Good morning!
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 ongoing Ukraine coverage here.
Here's more from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on today's Bandera march in Kyiv:
Hundreds March In Kyiv Honoring Controversial Nationalist Leader
KYIV -- Hundreds of Ukrainian nationalists marched through downtown Kyiv in a torchlight parade to mark the birthday of the controversial partisan wartime leader Stepan Bandera.
The January 1 march to commemorate the birth of Bandera included an estimated 1,000 participants who hailed him as a hero.
A nationalist who led an insurgent army during World War II, Bandera is seen by many Ukrainians as a freedom fighter.
In Russia, however, he is seen as a traitor to the Soviet Union who collaborated with the Nazis.
Ukrainian police said the march ended peacefully and there were no arrests.
Ukrainian Nationalists Honor Controversial WWII-Era Leader
Thousands joined an annual January 1 march in Kyiv organized by the right-wing Svoboda party marking the birthday of the controversial 20th-century nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, who is hailed by many in Ukraine as a freedom fighter. In neighboring Russia, however, he is seen as a traitor to the Soviet Union who collaborated with the Nazis. (AP)
The tweet in question, from the Russian Foreign Ministry, has been provoking a bit of a reaction on social media:
An item RFE/RL's news desk on Pompeo putting off his trip to Ukraine:
Pompeo Postpones Trip To Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia Amid Iran Tensions
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has postponed his upcoming travels to Ukraine, Belarus, and two Central Asian nations due to rising tensions in Iraq and the Middle East.
The January 1 announcement by the State Department came as U.S. administration officials continued to respond to events in Baghdad, where a mob stormed the U.S. Embassy compound, an attack that appeared to have been led mainly by pro-Iran militias in Iraq.
U.S. defense officials said more troops were being sent to the region in response to the incident, which began December 31 but began to defuse by January 1.
U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump reacted angrily to the attack, accusing Iran of instigating it.
Pompeo's visit to Ukraine, scheduled for January 3, would have been the highest level visit to Kyiv amid the ongoing impeachment proceedings in Washington. After Kyiv, he was also scheduled to visit Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Cyprus.
However, the trip was pushed back "due to the need for the secretary to be in Washington, D.C. to continue monitoring the ongoing situation in Iraq and ensure the safety and security of Americans in the Middle East," department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
"Secretary Pompeo's trip will be rescheduled in the near future and he looks forward to the visit at that time," she said.
No U.S. personnel were injured in the attack on the Baghdad embassy, and U.S. officials said they had no plans to evacuate the facility.
However, all consular services have been suspended indefinitely.