11:39
7.6.2014
This is an interesting snippet from the wires on claims by Moscow that it is trying to help the Kyiv authorities clamp down on illegal crossings on Ukraine's eastern border (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Russia's presidential press service says that President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Federal Security Service's (FSB) Border Service to take all possible measures to tighten the Russian-Ukrainian border's security and rule out its illegal crossing.
No other details are immediately available.
The directive comes just hours after the swearing-in in Kyiv of new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
It also comes a day after Putin held talks with global leaders in France, where U.S. President Barack Obama called on him to cease support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and stop the provision of arms and material across the border.
Kyiv said on June 5 that three of its border posts had been seized by separatists.
No other details are immediately available.
The directive comes just hours after the swearing-in in Kyiv of new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
It also comes a day after Putin held talks with global leaders in France, where U.S. President Barack Obama called on him to cease support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and stop the provision of arms and material across the border.
Kyiv said on June 5 that three of its border posts had been seized by separatists.
11:24
7.6.2014
After Poroshenko was elected president, RFE/RL produced this quick list of his top priorities. Still seems relevant.
10:43
7.6.2014
Journalists investigating corruption during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency took time out from going through the documents he left at his palatial Mezhyhirya residence to watch the Poroshenko inauguration:
If anyone forgot, here's a slideshow of some of the kitsch Yanukovych couldn't fit on the helicopter.
If anyone forgot, here's a slideshow of some of the kitsch Yanukovych couldn't fit on the helicopter.
10:35
7.6.2014
Our multimedia department has issued this video of President Petro Poroshenko's inauguration today (original sound):
10:33
7.6.2014
Breaking news! It turns out Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka DID bring his little son (and heir?), Kolya, to the Poroshenko inauguration today:
10:11
7.6.2014
RFE/RL's Ukraine Service is out on the streets in Kyiv asking how people view President Petro Poroshenko and their country's future (in Ukrainian and Russian):
09:42
7.6.2014
The Wroclaw Global Forum is streaming live here. High-level, intense discussion of Europe, Russia, and the crisis in Ukraine:
09:36
7.6.2014
In his first comments following the inauguration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov said Poroshenko's vision for regulating the conflict in eastern Ukraine inspires hope.
"For us, the principal thing is to stop the military operation, of course, under the condition that the militia fighters must also end mlitary activities for the creation of humanitarian corridors, for the normalization of the humanitarian situation, first of all, regarding civilians, " Zurabov was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying.
"As for the plan [laid out in Poroshenko's address], it is, of course, a declaration of intentions. As declaration of intentions, it in general seems encouraging."
"For us, the principal thing is to stop the military operation, of course, under the condition that the militia fighters must also end mlitary activities for the creation of humanitarian corridors, for the normalization of the humanitarian situation, first of all, regarding civilians, " Zurabov was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying.
"As for the plan [laid out in Poroshenko's address], it is, of course, a declaration of intentions. As declaration of intentions, it in general seems encouraging."
09:25
7.6.2014
Ukraine's Interior Ministry has accused a group of Russian state journalists of attempting to conduct an espionage mission in the western Ukrainian Zakarpattia region in May using identification from a Finnish media outlet. The statement said the journalists were detained and deported to Russia. The statement does not say how many journalists were involved, merely mentioning "a group of Russian journalists from Channel One."
For a nice read, see this recent RFE/RL feature on the Zakarpattia region.
For a nice read, see this recent RFE/RL feature on the Zakarpattia region.
09:08
7.6.2014
If you have half an hour to kill this weekend, here's economist Jeffrey Sachs on "The Crisis in Ukraine" at a Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) conference in Belgrade: