A journalist has disappeared in Luhansk, reports Ukrainska Pravda, citing Channel
5. Colleagues of Volodymyr Startsev suspect his disappearance is connected to his professional
activities. They say police are searching for him.
Independent
Russian experts do not regard the so-called ‘referendum’ in Donetsk and Luhansk
oblasts of Ukraine as legitimate nor its results credible. This was
announced at a press conference in Moscow by Ilya Ponomaryov, the deputy of the
State Duma, Lev Ponomaryov, the leader of the movement ‘For Human Rights’, and
Andriy Buzin, the head of the Interregional Association of Voters and co-chair
of the ‘Holos’ movement. These three individuals were, according to BBC’s
Russian Service, present in Donbas during the ‘referendum’.
Budzin stated that there were so many
violations in connection with the organization and implementation of the
‘referendum’, that “one cannot even talk about turnout.” The survey organizers
decided in advance to consider the results of the ‘referendum’ valid regardless
of the turnout.
In Slovyansk, violence
continues between the separatists and Ukrainian government forces. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement
condemning what it described as a sharp escalation in the violence in eastern
Ukraine, accusing the Ukrainian government of using the talks as cover for
military operations against its citizens.
Politicians from Eastern
Ukraine are meeting today with government officials in a second round of
EU-brokered peace talks held in Kharkiv. Leonid Krvchuk, Ukraine’s first
president is chairing the talks. The grievances of these politicians are mainly
focused on Kyiv’s reluctance (or refusal) to recognise what is happening in the
East and the demands of people who have come out in support of the Pro-Russian
separatists (in spite of the referendum not being legally binding, the leaders
in the East see it as an expression of people wanting the region to have more
autonomy and freedom from Kyiv).
In Mariupol, steelworkers have re-taken
government buildings from pro-Russia fighters and cleared away their
barricades.
Comments
Post a Comment