Live Blog: Crisis In Ukraine (Archive)

Following the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' warning of "alarming deterioration" of the rights situation in eastern and southern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told journalists in Kyiv today that "the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has been informed of 112 cases of unlawful detention, of which we are still concerned for the whereabouts and condition of 49 people that seem to still be detained. Such abuses clearly indicate the breakdown in law and order in this part of the country."

"The Human Rights monitoring mission has received information that about 250 people have been killed, including local residents, national security forces and armed groups. Any further arming of protesters and their transformation into paramilitary groups must immediately stop."

Via Reuters

There are reports quoting the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry as asking Moscow to suspend or otherwise avoid military exercises on May 25, when the country plans to hold its presidential election.

Ukrainian authorities will hold a new round of roundtable talks aimed at de-escalating the crisis in the east on May 17 in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to the deputy speaker of Ukraine's parliament, Ruslan Koshulynskyi, according to UNIAN and Russian agencies.

Government officials, former leaders, and lawmakers participated in the first such talks -- in Kyiv on May 14, when there were no representatives present of the pro-Russian separatists. The government says the separatists must first lay down their arms before they can hold negotiations, while the separatists say they won't take part until the government withdraws its troops from eastern Ukraine.

The talks are part of an OSCE road map to de-escalate tensions ahead of Ukraine's May 25 presidential election.

From our newsroom:


NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on May 16 that no one can trust Russia's security guarantees anymore.

Rasmussen, speaking in Bucharest at a news conference with Romanian President Traian Basescu, said Russia in 1994 guranteed Ukraine's sovereignty when Kyiv renounced its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.

Rasmussen added, "we can't trust such guarantees" after Russia's annexation of Crimea, which he called "a forceful landgrab."

On May 15, Russia said it would guarantee the security of Moldova, which borders both Romania and Ukraine, provided the ex-Soviet country remained neutral.

Rasmussen was in Bucharest to mark the 10th anniversary of Romania's becoming a NATO member.

He reaffirmed that Romania "does not stand alone" in the current crisis and said Bucharest was playing an "exceptional role" in Afghanistan.

Basescu said the Black Sea has become the "soft underbelly" of the alliance and that the presence of Russian troops in the region has upset the security balance.


Based on reporting by hotnews.ro and RFE/RL

The "Kyiv Post" offers a quality English-language translation of the poem slamming the notion of Russian-Ukrainian "brotherhood" that made 23-year-old Ukrainian-born Anastasiya Dmytruk a YouTube sensation after Russia's annexation of Crimea (the poem was written soon after the occupation began).

Here's the original video, which has now been viewed nearly 1.7 million times:

Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, has accused ODIHR and the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities of "distorting the reality of the situation in Ukraine"...

..."ignoring evidence of de facto violations by Kyiv authorities"...
...including free expression to downplay extremism...
...and ignoring alleged "reprisals" by "Maidaners" against southeastern Ukrainians:

Ukrainian service members from Crimea willing to serve in the Russian armed forces are being sent to the Caucasus, particularly Daghestan, claims Hromadske TV report. (via @EuromaidanPR)