At the moment Ukraine has officially registered 1,449,245 internally displaced people from the Donbas region and annexed Crimea, says Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.
In 10 days the number of internally displaced people grew by over 10,000.
Two men and a woman were arrested on August 24 in Crimea for taking a photo with a Ukrainian flag. Two men were sentenced that same day -- one was given 15 days in jail and the other received a fine of 1000 rubles.
“As they were photographing themselves with a Ukrainian flag the police came and arrested all three for using obscene language," said the mother of one of the men.
The court ruled that the men had violated public order, according to local human rights activists.
“The woman’s hearing is postponed until August 25, as one of the witnesses after being warned about the [penalty] for false testimony, claimed she had not seen anything and was merely told about the incident,” explained an unnamed activist.
Verdict Expected In Case Of Ukrainian Filmmaker Charged With Terrorism
A Russian court is expected to deliver its verdict on August 25 in the high-profile case of an acclaimed Ukrainian film director accused of masterminding terrorist attacks in Crimea.
Oleh Sentsov, who opposed Russia's March 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, was arrested in May of that year on suspicion of planning the fire-bombings of pro-Russian organizations in Crimea.
Last week, prosecutors asked the North Caucasus District Military Court to sentence the acclaimed film director to 23 years in prison for allegedly organizing a terrorist group, planning terrorist attacks, and illegally acquiring explosives.
The 39-year-old director denies all charges against him, saying they are politically motivated, and told the court on August 19 that a "trial by occupiers cannot be fair by definition."
Read more here.
U.S. To Deploy F-22 Fighter Jets To Reassure East European Allies
The United States will deploy F-22 fighter jets to Europe soon to support Eastern European members of the NATO alliance unnerved by Russia's intervention in Ukraine, Air Force Secretary Deborah James said on August 24.
It would be the first deployment of the F-22 to Europe outside air shows.
The Air Force has already been using radar-evading F-22s to carry out some attacks against Islamic State sites, the first real combat air strikes by the jets.
"Russia's military activity in the Ukraine continues to be of great concern to us and to our European allies," James told a news conference at the Pentagon. "For the Air Force, an F-22 deployment is certainly on the strong side of the coin."
Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh James said the F-22's inaugural deployment in Europe would allow U.S. forces to train with NATO partners across Europe, testing the ability of the jets to communicate and fight together with the Eurofighter and other advanced warplanes.