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An activist stops a lorry near the village of Chongar, in the Kherson region adjacent to Crimea.
An activist stops a lorry near the village of Chongar, in the Kherson region adjacent to Crimea.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (ARCHIVE)

Follow all of the latest developments as they happen.

Final Summary For September 21

-- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called on Russia to withdraw heavy weapons from eastern Ukraine.

-- No trucks have passed through the administrative border from mainland Ukraine to Crimea overnight, according to Oleh Slobodyan, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Service.

-- Hundreds of pro-Kyiv activists from Crimea's Tatar community and other opposition activists are taking part in the blockade of roads from Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula to protest Russia's annexation of the region last year.

-- The German government has criticized Russia for not distancing itself from plans by Russian-backed separatists to hold local elections in eastern Ukraine without consulting Kyiv.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv

16:19 20.8.2015

16:06 20.8.2015

It seems German AOR legends Scorpions have declined to play in Crimea. I guess even they would have balked at playing Winds of Change there, given the current political climate:

15:49 20.8.2015

15:44 20.8.2015

15:00 20.8.2015

RFE/RL's news desk has some more details on the Russian customs authorities' push to impose tougher punishments for breaking food sanctions:

Russian customs officials have drafted a bill that calls for prison sentences for those who violate the country's retaliatory sanctions on Western food imports.

The draft bill, published on August 20 by the Federal Customs Service, calls for banned foreign foods to be listed as "strategically imported" -- a label currently reserved for radioactive nuclear materials and poisons.

The legislation would stiffen penalties against those found guilty of smuggling banned food from the European Union, the United States, and other blacklisted countries.

It would allow authorities to file criminal charges, with prison terms of up to seven years, against individuals and companies found guilty of smuggling.

For organized groups smuggling large amounts of banned foods, the punishment would be up to 12 years in prison.

The Kremlin's food bans were imposed in 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions that were imposed against Russia over Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

(AP, TASS, Interfax)

14:50 20.8.2015

It seems the Russian customs authorities almost literally want to "go nuclear" on food sanctions:

14:40 20.8.2015

14:33 20.8.2015

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has cancelled the diplomatic passports of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and 88 other former officials.

According to the ministry’s statement, these persons were no longer eligible to use their diplomatic passports and failed to return the documents back to the ministry as required by law.

Azarov fled to Russia following the Euromaidan protests that toppled the government in February 2014. The Ukrainian prosecutor's office is preparing a package of documents to ask for Azarov’s extradition. In Ukraine he is accused of abuse of power while in office.

14:28 20.8.2015

14:04 20.8.2015

Heorhiy Tuka, the head of Luhansk Oblast military-civilian administration, published a list of facilities in the region that will be restored on the $1.8 million given to the local government by Japan.

According to Tuka, the money will be spent on restoration and modernization of hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, bridges and other facilities in those Luhansk towns and villages that are currently under control of the Ukrainian government.

“In the name of all residents of the Oblast, I sincerely thank the government of Japan for their assistance,” Tuka wrote on Facebook.

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