Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
A court in Russian-occupied Crimea has found RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena guilty on a charge of separatism and handed him a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence in a case criticized in the West as politically motivated.
Romanian president cancels visit over language bill (from RFE/RL's Moldovan Service):
Kyiv 'Disappointed' As Romanian President Cancels Ukraine Visit Over Language Bill
Kyiv has voiced disappointment after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said he would not travel to Ukraine next month in protest over a bill that obliges schools to teach in the Ukrainian language only.
Iohannis said the bill "drastically limits" the access of minorities to education in their native language, adding that the cancellation of his visit is a very strong signal.
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on September 22 confirmed that the visit had been canceled.
"We are disappointed that the Romanian side doesn't want the leaders to have dialogue," she said.
Iohannis told reporters on September 21 that the legislation, if signed into law by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, "will drastically limit the access of minorities to education in their native language."
"We are deeply hurt by this," Iohannis said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. "We have many Romanians in Ukraine."
Iohannis said that he and Poroshenko had planned a visit together in Ukraine's western region of Bukovina, where many ethnic Romanians live. Ukraine's ethnic Romanian minority numbers some 400,000 people.
"The legislation comes at the wrong time and the entire approach, as far as I am concerned, needs to be questioned," Iohannis said.
Iohannis described his decision as "an extremely...tough diplomatic signal."
The Romanian president said he personally told Poroshenko about his decision when he met him on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, adding that Poroshenko was in "a pensive mood" after his discussion with Iohannis.
Romania has withdrawn an invitation for the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Andriy Parubiy, to visit Bucharest, Iohannis said.
Iohannis also said he had withdrawn an invitation for Poroshenko to visit Bucharest.
The bill, approved on September 5 by the Ukrainian parliament, says the Ukrainian language will be the main language used across the country for school classes above the fifth grade.
Hungary, Moldova, and Russia have also denounced the legislation, calling for it to be revised.
Around 8 million Russians, making up some 17 per cent of the population, are the largest minority in Ukraine.
On September 12, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the bill would hurt the interests of Russian-speaking Ukrainians.
There are also an estimated 140,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on September 21 that "withdrawing existing minority rights is not usual in European culture" and that it drives Ukraine further from EU membership, while Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that, by approving the law, Ukraine had "stabbed Hungary in the back."
But Ukrainian officials reject charges that minority languages will be sidelined.
They note that the law guarantees students from national minorities of Ukraine the right to study in municipal institutions using their language along with Ukrainian.
It says classes for students from national minorities should be taught in their languages as well as Ukrainian.
With reporting by Agepress.ro, AP, Interfax, and dpa
Here's more from RFE/RL's news desk on the Semena verdict:
Crimean Journalist Semena Handed Suspended Sentence In 'Separatism' Case
A court in Russia-occupied Crimea on September 22 found RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena guilty on a charge of separatism and handed him a 2 1/2 year suspended sentence in a case criticized by the West as politically motivated.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service said the 66-year-old Semena was also barred from "public activities" -- apparently including journalism -- for three years.
RFE/RL President Thomas Kent condemned the verdict and sentence, describing them as "part of an orchestrated effort by Russian authorities in Crimea to silence independent voices."
Semena's lawyer Aleksandr Popkov said he would appeal the ruling.
The separatism charge stems from an article Semena wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015.
The Kremlin-installed prosecutor in Crimea charged that the article had called for the violation of Russia’s territorial integrity.
Semena has said the accusation was politically motivated and that Russian authorities based their case on an inaccurate translation of his article from Ukrainian into Russian.
The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and international media watchdogs have all expressed concern about the case.
“The case of Semena reminds us all of the arbitrary practice of silencing critical voices in Crimea,” the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said in a statement earlier this year.
Human rights advocates say Russia and the authorities Moscow has installed in Crimea have conducted a persistent campaign of oppression that targets opponents of Crimea's annexation, including many among the region's indigenous Crimean Tatars, independent media outlets, and journalists.
In May 2014, filmmaker and activist Oleh Sentsov was arrested by Russian security services and later sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.
Sentsov is a native of Crimea who opposed Russia's seizure and annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.