Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for tonight.
Ukrainian youth talking about their "European future." Via the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
Al Jazeera's Rory Challands reports from Maikop, in southern Russia, about the growing number of Russian deserters.
Then there's this:
The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine has published a list of 38 Russian books that are now banned for import into the country.
Among them is a novel by Russian National Bolshevik Party founder Eduard Limonov, Kyiv Kaput, and nationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin’s works, including Ukraine, My War: Geopolitical Diary, and Russia’s Eurasian Revenge.
Other banned titles include The End of Project Ukraine, Superman Speaks Russian, and The Genocide Of The Russian People.
The Fiscal Service claims that the measure will prevent the usage of “informational warfare and disinformation” against Ukrainian citizens and the spread of fascist, xenophobic, and separatist ideologies on the territory of the country.
According to Bohdan Chervak, first deputy chairman of the state Radio-TV Committee, the measure is constitutional, as the law “On publishing” prohibits the distribution of imported books that call for the liquidation of Ukraine’s independence or violation of the country’s sovereignty.
Reporters Without Borders, however, has criticized the order, saying that any ban on books, movies, or media outlets is a clear violation of freedom of speech. Johann Beer, the head of the organization's Eastern Europe and Central Asia branch, said that only a court can decide to implement a prohibition like that.
“Such actions are shameful for a country that wants to become a part of the European culture,” he said.
-- Anna Shamanska, Current Time
Interesting MH17 development:
Dutch prosecutors say they have found possible parts of a Russian-made BUK missile system at the site in eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was brought down in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
A statement from the Netherlands’ national prosecutor’s office, which is involved in a joint international investigation into the MH17 tragedy, said the parts “are of particular interest to the criminal investigation as they can possibly provide more information about who was involved in the crash.”
The possible physical evidence of a missile was in the possession of the Dutch Safety Board.
Flight MH17 crashed over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard.
Leaked details of the Dutch-led probe suggest the plane was shot down by a Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile fired from separatist-controlled territory.
The Kremlin blames Ukrainian government forces for downing the plane.
But Russia last month vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have created an international tribunal tasked with putting on trial those identified as the culprits.
The final conclusions of the investigators are expected to be released in October.
The British government will intensify its military program in Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced after meeting with British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon on August 11.
“Fallon assured [me] that the United Kingdom was and is Ukraine’s friend. ... We have to work together to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk wrote on Facebook.
This measure will raise the number of Ukrainian troops trained by the British military from 1,000 to 2,000 by the end of the year.
Besides the U.K., several other countries -- including the United States, Canada, Poland, and Lithuania -- are also offering military training to the Ukrainian Army and volunteer battalions.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-backed head of the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, has joined Instagram.
Like many Instagram users, Aksyonov seems to be an animal lover. Just don't expect photos of puppies or kittens, though.
The three photos and video published so far on Aksyonov's Instagram account are of a brown bear nicknamed Grozny. According to the captions, the bear was a gift from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Aksyonov calls his “friend and brother.”
Aksyonov says that Grozny the bear is “sociable but wayward.” The bear now lives at a Simferopol circus.
In his Instagram post, Aksyonov thanks Kadyrov once again, noting that their relationship was established “at a difficult time,” but will only “develop and strengthen.”
Aksyonov’s account has 53 followers, as of this writing.