09:18
20.3.2014
Russian doll "matryoshka": Crimea style masked version in unmarked military outfit pic.twitter.com/lQ9dk0Nm9H RT @harkusha18 via @pavelsheremet
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) March 20, 2014
09:34
20.3.2014
Bosnian Serb Chief Dodik Hails Crimea Secession From Ukraine: preparing for RS vote on secession w/Moscow support? http://t.co/d2swkQV5le
— Sabine Freizer Gunes (@SabineFreizer) March 20, 2014
09:53
20.3.2014
Deciding how to deal with Crimea's new status is a bit of a headache for mapmakers. Here's how National Geographic have addressed the issue:
The U.S. National Geographic Society says Crimea will be shaded in gray as an "Area of Special Status" on its maps once the territory has been formally annexed by Russia.
Simferopol, its administrative center, would be designated by a special symbol.
The American mapmaker said the decision was in line with its policy on contested territories.
It said its actions do not suggest recognition of the legitimacy of the situation.
Earlier, U.S. media quoted National Geographic officials as saying it would show Crimea as part of Russia once the Russian parliament ratifies legislation on the move.
The U.S. National Geographic Society says Crimea will be shaded in gray as an "Area of Special Status" on its maps once the territory has been formally annexed by Russia.
Simferopol, its administrative center, would be designated by a special symbol.
The American mapmaker said the decision was in line with its policy on contested territories.
It said its actions do not suggest recognition of the legitimacy of the situation.
Earlier, U.S. media quoted National Geographic officials as saying it would show Crimea as part of Russia once the Russian parliament ratifies legislation on the move.
10:03
20.3.2014
Following Yulia Tymoshenko's return from hospital treatment yesterday, "The New York Times" has been taking a look at the role she might play in Ukraine's future:
She is both heroine and villain, an architect of Ukraine’s rotten politics and its victim, too, having spent two and a half years in prison on what are widely considered politically motivated charges of corruption brought by her nemesis, the ousted president, Viktor F. Yanukovych.
She is both heroine and villain, an architect of Ukraine’s rotten politics and its victim, too, having spent two and a half years in prison on what are widely considered politically motivated charges of corruption brought by her nemesis, the ousted president, Viktor F. Yanukovych.
10:26
20.3.2014
This is just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
10:32
20.3.2014
This is just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
10:40
20.3.2014
"Putin has no soul" - Heartrending interview with Khatidzhi, an elderly Crimean Tatar woman who returned to Crimea 23 years ago after her family was deported to Kazakhstan under Stalin. Courtesy of RFE/RL's Russian Service. (in Russian)
10:47
20.3.2014
Here's another update from our newsdesk:
Russia's State Duma is holding a special session to ratify the agreement that makes Crimea a part of the Russian Federation.
Elsewhere, in a speech to parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said EU leaders would signal their readiness to ramp up punitive measures against Russia, including economic sanctions today's summit.
She said the EU could introduce what she called "Phase-3 measures" if there is a "worsening" of the situation in Ukraine.
She added that current tensions with Moscow mean the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations does not effectively exist at present.
Russia's State Duma is holding a special session to ratify the agreement that makes Crimea a part of the Russian Federation.
Elsewhere, in a speech to parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said EU leaders would signal their readiness to ramp up punitive measures against Russia, including economic sanctions today's summit.
She said the EU could introduce what she called "Phase-3 measures" if there is a "worsening" of the situation in Ukraine.
She added that current tensions with Moscow mean the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations does not effectively exist at present.
10:49
20.3.2014
Crimea has cancelled its spring military conscription into the Russian army. Crimea's acting military commissioner made the announcement today, one day after Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said local conscripts would start serving in the Russian army this spring, including in Chechnya and Dagestan.
10:58
20.3.2014
. @RFERL has learned that ystrday's reports that National Geographic will show Crimea as part of Russia on maps were not true. Story coming.
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) March 20, 2014