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A Ukrainian serviceman stands guard in the city of Schastye in the Luhansk region late last month.
A Ukrainian serviceman stands guard in the city of Schastye in the Luhansk region late last month.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

Final News Summary For September 1, 2017

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of September 2, 2017. Find it here.

-- Ukraine says it will introduce new border-crossing rules from next year, affecting citizens of “countries that pose risks for Ukraine.”

-- The Association Agreement strengthening ties between Ukraine and the European Union entered into force on September 1, marking an end to four years of political drama surrounding the accord.

-- The trial of Crimean journalist Mykola Semena will resume later this month after the first hearing in weeks produced little progress toward a resolution of the politically charged case.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv (GMT +3)

07:46 22.2.2017

And here's another Ukraine-related news item that was issued overnight:

Kyiv Urges Reforms To Stop Russia From Vetoing UN Action On Ukraine Conflict

Ukranian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (file photo)
Ukranian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (file photo)

Ukraine has called for reform of the United Nations Security Council's structure to prevent Russia from using its veto power on the council to obstruct actions involving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"We need urgently to reform the Security Council in order to remove the veto power abuses," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who chaired a meeting of the council on unresolved conflicts in Europe on February 21.

A provision of the council's charter requires that "a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting" when the council acts, but it has been "blatantly ignored," he said.

Russia used its power, for example, to block an initiative to set up an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for downing Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2015 over the war zone in eastern Ukraine, killing hundreds of people.

The council should be able to address "bloody conflicts" regardless of whether one of the parties involved is a permanent council member with veto power, Klimkin said.

"It is imperative that clear proceedings are introduced for the proper implementation" of the council's abstention requirement, he said.

Russia, which maintains that it has no troops in Ukraine despite evidence to the contrary, has previously rejected as unacceptable any curbs on its veto power.

Based on reporting by Union Information Agency and TASS
09:16 22.2.2017

Nationalist groups, including the Freedom (Svoboda) and Right Sector parties, are marching in Kyiv today. Three years after the Euromaidan protests, they say the ideals of that popular movement have not been fulfilled and they are going to submit a list of demands to that effect at the parliament building in the capital. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has a live feed of proceedings:

09:32 22.2.2017

09:38 22.2.2017

09:53 22.2.2017

09:58 22.2.2017

A tweet linking to a report on a list published by the (aptly named) Facebook group Cargo 200:

11:05 22.2.2017

11:08 22.2.2017

Here's a rough translation of the interview with Viktor Yanukovych that was originally published in German (from the Kyiv Post's editor):

11:24 22.2.2017

Here's a news item from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on the nationalist protest in Kyiv.

Thousands March In Kyiv To Honor 2014 Maidan And Challenge Government

The so-called March of National Dignity in Kyiv was organized by three nationalist parties.
The so-called March of National Dignity in Kyiv was organized by three nationalist parties.

KYIV -- Thousands of activists are marching in Kyiv to honor protesters who were killed during the pro-European Maidan demonstrations in 2013-14 and to challenge the government.

The so-called March of National Dignity was organized by three nationalist parties -- Svoboda (Freedom), the National Corps, and Right Sector.

Activists gathered on Kyiv's central Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) early on February 22 and began marching toward parliament, where they planned to announce their demands to lawmakers, the cabinet, and President Petro Poroshenko.

Organizers have said their demands include calls for full investigations of the deadly dispersal of demonstrators in Kyiv in February 2014 and the immediate cancellation of all trade with Russia, which demonstrators called "the aggressor country."

Hundreds of police officers were on the scene.

They also plan to demand a halt to all economic ties with the portions of eastern Ukraine that are currently controlled by Russia-backed separatists.

11:28 22.2.2017

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