Here's an item from RFE/RL's news desk on Savchenko's visit to Moscow:
Savchenko In Moscow For Ukrainians' Appeals Hearing
Ukrainian parliamentary deputy Nadia Savchenko has travelled to Moscow to attend a hearing in the case of two Ukrainian citizens convicted of fighting with Chechen separatists in the 1990s.
Savchenko posted a statement on social media on October 26 saying, "It is important for me to be here, to support them at least with my presence."
Savchenko plans to attend an appeals hearing at the Russian Supreme Court in the cases of Mykola Karpiuk and Stanislav Klykh. Karpiuk has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison, while Klykh has been sentenced to 20.
Ukraine considers both men to be political prisoners and has repeatedly asked for their extradition.
Savchenko, a former military pilot, was captured in eastern Ukraine in June 2014 and illegally taken to Russia, where she was charged with aiding in the killing to two Russian journalists. She was sentenced to 22 years in prison, but was released in a prisoner swap in May 2016.
With reporting by UNIAN
This video from RFE/RL's Current Time TV is not related to the crisis per se, but is bound to of interest to anyone who follows events in Ukraine. (According to the report, the material for the fake alcohol originated in the Luhansk region):
Counterfeit Alcohol Leaves More Than 50 Dead In Ukraine
At least fifty-three people died and more than 30 were hospitalized in string of alcohol poisoning cases across Ukraine since late September. Authorities arrested a man suspected of producing bootleg alcohol in his home, but they have not yet managed to pull all of the dangerous liquor from the market. (RFE/RL's Current Time TV, Olga Kalenichenko, Ilya Nikonov)
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry:
Here's an item on the alleged Surkov leaks from RFE/RL's news desk:
Kyiv Says Leaked Russian Official's Plans To Destabilize Ukraine 'Authentic'
A Ukrainian official has said leaked e-mails outlining plans to destabilize Ukraine that purportedly came from Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov are authentic.
Yuriy Tandit, an adviser to the chief of Ukraine's SBU security service, told the Kyiv-based Channel 5 television station on October 26 that it is investigating the materials allegedly taken from Surkov's e-mail account and many of them "have been confirmed to be original."
Earlier the Ukrainian hacker group Cyberhunta claimed that it hacked Surkov's e-mail and found materials with plans for the "destabilization of the political situation in Ukraine" with the goal of forcing Kyiv "to hold early parliamentary and presidential elections."
The Kremlin on October 26 said the leak is fake because Surkov "does not use e-mail."
The previous day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Surkov is "a talented man" and "many allegations against him by hackers in Russia and elsewhere are mainly false."
Surkov is Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal adviser on the West-leaning former Soviet countries of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia.