14:24
24.5.2014
Iryna Stelmakh from our Ukraine Service files this story from Kyiv in which she looks at the domestic media's performance in covering the presidential campaign.
Citing a new report that monitored major print and broadcast media for the past three months, Stelmakh writes that "campaign coverage has been 'significantly more objective' than in previous Ukrainian elections, in part because the ongoing violence in the east and the clash over Ukraine between Russia and the West have forced election coverage out of the top news slots."
Alas, she goes on to say that the report noted that media outlets continue to reflect the political preferences of their owners...
For the entire article, click here.
Citing a new report that monitored major print and broadcast media for the past three months, Stelmakh writes that "campaign coverage has been 'significantly more objective' than in previous Ukrainian elections, in part because the ongoing violence in the east and the clash over Ukraine between Russia and the West have forced election coverage out of the top news slots."
Alas, she goes on to say that the report noted that media outlets continue to reflect the political preferences of their owners...
For the entire article, click here.
14:25
24.5.2014
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24.5.2014
14:38
24.5.2014
Earlier our news desk reported how Vladimir Putin warned about the threat "Ukrainian radicals posed to Europe's gas supplies. It seems he has since had more to say on the subject:
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine has no right to demand cuts in the price it pays for natural gas supplies from Russia.
Speaking on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum today, Putin said the gas dispute should be solved through dialogue and not ultimatums.
Putin also told a group of journalists on the sidelines of the conference that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia over its actions in Ukraine were "totally counterproductive" and did not correspond to international law.
He said it was not possible to isolate a country like Russia, and that Western sanctions led to volatility in the global economy.
He said he hoped the Ukraine crisis would not spark a new "Cold War" with the West which he said would not be in anyone's interest.
Speaking on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum today, Putin said the gas dispute should be solved through dialogue and not ultimatums.
Putin also told a group of journalists on the sidelines of the conference that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia over its actions in Ukraine were "totally counterproductive" and did not correspond to international law.
He said it was not possible to isolate a country like Russia, and that Western sanctions led to volatility in the global economy.
He said he hoped the Ukraine crisis would not spark a new "Cold War" with the West which he said would not be in anyone's interest.
14:48
24.5.2014
Here's an interactive map RFE/RL has made of flashpoints in eastern Ukraine ahead of the presidential election (scroll over the red circles for more information):
15:00
24.5.2014
15:01
24.5.2014
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24.5.2014
15:21
24.5.2014
"Ukrayinska Pravda" reports that the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic has opened an embassy in Moscow.
The newspaper's website cites the "Voice of Sevastopol" as quoting a statement issued by the self-declared republic as saying that the decision to open the embassy was made to give "natives and residents of Dontesk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts" priority in obtaining passports for the Donetsk People's Republic when in the Russian Federation.
"Ukrayinska Pravda" also reports that the Donetsk People's Republic had signed a cooperation agreement with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia that allows the Vladimir Zhironovsky-led party to collect humanitarian aid on behalf of the DPR.
The newspaper's website cites the "Voice of Sevastopol" as quoting a statement issued by the self-declared republic as saying that the decision to open the embassy was made to give "natives and residents of Dontesk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts" priority in obtaining passports for the Donetsk People's Republic when in the Russian Federation.
"Ukrayinska Pravda" also reports that the Donetsk People's Republic had signed a cooperation agreement with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia that allows the Vladimir Zhironovsky-led party to collect humanitarian aid on behalf of the DPR.
15:35
24.5.2014
Ottawa goes it alone, opting to send a Canada-only 338-member observer mission to Ukraine to monitor the election. In addition, 162 Canadians will be participating in the OSCE-coordinated multilateral mission.