Accessibility links

Breaking News
Ten-year-old Sasha stands in a bomb shelter in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Ten-year-old Sasha stands in a bomb shelter in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

Follow all of the latest developments as they happen.

Final News Summary For September 29

-- We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog. Find it here.

-- Ukraine is marking 75 years since the World War II massacre of 33,771 Jews on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Kyiv.

-- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stabilize a fragile cease-fire in Ukraine and do all he could to improve what Merkel called a "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in Syria.

-- Russia's Supreme Court has upheld a decision by a Moscow-backed Crimean court to ban the Mejlis, the self-governing body of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Ukrainian territory.

* NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv (GMT/UTC +3)

13:03 16.12.2015

13:49 16.12.2015

13:57 16.12.2015

The water-throwing comes at around 2:35, if you're interested...

Here's what the dispute was all about...

Ukraine minister throws water in governor's face in new row

Kiev, Dec 15, 2015 (AFP) -- Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov threw water at the reformist governor and former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, in the latest high-profile spat illustrating growing tensions within Kiev's pro-Western coalition.

The incident between the Odessa region governor close to President Petro Poroshenko and Avakov -- an ally of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk -- happened late Monday during a government meeting behind closed doors.

Avakov wrote in his Facebook Tuesday that he had thrown a glass of water at Saakashvili -- one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine -- in the course of a heated debate over the privatisation of the Odessa chemical plant, one of the largest in the country.

Saakashvili, who was appointed this year, over recent weeks has accused the Yatsenyuk government of corruption, particularly for rejecting the privatisation of the plant.

His rivals meanwhile accused him of trying to sell it to a Russian tycoon despite the unprecedented crisis in the relations between Kiev and Moscow amid the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"The governor of Odessa lost control over himself, started shouting at me 'You are corrupt!' and began to insult me," Avakov wrote, adding that he refrained from hitting him, instead throwing water in his face.

Saakashvili confirmed that Avakov had tried to throw a glass of water at him.

The governor, who received Ukrainian citizenship before his appointment and recently had his Georgian passport revoked, also accused Avakov and Yatsenyuk of ordering him to "get the hell out" of Ukraine, remarks that were confirmed by other meeting participants.

He called for the video of the incident to be made public as proof of "indecent and provocative behaviour" of the two men.

President Poroshenko was forced to close the meeting and the press conference on its results was cancelled.

The president's spokesman said "such altercations are a disgrace to the country," indicating that the altercation would not be broadcast.

This was the second incident within a week between the president's and prime minister's teams which make up the pro-Western coalition.

On Friday, a fight erupted in Ukraine's parliament after an MP from Poroshenko's faction picked up Yatsenyuk and hoisted him away from the podium while the prime minister was defending his embattled government's record.

Such rows highlight the fragile nature of Ukraine's pro-Western coalition as it struggles with the economic crisis and the deadly conflict with pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country.

14:01 16.12.2015

15:14 16.12.2015

15:54 16.12.2015

Yeah

15:58 16.12.2015

16:16 16.12.2015

Latest from our news desk:

Ukraine has accused Russia of looting two of its oil rigs after the Crimea-based oil and gas firm Chornomornaftogaz moved the Black Sea rigs into Russian territorial waters.

Russia seized Chornomornaftogaz, formerly a state-owned Ukrainian company, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

On December 14, Chornomornaftogaz said it moved the two oil rigs, worth about $357 million, from a location in international waters about 150 kilometers off the coast from Odesa.

It said the move was due to “the complicated international situation and risk of losing vital assets.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on December 16 described the move as “large-scale looting” by Russia.

It expressed “deep indignation in connection with the actions of Russia that violate international law, once again aimed at violating the sovereign rights of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s state-run energy firm Naftogaz, which owned 100 percent of Chornomornaftogaz before it was seized, says it will seek compensation from Russia in international courts for its annexed Crimean oil and gas assets -- worth a total of $15.7 billion.

18:54 16.12.2015

Our digital team's quick take on the Saakashvili-Avakov incident:

19:16 16.12.2015

Here's the Reuters piece on Russia suspending the free-trade zone with Ukraine.

Load more

XS
SM
MD
LG