Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with a couple of items posted by RFE/RL's news desk overnight.
Here's the first one:
Ukraine Begins Confiscating $1.5 Billon Yanukovych Allegedly Stole
Ukraine on April 28 started returning an estimated $1.5 billion in assets allegedly stolen from the Kyiv government by ousted former President Viktor Yanukovych and his associates.
"This money was stolen from the Ukrainian people," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in an address. "It was pulled out of the pocket of every Ukrainian."
The National Security and Defense Council said the state savings bank Oschadbank had begun confiscating the Russia-backed president's holdings in line with an earlier court ruling.
Council chief Oleksandr Turchynov said the $1.5 billion would be returned to the state budget.
Poroshenko's press service put the exact amount at 40 billion hryvnias -- a figure that was worth about $5 billion when Yanukovych was still in power.
The assets belonging to Yanukovych and his cronies had been frozen in Ukraine since their government was forced out in February 2014 by street protests and they fled to exile in Russia.
The exact amount the old guard may have pocketed remains unknown. Ukraine's acting chief prosecutor in April 2014 accused Yanukovych's inner circle of heading a criminal gang that had cost Ukraine up to $100 billion.
Switzerland also froze assets linked to Yanukovych and 19 members of his entourage less than a week after his four-year tenure in office ended and Poroshenko's pro-Western government took over.
In Ukraine, Yanukovych led a lavish lifestyle, building himself an opulent palace outside Kyiv that included a petting zoo and a collection of classic cars worth millions of dollars.
A golden replica of a loaf of bread that Yanukovych displayed to his guests became a symbol of his government's excesses.
Yanukovych's lawyer Vitali Serdyuk denied that his client had anything to do with the $1.5 billion being confiscated, maintaining that the amount of money that remains in Yanukovych's personal bank account is much smaller.
With reporting by AFP and Interfax
And here's the other news item:
Ukraine Charges Russian Arrest Warrant For Yatsenyuk 'Politically Motivated'
Ukraine charged on April 28 that Russia's effort to have international authorities arrest and extradite former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is "politically motivated."
A Russian court issued an international arrest warrant and extradition request for Yatsenyuk in February, claiming he killed Russian soldiers in Chechnya in the 1990s -- an allegation that Yatsenyuk has called "total absurdity."
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who said Interpol sent him a copy of the Russian request, said Yatsenyuk has never been to Chechnya.
"Yatsenyuk's persecution by Russia is politically motivated," Avakov said.
Russia was criticized in a Council of Europe report this week for using the Interpol international policing system for political purposes rather than to pursue criminals.
Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said he believes Interpol will dismiss Russia's request for Yatsenyuk.
Yatsenyuk was a leading figure in the massive protests that drove a Ukrainian president who was friendly to Russia out of office in 2014. He became prime minister and held that office until April 2016.
Based on reporting by AP, Interfax, and TASS
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, April 28, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.