The work of young Odesa artist Oleksandr Mìlova at the Burning Man festival
Reports about a new Russian military base allegedly being built close to the Ukrainian border have to be checked, said Ukrainian Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak, who declined to comment further on the information.
When asked how many Russian military men are currently in Ukraine, Poltorak said about 9,000. The rotation of Russian military happens regularly, he added.
Reuters reported on September 9 that Moscow had started building a major military base in Belgorod Oblast, which abuts the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, just 25 kilometers from the border between two states.
President Petro Poroshenko is to meet President Barack Obama during the UN General Assembly in New York this month. Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin confirmed the meeting to the RFE/RL Ukrainian Service on the sidelines of the Yes Ukraine forum.
“We are currently working on the president’s program, the meeting will definitely take place," he said. "On what day, we don’t know yet,”
The UN General Assembly is to begin on September 15.
Italy's Berlusconi visits Crimea, 'could' meet with Putin:
Former Italian Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi has arrived in the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014, for a "private visit."
Berlusconi arrived on September 11 in the resort city of Yalta, where he plans sightseeing and "several meetings."
On September 9, a Kremlin spokesman said he could "not rule out" that Berlusconi would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the trip.
Berlusconi is also expected to visit Sevastopol, home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
He is then expected to travel to Moscow and to return to Italy on September 13. (Interfax, TASS)
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
