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Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.

Live Blog: UN Backs Ukraine Integrity

Final Summary For March 27

-- The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution that affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity.

-- The IMF has announced "a staff-level agreement" with Kyiv on assistance of $14 billion-$18 billion in conjunction with a reform program that will "unlock" up to $27 billion over the next two years, pending final approval next month. Tthe U.S. Congress has also passed an aid bill for Ukraine.

-- Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced plans to run for president.

-- Members of the Right Sector have been holding a demonstration outside the Ukrainian parliament building to vent their anger at the killing of prominent member Oleksander Muzychko earlier in the week.

-- Six Ukrainian military officers detained by pro-Russian troops in Crimea have been released, including Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, but five others are still being held captive.

-- Anonymous sources quoted by CNN say U.S. intelligence "concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine."

-- U.S. President Barack Obama, in the keynote speech of his visit to Europe, chided Russia for its use of "brute force" in Ukraine and vowed that a determined alliance of the United States and Europe will prevail over time.


*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
12:23 20.3.2014
Yulia is back.

12:31 20.3.2014
Another interesting item from our newsdesk:

Russian border guards have markedly increased their checks on goods coming from Ukraine, including agricultural products.

Dmitry Kotikov, a spokesman for the Russian customs service, said the increased checks are due to reports of "possible attempts to bring contraband [into Russia] from Ukraine."

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said today that it had uncovered an illegal arms smuggling operation originating in "EU states."

The FSB's public relations office told the ITAR-TASS news agency that arms were being smuggled "from EU states to Russia via Ukraine by vehicles, rail, and [post]."

It said "short-barreled firearms" had been brought to Ukraine and were being smuggled to Russia's North Caucasus region by car.

The FSB said it had arrested several Ukrainian and Russian citizens in the operation at the Donetsk-Izarino border crossing. (Reuters, ITAR-TASS)
12:52 20.3.2014
At least eight Ukrainian activists and troops have been released after being abducted in Crimea.

Euromaidan activist Oleksiy Hrytsenko, who was among those detained, says one of the activists was shot in the leg.

Acting Ukrainian President Aleksandr Turchinov had given the self-proclaimed Crimean leadership until the evening of March 19 to release the men.
13:02 20.3.2014
Booking.com will reportedly boycott hotels belonging to Yanukovych and his former ministers.

13:03 20.3.2014
13:11 20.3.2014
Some breaking news:

Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva has said Russia may be preparing a further military incursion into Ukrainian territory.

Yuriy Klymenko told a briefing on the human rights situation in Ukraine today that "there are indications that Russia is on its way to unleash a full-blown military intervention in Ukraine's east and south."

Klymenko called Russia's annexation of Crimea a farce, as well as unlawful and illegitimate, and called for Russia to negotiate.

He described Russia's occupation of Crimea as aggression and an illegal land grab and said human rights had seriously worsened there since Russia took control.

In response, a Russian diplomat read out a prepared statement, justifying Russia's actions as legal under Russian, Ukrainian, and international law. (Reuters, AFP)
13:14 20.3.2014
Military Prosecutor's office apparently being stormed in Simferopol.
13:21 20.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has produced this video on the mobilization of reservists in Kharkiv Oblast:
Kharkiv Reservists Mobilized Amid Tensions With Russia
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13:23 20.3.2014
The official death toll from Ukraine's turmoil climbs from 102 to 103. Details still unclear.

14:02 20.3.2014
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a resolution stating its determination to reclaim Crimea. The document urges the international community not to recognize the self-proclaimed Republic of Crimea.

Crimea was, is, and will be part of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people will never and under no circumstances stop fighting for Crimea's liberation from occupiers, however difficult and long this fight may be.

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