Ukraine's defense minister on Russian threats to take control of the Sea of Azov:
That concludes coverage of our Ukraine Live Blog for today. Please join us again tomorrow for more news and reports.
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling today with the news that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country after dozens died following a crackdown on the Euromaidan protests, has reportedly been rushed to hospital after hurting himself playing tennis (via RFE/RL's news desk):
Ukrainian Ex-President Yanukovych Reported Injured, Treated At Moscow Hospital
A lawyer for Ukraine's former president, Viktor Yanukovych, says that Yanukovych has received emergency treatment at a Moscow hospital for suspected injuries to his spine and one of his knees.
Ukrainian attorney Oleksandr Goroshinsky said on November 18 that he had been informed by Yanukovych's assistants that the exiled pro-Russia former president had been hospitalized on November 16.
"I arrived at the hospital and we talked," said Goroshinsky, who added that Yanukovych suffered suspected spinal and knee injuries.
"I cannot reveal the exact diagnosis, but I saw with my own eyes that the man cannot move," Goroshinsky said.
Earlier on November 18, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported that Yanukovych was treated at the intensive care unit of Moscow’s Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine on November 16 and had since been transferred to a private clinic.
That report did not specify the name of the private clinic where Yanukovych was transferred or include information about his current location.
Sources told Komsomolskaya Pravda that Yanukovych’s injuries were thought to have been sustained during a tennis game.
Yanukovych abandoned the Ukrainian president's office in late February 2014 and fled to Russia in the face of protests triggered by his decision to scrap a landmark deal with the European Union and, instead, improve trade ties with Moscow.
Dozens of people were killed when Yanukovych's government attempted to clamp down on the pro-European Union protests known as the Euromaidan.
Yanukovych's ouster was soon followed by Russia’s seizure and forcible annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and by Moscow's support for pro-Russia separatists fighting against Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.
Goroshinsky is one of two lawyers representing the exiled Yanukovych at his trial in absentia in Kyiv.
Prosecutors in Kyiv are seeking life imprisonment for Yanukovych on charges of high treason, taking deliberate actions that violated Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and complicity with Russian authorities.
The Ukrainian judge in the trial, Vladyslav Devyatko, has scheduled November 19 for Yanukovych to make his final statement in the case.
It was not immediately clear whether Yanukovych's reported injuries would prevent him from making his statement to Kyiv's Obolon district court via a video link from Russia.
With reporting by UNIAN, TASS, Interfax, and Komsomolskaya Pravda
An interesting report on how some EU produce seems to end up in Russia despite sanctions: