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A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.
A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of September 3, 2018. You can find it here.

-- Tens of thousands of people gathered on September 2 in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to mourn a top rebel leader who was recently killed in a bomb attack.

-- Prominent Ukrainian historian Mykola Shityuk has been found dead in his home city of Mykolaiv, police said on September 2.​

-- Ukraine says it has imprisoned the man it accused of being recruited by Russia’s secret services to organize a murder plot against self-exiled Russian reporter and Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko.

-- Ukraine and Russia are trading blame for the killing of a top separatist leader in eastern Ukraine.

-- Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the head of the head of the breakaway separatist entity known as the Donetsk People’s Republic, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in Donetsk on August 31.

-- The United States is ready to widen arms supplies to Ukraine to help build up the country's naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told The Guardian.

-- The spiritual head of the worldwide Orthodox Church in Istanbul has hosted Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for talks on Ukraine's bid to split from the Russian church, a move strongly opposed by Moscow.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Ukraine

11:53 24.7.2018

12:01 24.7.2018

12:03 24.7.2018

12:08 24.7.2018

12:10 24.7.2018

12:11 24.7.2018

12:13 24.7.2018

Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

13:49 24.7.2018

A sad story that's bound to be of interest to Ukraine-watchers:

Femen: Activist And 'Heroine' Shachko Found Dead In Paris, Suicide Suspected

Oksana Shachko in Kyiv in 2012. (file photo)
Oksana Shachko in Kyiv in 2012. (file photo)

A founding member of the prominent protest group Femen, Oksana Shachko, has died in Paris in an apparent suicide, fellow members say, mourning the loss of a woman they called "a heroine of our time."

Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on July 24 that Shachko was dead, following reports that her body was found in her Paris apartment the previous day.

"As far as I know, she was concerned that everything is going badly in the world," Hutsol said of Shachko. She added that "unfortunately," she and Shachko had not been in touch much lately.

"RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us," a post on the Femen website said. "We mourn together with her relatives and friends and [await] the official version from the police."

"At the moment it is known that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris. According to her friends, she left a suicide note," the post said.

Femen's Oksana Shachko: A Life In Protest

Shachko (right) staging a protest in Kyiv in 2012. A July 24 post on Femen's website said "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us."
1/14 Shachko (right) staging a protest in Kyiv in 2012. A July 24 post on Femen's website said "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us."
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko (right) and Femen co-founder Inna Shevchenko speak to journalists at a hospital in a small town near Minsk in 2011. The activists told reporters they were seized by police in Belarus, forced to strip, threatened with violence, and then abandoned naked in the woods.
2/14 Shachko (right) and Femen co-founder Inna Shevchenko speak to journalists at a hospital in a small town near Minsk in 2011. The activists told reporters they were seized by police in Belarus, forced to strip, threatened with violence, and then abandoned naked in the woods.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko gestures to a photographer during a court session in Kyiv in 2013. 
3/14 Shachko gestures to a photographer during a court session in Kyiv in 2013. 
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko (left) during the 2013 court hearing. The Femen activists were reportedly kidnapped and beaten while on their way to protest a visit to Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a frequent target.
4/14 Shachko (left) during the 2013 court hearing. The Femen activists were reportedly kidnapped and beaten while on their way to protest a visit to Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a frequent target.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko (left) and another Femen activist protest against sexism within Islam in Paris in 2012. 
5/14 Shachko (left) and another Femen activist protest against sexism within Islam in Paris in 2012. 
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko in front of Swedish football fans as she protests against prostitution during the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship in Kyiv. 
6/14 Shachko in front of Swedish football fans as she protests against prostitution during the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship in Kyiv. 
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Security guards grapple with Shachko during the Euro 2012 protest. 
7/14 Security guards grapple with Shachko during the Euro 2012 protest. 
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko shows the injuries she suffered during the 2012 protest.
8/14 Shachko shows the injuries she suffered during the 2012 protest.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Police drag Shachko away from the polling station in Milan where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cast his vote in 2013.
9/14 Police drag Shachko away from the polling station in Milan where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cast his vote in 2013.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko (second from left) and fellow activists plan a protest action in Moscow in 2012.
10/14 Shachko (second from left) and fellow activists plan a protest action in Moscow in 2012.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko (center) rehearses with other Femen activists before a protest in Moscow in 2012. 
11/14 Shachko (center) rehearses with other Femen activists before a protest in Moscow in 2012. 
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Policemen detain Shachko on the roof of a police wagon to transport detainees during a protest rally outside a court in Kyiv in 2011. Femen staged a protest against what they said was the targeting of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
12/14 Policemen detain Shachko on the roof of a police wagon to transport detainees during a protest rally outside a court in Kyiv in 2011. Femen staged a protest against what they said was the targeting of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Shachko paints a wall of her room in Kyiv in 2012. According to Reuters, Shachko studied iconography in the city of Khmelnitsky in western Ukraine.
13/14 Shachko paints a wall of her room in Kyiv in 2012. According to Reuters, Shachko studied iconography in the city of Khmelnitsky in western Ukraine.
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
Swiss policemen detain Shachko during a protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2012. Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL amid the reports of her suicide, "As far as I know, she was concerned that everything was going badly in the world."
14/14 Swiss policemen detain Shachko during a protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2012. Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL amid the reports of her suicide, "As far as I know, she was concerned that everything was going badly in the world."
Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization.
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There was no immediate public comment from French authorities.

Founded in Ukraine a decade ago, Femen is known mainly for protests in which activists often bare their breasts -- sometimes exposing slogans written on their skin -- and disrupt political events or gatherings.

Femen activists have rushed politicians such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Czech President Milos Zeman, and public figures like American comic Bill Cosby.

Topless Activist Confronts Czech President In Polling Station
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Often directed at leaders they describe as dictators or oppressors, their protests have also taken other forms and targeted issues such as the environment.

A native of Ukraine who had lived in Paris in recent years, Shachko, 31, was one of a group of Femen activists who rushed Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hannover, Germany, in 2013.

Shachko was "a heroine of our time," a separate post on the Femen website said. "Oksana fought against injustice, fought for equality, fought like a hero for herself and for other women."

"Oksana is no longer with us, but she is here, she is everywhere," it said. "Oksana... is in each of us, she is in FEMEN, and she is in the history of feminism."

A post on the Telegram channel Paris Burns late on July 23 said that Shachko committed suicide and that the police had just removed her body from the apartment.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the information in the Telegram post, which did not provide details or evidence.

Another founding member of Femen, Oleksandra Shevchenko, told the BBC that Shachko had last been seen alive on July 20 and that it was not clear what day she died.

"The autopsy will determine that," she said.

Femen now has branches on at least four continents.

With reporting by the BBC
14:26 24.7.2018

14:29 24.7.2018

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