Dear friends!

Russia has carried out an act of aggression towards Ukraine. Russian troops have entered Crimea. Thus we take it upon ourselves to inform you about the events in Ukraine. We will provide you with yet another viewpoint regarding this conflict. We will do our best to remain fair and objective.

March 16 – During Crimean “referendum” journalists were not allowed at the ballot stations and some have been hurt. In Crimea the crew of TV channel Al Jazeera were attacked by the representatives of “self-defence” forces, their equipment was broken, they were thrown out of the ballot station and prohibited to film.

March 16 – Arsen Avakov, Minister of Internal Affair of Ukraine: “the border with Russia is basically closed”.

March 16 – In Feodosia Russian servicemen are placing antitank mines along the perimeter of the 1st separate battalion of the Ukrainian Naval Forces.

March 16 – 3 priests of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church have been kidnapped in Crimea. Their whereabouts are unknown.

March 16 – If Russia doesn't back down in Crimea, it will face penalties from the West that will hurt the Russian economy and diminish Moscow's influence in the world”, said Dan Pfeiffer, White House senior adviser.

March 16 – Abnormally high attendance by the residents of Crimea at the “referendum” is a result of amended voters’ lists, which are being corrected at the ballot stations by including all willing citizens of Russia as well as those who choose to cast their vote at several stations.

March 16 – At the beginning of April Crimean “government” is planning to start using rouble for its financial transactions, including pension servicing.

March 16 – “Ukraine has legitimate and lawful claims to Russia for the property, which Russian Federation chose to unlawfully withhold after Ukraine exited USSR. Immediate steps must be taken to prepare legal basis in order to protect Ukrainian national interests regarding assets and property of the former Soviet Union”, said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Prime-Minister of Ukraine.

March 16 – 93% voters have shown their support for Crimea’s annexation by Russian Federation – PR Center of Maidan is surprised that the figure is not 99,5%, similarly to Northern Korea.

March 16 – The US will not acknowledge the results of the “referendum”, which took place in Crimea on Sunday, said Barack Obama.

March 16 – On Monday, March 17th, Crimea’s “president” Arsyonov will ask Putin to annex Crimea as soon as possible.

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