Russia has changed its rules for granting citizenship to Ukrainians:
TASS is reporting that Ukrainian citizen Oleksiy Sizonovich has been sentenced by a Russian court in Roston-on-Don to 12 years in prison for illegally crossing the border into Russia and plotting a terrorist attack.
A report about alleged punishment by a Russian officer in separatist-controlled parts of Ukraine's Luhansk region that resulted in the death of a militant:
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 keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
From RFE/RL's news desk:
Putin Says U.S. Must Shed 755 From Diplomatic Staff In Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia must be slashed by 755 personnel, a statement that comes after Moscow directed Washington to reduce the size of its diplomatic contingent in the country amid an escalating row over sanctions.
Speaking in an interview with Russian state television broadcast on July 30, Putin said that more than a thousand U.S. diplomats and "support staff" are currently working in Russia, and that "755 must stop their activities."
Moscow ordered the reduction in U.S. diplomatic staff after U.S. lawmakers passed a bill that would impose additional sanctions on Russia and sent it to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The Russian response escalates tensions in the relationship between Washington and Moscow, which has been badly damaged by Russia's aggression in Ukraine, its role in the war in Syria, and its alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election in 2016.
Russia, meanwhile, has stepped up its accusations that Washington is trying to unjustly and "illegally" isolate it with sanctions and other measures.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the U.S. sanctions legislation confirmed what it called the "extreme aggression" of the United States in international affairs.
Putin's announcement came two days after the White House said Trump would sign the bill, which would require him to seek congressional approval in order to ease sanctions against Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously said that Washington must reduce its diplomatic staff to 455 people by September 1.
The ministry said that is the number of Russian diplomats in the United States after Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, expelled 35 Russian diplomats in December -- a response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and ill-treatment of U.S. diplomats in Russia.
The ministry also said that, as of August 1, the United States would be barred from using warehouses that it has used in Moscow and from a modest property in the capital's leafy Serebryanny Bor district that is used by U.S. Embassy mainly for events such as parties and barbecues.
That move appeared to be a direct response to the Obama administration's decision to seize two Russian diplomatic compounds, one in Maryland and one in New York State, when it expelled the 35 diplomats in December.
Putin surprised many people in both countries by declining to retaliate immediately over the expelled diplomats and seized properties. The restraint was widely seen as a gesture to Trump, who was due to take office within weeks and had repeatedly said that he wanted to improve ties with Moscow.
Putin said in the July 30 interview that the reduced U.S. diplomatic presence would be "quite painful" and added that he did not expect ties with Washington to improve "any time soon."
"We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better," he told the prominent Russian television host Vladimir Solovyov.
"But it seems that, even if the situation is changing, it's not for any time soon," Putin said.