More Eurovision...
Meanwhile in Russia...
In other news, Eurovision kicks off today in Kyiv. It's the first semifinal. BBC has a primer on who to watch our for.
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can catch up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
Before we go tonight, we'll point you in the direction of this intriguing feature written by Aleksandr Litoi for RFE/RL's Russian Service:
Head Of Donbas 'People's Army' A Wanted Man In Russia
Georgy Makaryev doesn't act like a wanted man.
He leads a high-profile life among the Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's Luhansk region as the head of a "patriotic" youth organization called NADO, or the People's Army of Donbas.
He regularly organizes athletic and cultural events and frequently appears at gatherings organized by the separatist leadership -- often at the side of Ihor Plotnitskiy, the head of the Russia-backed separatist group that calls itself the Luhansk People's Republic. His NADO has opened three free athletic centers in the separatist-controlled area, where youths can study boxing and martial arts while getting steady doses of "patriotic education."
But the 39-year-old former police investigator from the Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria is wanted in Russia for organizing and participating in a brutal May 2016 fight between hundreds of young toughs and a group of mostly Tajik migrant workers at Moscow's Khovanskoye Cemetery. That incident left three of the Tajik migrants dead and about 30 people injured.
The case against the first 16 Khovanskoye defendants is expected to go to trial soon, but Makaryev will be tried in absentia. The photograph of him on the wanted list of Russia's Center Against Extremism shows him wearing the black uniform and insignia of NADO.
Apparently, the separatist authorities in Luhansk -- who are entirely dependent on Moscow for military, political, and economic support -- feel no pressure to hand over the fugitive in their midst. Novaya Gazeta reported last month that Russian investigators had traveled to Luhansk to seek Makaryev's extradition but "were unable" to secure it.
Read the entire article here.
A lot of Ukraine-watchers will no doubt be interested in this:
The Odesa Blogger's thoughts on Victory Day: