Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with a few of the things that caught our eye overnight.
Russia is being blamed by many for the leaking of U.S. Democratic Party emails. Perhaps not surprisingly, there could also be a Ukraine angle to the story:
A tweet from the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Minstry of Foreign Affairs:
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
RFE/Rl’s Christopher Miller has been writing about two religious processions converging on Kyiv -- one from the east, another from the west -- which have been roiling Ukraine.
Jitters In Ukraine As Politically Charged Religious Processions Approach Kyiv
The All-Ukrainian Procession of the Cross for Peace, Love and Prayer for Ukraine comprises thousands of believers from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
KYIV -- Two religious processions converging on Kyiv have Ukrainian authorities warning that provocations could spark violence in the capital.
The All-Ukrainian Procession of the Cross for Peace, Love and Prayer for Ukraine includes thousands of believers from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate -- an affiliate of the Russian Orthodox Church and a rival of a major Kyiv-based church.
Marching in two groups -- one from the west of the country and another from the east -- they plan to converge on Kyiv's Volodymyrska Hill and then at the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery on July 27, the eve of the celebration of the 10th-century Baptism of Kievan Rus.
Moscow Patriarchate leaders say they will pray for peace and prosperity in Ukraine. The church's Bishop Clement told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that there will be no provocations, at least from their side.
Ukrainian authorities say they suspect the marches are merely a front for a Moscow-orchestrated plot to stir unrest and prove what Russia has claimed since Euromaidan protests drove a Moscow-aligned president from power in 2014: that the rights of Russians, Russian speakers, and members of the Moscow-based church's flock are at risk here.
Ukrainian parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy dismisses those Russian claims and accuses Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, of planning to use the marches to destabilize Ukraine by fomenting unrest in the streets of Kyiv and creating "an artificial political crisis."
Read the entire article here