A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.
-- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says that Moscow and Kyiv have reached a "mutual understanding" on key parts of a plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko for ending violence in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
-- Reports say up to 20 armed gunmen were trying to seize property from a factory (Topaz) that makes communications and electronic-warfare equipment in the Donetsk region.
-- A deputy foreign minister says Russia will consider any expansion of NATO forces near its borders a "demonstration of hostile intentions" and "take the necessary political and military-technological measures to support our security."
-- A two-man crew for Russian Zvezda TV arrived in Moscow after being released from detention in Ukraine.
-- Serbian officials say their own work on the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline will have to be suspended after Bulgaria stopped construction of its portion based on EU and U.S. concerns.
-- Ukrainian security forces are reportedly still battling pro-Russian separatists in the east near Slovyansk and Donetsk.
*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
Some 140-character reviews of President Petro Poroshenko's inaugural address coming in:
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Here's Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka at Poroshenko's inauguration today. Apparently, he didn't bring little Kolya:
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Speaking at the Wroclaw Global Forum (#WGF14), Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said a democratic Ukraine would be a threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia. Sikorski said that Russia projects "an illusion of strength" on the basis of an economy less than three times the size of Poland's. He accused the Kremlin of promoting "tribal nationalism."
08:217.6.2014
For those who cannot get enough, here is the complete video of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's inauguration and speech:
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Russsia's state RT network is promoting an "exclusive interview" with French nationalist leader Marine Le Pen, head of France's National Front. In the interview, which will be aired on June 9, Le Pen accuses the European Union of "blackmailing" Ukraine into breaking its "allied relations with Russia." In the Russian-language promo for the interview, Le Pen is quoted as saying Ukraine will not enter the EU because its economy is too weak. She said the EU's encouragement to Ukraine is a "lie" and "a promise that we know we cannot keep."
Marine Le Pen (file photo)
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Poroshenko now out and about on the streets:
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It wouldn't be an inauguration without some soldiers:
