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A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.
A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.
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Live Blog: Crisis In Ukraine (Archive)

Summary for June 9

-- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says that Moscow and Kyiv have reached a "mutual understanding" on key parts of a plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko for ending violence in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.

-- Reports say up to 20 armed gunmen were trying to seize property from a factory (Topaz) that makes communications and electronic-warfare equipment in the Donetsk region.

-- A deputy foreign minister says Russia will consider any expansion of NATO forces near its borders a "demonstration of hostile intentions" and "take the necessary political and military-technological measures to support our security."

-- A two-man crew for Russian Zvezda TV arrived in Moscow after being released from detention in Ukraine.

-- Serbian officials say their own work on the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline will have to be suspended after Bulgaria stopped construction of its portion based on EU and U.S. concerns.

-- Ukrainian security forces are reportedly still battling pro-Russian separatists in the east near Slovyansk and Donetsk.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
19:55 19.5.2014
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17:33 19.5.2014
David Frum has been writing for "The Atlantic" on the atmosphere in Odesa more than two weeks after the fire in the Trades Union building that killed dozens of people:
It’s now been more than two weeks since the killing, and Odessa’s characteristic political calm has returned. The chief of the police force that so dismally failed on May 2 has been removed and replaced. The city is decorated with signs advertising candidates for the mayoral election scheduled for May 25—the same day as the election for the president who will replace the absconded Yanukovych. Near Odessa’s famous opera house, a young woman handed me a green balloon printed with the name of one of the candidates. Otherwise, I saw no indication of electioneering excitement: no campaign signs on private dwellings, for example. Odessa traffics as much in illicit as licit commerce, and its citizens shrug off politics as a dirty business best left to specialists. One of the two frontrunners for mayor has held the office off and on for nine of the past 20 years.

Odessa’s apathetic political culture generates nasty results. Park land with views of the waterfront is sold off to private villas. The local government somehow retained responsibility for maintaining the roofs of privatized apartment buildings—and the roofs are visibly crumbling on almost every older apartment complex in central Odessa. School principals charge parents fees for building improvements that never materialize. If an Odessan drives a car, he or she had better be prepared to bribe the police at regular intervals.

This was all true before the Maidan movement toppled Yanukovych, and it remains true now. The one Odessan I spoke with who expressed any interest in the mayoral election explained that she was trying to decide which of the candidates would steal less.

Read the entire article here
17:15 19.5.2014
16:09 19.5.2014
RFE/RL's Washington bureau has got some U.S. reaction to Putin's announcement about pulling back troops from the Ukrainian border:
The White House has reacted with caution to Russian President Vladimir Putin's order for troops deployed near Ukraine to return to their home bases today.

"We've seen what President Putin has said, and if Russia conducts a transparent and meaningful withdrawal of forces back to their home bases, we'd welcome it," a senior administration official told reporters. "But to date, we haven't seen evidence of them doing so."

"Although we've heard from Russian leaders in the past that they were removing troops from the border, they haven't done so," said the official, adding that the administration would be "tracking this closely" and would want to see evidence before making a judgment.

Putin made the announcement today, six days before Ukraine holds a presidential election.

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