Recent images from the Kerch Strait show work moving apace to connect Russia with the annexed Crimean Peninsula. (click image for photo gallery)
Putin Officially Opens Massive Bridge Linking Crimea To Russia
Russia Claims Ukrainian Reconnaissance Officer Detained In Crimea
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has detained a senior reconnaissance officer of a Ukrainian military unit who was allegedly planning acts of sabotage in Crimea.
The FSB said on August 15 that Hennadiy Lemeshko was detained on August 12 while attempting to disrupt electricity lines on the Crimean Peninsula.
According to the FSB, the suspect had explosive devices in his possession.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine.
The announcement came days after a Russian court sentenced two Ukrainian nationals in separate cases to lengthy prison terms on terrorism charges.
Rights activists say Russia has jailed several Ukrainians on trumped-up, politically motivated charges since Moscow seized Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014.
In March, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who are in prison or who have had their freedom of movement restricted in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists. (RIA Novosti, Interfax)
Former Ukrainian President's Treason Trial To Resume
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- The in-absentia treason trial of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is scheduled to restart on August 15.
It is expected that Ukraine's former ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy Serheyev, will testify at the hearing.
Yanukovych, who is currently in Russia, announced last month that he would not participate in the trial, claiming that it is politically motivated, and dismissed his lawyers from the case.
The court then decided to hold the trial in absentia and provide Yanukovych with a state-appointed lawyer.
Yanukovych abandoned office in late February 2014 and fled to Russia in the face of protests triggered by his decision to scrap plans for a landmark deal with the European Union and instead improve trade ties with Moscow.
Dozens of people were killed when his government attempted to clamp down on the pro-European protests known as the Euromaidan.
Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for Yanukovych, who is accused of treason, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and abetting Russian aggression.
After he fled, Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and fomented opposition to the central government in eastern Ukraine, where the ensuing war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014.