15:08
25.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that Right Sector is calling for the immediate resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov following the shooting death of one its leading members, Oleksandr Muzychka (Sashko Biliy).
Right Sector head Dmytro Yarosh: "We cannot watch silently the actively counterrevolutionary activities of Ukraine's Interior Ministry. We demand the immediate resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, and are demanding the arrest of the commander of the Falcon organized-crime unit and, accordingly, those guilty of murder."
Interior Ministry officials say Muzychko was mortally wounded after he opened fire on police.
Right Sector head Dmytro Yarosh: "We cannot watch silently the actively counterrevolutionary activities of Ukraine's Interior Ministry. We demand the immediate resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, and are demanding the arrest of the commander of the Falcon organized-crime unit and, accordingly, those guilty of murder."
Interior Ministry officials say Muzychko was mortally wounded after he opened fire on police.
14:22
25.3.2014
Sacked earlier today, former acting Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh, has spoken at the parliament in Kyiv:
"I have never held on to my position and I am not going to hold on to it now. That's why in this situation, if the country's administration has another view on the development of events and has other candidates [for the job], I have no objections. Therefore, I, Admiral Tenyukh, tend my resignation as acting defense minister [of Ukraine]. Glory to Ukraine! And we will win."
His successor, Mykhaylo Koval, also spoke:
"I clearly understand the whole responsibility and trust you are bestowing on me on behalf of the people of Ukraine. I'm a professional soldier, I know what the armed forces are about and love them very much. I love my native Ukraine. I want to thank Admiral Ihor Tenyukh who properly carried out the duties he was supposed to during a very difficult time for Ukraine. I highly respect him. I believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I believe in our motherland Ukraine and its bright future."
"I have never held on to my position and I am not going to hold on to it now. That's why in this situation, if the country's administration has another view on the development of events and has other candidates [for the job], I have no objections. Therefore, I, Admiral Tenyukh, tend my resignation as acting defense minister [of Ukraine]. Glory to Ukraine! And we will win."
His successor, Mykhaylo Koval, also spoke:
"I clearly understand the whole responsibility and trust you are bestowing on me on behalf of the people of Ukraine. I'm a professional soldier, I know what the armed forces are about and love them very much. I love my native Ukraine. I want to thank Admiral Ihor Tenyukh who properly carried out the duties he was supposed to during a very difficult time for Ukraine. I highly respect him. I believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I believe in our motherland Ukraine and its bright future."
13:59
25.3.2014
Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry weighs in on the Ukraine crisis:
The Republic of Uzbekistan... firmly and invariably adheres to the position on "settling the international disputes by peaceful means, refraining in internaitonal relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."
It adds: ... the only reasonable way out is to hold direct bilateral negotiations to seek the mutually acceptable compromise settlement of problems.
The Republic of Uzbekistan... firmly and invariably adheres to the position on "settling the international disputes by peaceful means, refraining in internaitonal relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."
It adds: ... the only reasonable way out is to hold direct bilateral negotiations to seek the mutually acceptable compromise settlement of problems.
13:54
25.3.2014
Ukrainska Pravda and Interfax-Ukraine report that Party of Regions stalwart Serhiy Tihipko will run in the May 25 presidential elections as an independent.
Tihipko, a banking expert who made this year's "Forbes" magazine billionaires' list with an estimated net worth of $1.02 billion, has submitted registration documents to the Central Election Commission.
He joins a growing candidate list that includes: former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, UDAR head Vitali Klitschko, Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh, and former Kharkiv governor Mykhaylo Dobkin.
13:35
25.3.2014
Meanwhile, in The Hague....
#Nazarbayev calls for cooling off period on #Ukraine, end to 'threats' and 'sanctions' #Kazakhstan http://t.co/wLBv1rcDW0
— Joanna Lillis (@joannalillis) March 25, 2014
#Nazarbayev defends Eurasian Economic Union as in #Kazakhstan's 'pragmatic economic interest' http://t.co/VQTFWAcAzc
— Joanna Lillis (@joannalillis) March 25, 2014
13:33
25.3.2014
13:16
25.3.2014
13:13
25.3.2014
Via correspondent @CoalsonR, an obozrevatel.com report says calling for the return of Crimea to Ukraine is punishable by five years in jail under Russian anti-extremism legislation.
12:54
25.3.2014
12:47
25.3.2014
From our profile of the controversial slain Right Sector leader Oleksandr Muzychko by Daisy Sindelar:
It includes video of Muzychko assaulting a prosecutor and threatening a lawmaker with a rifle.
We already posted this video from a week ago of Myzychko being interviewed by our Ukrainian Service:
At a time when many Euromaidan organizers were desperate to keep the protest movement peaceful, Muzychko and other Right Sector members, operating under leader Dmytro Yarosh, were committed to a militarized fight against the regime of now-ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.
"The person who holds the Kalashnikov is the person who calls the shots," Muzychko was quoted as saying.
"The person who holds the Kalashnikov is the person who calls the shots," Muzychko was quoted as saying.
It includes video of Muzychko assaulting a prosecutor and threatening a lawmaker with a rifle.
We already posted this video from a week ago of Myzychko being interviewed by our Ukrainian Service:
