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A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.
A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of September 3, 2018. You can find it here.

-- Tens of thousands of people gathered on September 2 in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to mourn a top rebel leader who was recently killed in a bomb attack.

-- Prominent Ukrainian historian Mykola Shityuk has been found dead in his home city of Mykolaiv, police said on September 2.​

-- Ukraine says it has imprisoned the man it accused of being recruited by Russia’s secret services to organize a murder plot against self-exiled Russian reporter and Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko.

-- Ukraine and Russia are trading blame for the killing of a top separatist leader in eastern Ukraine.

-- Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the head of the head of the breakaway separatist entity known as the Donetsk People’s Republic, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in Donetsk on August 31.

-- The United States is ready to widen arms supplies to Ukraine to help build up the country's naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told The Guardian.

-- The spiritual head of the worldwide Orthodox Church in Istanbul has hosted Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for talks on Ukraine's bid to split from the Russian church, a move strongly opposed by Moscow.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Ukraine

14:57 31.8.2018

13:11 31.8.2018

13:06 31.8.2018

13:00 31.8.2018

And, just in case you're not sure what a Tomos is, according to OrthodoxWiki, it's "a small book that contains a major announcement or similar text promulgated by a holy synod, such as a grant of autocephaly."

12:58 31.8.2018

12:57 31.8.2018

12:21 31.8.2018

An interesting item from the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:

Industrial Acid Leak Blamed For Ravaging Northern Crimea

Foliage and crops in and around Perkrop and Armyansk reportedly died within a few days.
Foliage and crops in and around Perkrop and Armyansk reportedly died within a few days.

Russia-imposed officials in Ukraine's occupied Crimea region say a leak from a chemical factory in the northern part of the peninsula is the cause of an oily film that has coated nearby villages and decimated crops in the area.

Igor Mikhailichenko, the Russia-installed vice premier of Crimea, said on August 30 that "prolonged" high temperatures and dry conditions have exacerbated the problem of leaking substances from an acid storage facility at the Crimea Titan plant, which produces titanium dioxide and other chemicals for use in paints and plastic goods.

"According to preliminary research, the cause is the evaporation of the contents of the acid storage facility used by the [plant]," Mikhailichenko said.

Mikhailichenko said the Russian authorities that control Crimea are looking into whether company management bears any responsibility due to "non-compliance with environmental requirements when handling industrial waste."

The permanent representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Borys Babin, blamed the environmental problems on the illegal activities of enterprises in the northern part of the occupied peninsula. Babin said the situation in some villages was reaching a critical point.

A Perekrop villager shows a reporter the oily substance that has been coating surfaces in the area in recent days.
A Perekrop villager shows a reporter the oily substance that has been coating surfaces in the area in recent days.

Residents in the villages of Perekop and Armyansk said they first noticed the oily film around August 24.

Some people complained of irritated throats and eyes, while others watched foliage and crops die in a matter of days, sparking health fears as officials searched for the cause.

Sergei Aksenov, the Russia-imposed head of Crimea, admitted on August 28 that the situation was "beyond the norm," but said a preliminary investigation determined there was no threat to the health of residents.

Russia seized and illegally annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine in 2014. The move has led to the imposition of economic sanctions against Russia by the West, which considers the peninsula to be Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine.

11:45 31.8.2018

Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

11:42 31.8.2018

11:42 31.8.2018

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