."
"We also have a goal which is to allow Ukraine to have a constitution that is able to guarantee the respect of minorities and decentralization, provided that dialogue takes place. "
Tusk:
"The goal is that the European Union as a whole is no longer reliant on a unique source of energy supplies, so we need a real diversification and a fall in energy prices that would stimulate competitiveness of the economy and the implementation of genuine European values of solidarity."
"We are talking about the need of the EU and other countries to open up to different sources of supply, such as liquefied gas or also oil, although we do not have problems with oil at the moment. First of all, we are thinking about the quick start of cooperation and contracts with the United States and eventually later with Australia, which is a promising exporter of liquefied gas on today's markets."
