Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Cola Wars: Coke Stirs Outrage With Map Showing Crimea As Russian
Coca-Cola Russia, the affiliate for the global beverage giant whose iconic advertising campaign once tried to make drinking soda synonymous with global harmony, has found a new way to do just the opposite after wading into the geopolitical standoff over Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.
On December 30, Coca-Cola Russia posted a holiday greetings message to the Russian social media site VKontakte along with a map of the country dotted with Christmas trees.
The map, however, sparked an angry response from Russian users who complained it excluded several regions, including Crimea. The seizure and annexation of the Black Sea peninsula by the Kremlin in March 2014 was been rejected by most UN members and triggered Western sanctions against Moscow.
On January 5, the company issued an apology on its official VKontakte page, along with a new map that included Crimea as well as two territories missing in the earlier map: Russia’s western Kaliningrad exclave and the Kuril Islands, the Pacific Island chain whose ownership is partially contested by Japan.
Read more of the story by RFE/RL's Mike Eckel here.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Tuesday, January 5. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our ongoing coverage. Thanks for reading.