Ukrainian Police Arrest At Least 43 Activists Blockading Trade With East
Ukrainian police have arrested several dozen activists who were blocking trade with eastern areas held by pro-Russia separatists, officials and activists said late on March 13.
The blockade by nationalist Ukrainians and opposition lawmakers began in January and has mainly disrupted rail shipments of coal mined in the east that fuels electricity produced by western Ukraine's power plants.
Activists say the coal sales are funding the separatist's war against the government.
The Ukrainian SBU security service said that it arrested 43 activists during an operation in Toretsk, Shtshebryiovka, and Kudryumovka when they refused to surrender their weapons. Russian news agencies reported that 80 people were detained.
The activists decried the arrests on Facebook and staged a protest rally in central Kyiv attended by about 500 people.
"The police today dispersed the blockade. ... They severely beat and arrested people taking part," their posts said. Weapons and petrol bombs were also reported seized.
TASS reported that supporters of the blockade held violent protests in Vinnitsa, burning automobile tires and demanding the activists' release.
The blockade was unusual in being opposed both by separatists and the pro-Western government, as it disrupted industries on both sides and threatened to cause further power cuts.
Based on reporting by AFP, Interfax, and TASS
Ukraine May Ban Russian Entrant From Eurovision Over Crimea Visit
By RFE/RL
Ukraine, which is hosting this year's Eurovision Song Contest, is considering banning Russia's competitor because she has performed in Russia-annexed Crimea, according to Ukraine's state security service, the SBU.
"The SBU is looking into the issue and will take a considered decision on her entry into Ukrainian territory," SBU spokeswoman Olena Gitlianska said in a post on Facebook on March 13.
She said the decision would be based on Ukrainian law, under which Ukraine reserves the right to ban people who have visited Russia-controlled Crimea without obtaining prior permission from Kyiv. Ukraine last year blacklisted 140 Russian performing artists on those grounds.
Ukraine won the right to stage the 62nd Eurovision event after its contender won the 2016 competition.
On March 12, Russia announced singer Yulia Samoilova, 27, would be its entrant in this year's contest.
Samoilova, who suffers from a rare muscular disorder and is confined to a wheelchair, performed in the Crimean city of Kerch in mid-2015, more than a year after Russia annexed and occupied the Ukrainian peninsula.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told the Liga.net news site that "the security service is checking [Samoilova]."
"I think the law should be the same for everyone. Russia has been carrying out acts of provocation for many years," Klimkin said.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the choice was made independently by state-run broadcaster Channel One.
"We don't see anything provocative here," he said. "Practically everyone has been to Crimea. There is hardly anyone who has not traveled there."
"It's clear that one should wish to avoid any politicization of Eurovision, and we believe it is absolutely unacceptable," he said.
Last year, Russia accused Ukraine of politicizing the competition by choosing as its entrant Jamala, a Crimean Tatar, whose song decried wartime deportations of Tatars under Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the 1940s.
Ukraine expects about 12,000 to 14,000 spectators to attend the competition in May, with millions more watching on television.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Monday, March 13, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.