09:57
20.5.2014
A fresh survey by Russian state pollster VTsIOM suggests that 70 percent of Russians believe that the separatist "self-defense" units in eastern Ukraine are the creation of local residents, while 14 percent believe Russian military or intelligence services support such forces.
10:09
20.5.2014
And here's more on support for various presidential candidates ahead of the May 25 voting:
10:18
20.5.2014
Our service and other services say only around 400 people turned out for the "Peace for Donbas" gathering at Akhmetov's 52,000-seat Donbass Arena.
10:39
20.5.2014
The head of the Donetsk city administration, Oleksandr Lukyachenko, has warned that presidential voting is threatened in 127 of 426 precincts. Authorities have been unable to organize sufficiently, and Lukyachenko said election commission members have been targeted for blackmail and intimidation, including "daily threats." Separatists threatened to burn down a school and hang its headmaster if it serves as a polling station, he added.
Lukyachenko said he hoped to negotiate with representatives of the "Donetsk People's Republic" to avoid such threats and violence.
Lukyachenko said he hoped to negotiate with representatives of the "Donetsk People's Republic" to avoid such threats and violence.
10:41
20.5.2014
10:46
20.5.2014
10:54
20.5.2014
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov tells BBC that his country's troops can be gone from temporary bases near the Ukrainian border within "maybe a few days, it will be enough" and "this process...has been started already, immediately after this order of my president."
He added wryly: "What [do] we want? We would like to invade into Poland, Baltic states, but with tourists. But not with our tanks, armored vehicles, and et cetera."
Funny guy.
He added wryly: "What [do] we want? We would like to invade into Poland, Baltic states, but with tourists. But not with our tanks, armored vehicles, and et cetera."
Funny guy.
11:13
20.5.2014
"Ukrayinska Pravda" highlights video on unclear provenance of women in Kramatorsk chasing down a vanful of armed separatists and giving them a haranguing that eventually prompts them to seek cover inside a guarded compound. h/t @MaxRTucker
11:39
20.5.2014
Reuters quotes the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying Ukraine's presidential vote will exacerbate the situation if the OSCE road map is not in place and there is no end to hostilities.
11:43
20.5.2014
AFP quotes senior Ukrainian border-guard officer Serhiy Astakhov as saying:
Just an hour or so ago, Astakhov was suggesting any movements Ukrainians had spotted could simply be "rotations," according to @uacrisis:
Russia has withdrawn all its forces at least 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border with Ukraine, a top Ukrainian border guard official said on Tuesday.
"As far as the presence of (Russian) forces within 10 kilometres of our border, they are not there anymore," Ukrainian news agencies quoted border guard service official Sergiy Astakhov as saying, adding that troops had previously been stationed within a few hundred metres of the ex-Soviet state.
"As far as the presence of (Russian) forces within 10 kilometres of our border, they are not there anymore," Ukrainian news agencies quoted border guard service official Sergiy Astakhov as saying, adding that troops had previously been stationed within a few hundred metres of the ex-Soviet state.
Just an hour or so ago, Astakhov was suggesting any movements Ukrainians had spotted could simply be "rotations," according to @uacrisis: