There's just been a splurge of updates from our news desk, which we'll post all at once:
Dutch, Australians Seek Access To Ukraine Crash Site
The Dutch and Australian foreign ministers, Frans Timmermans and Julie Bishop, are in Ukraine seeking permission for the deployment of an international police force to the crash site of a Malaysian airliner.
The talks come as Ukraine prepares to fly more bodies from Kharkiv to the Netherlands today.
All 298 people on board -- most of them Dutch -- were killed when the Malaysian airliner was shot down, allegedly by Russia-backed separatists.
The first remains were flown to the Netherlands on July 23.
Ukrainian officials say some 200 bodies have been recovered and transferred to Kharkiv.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would send 40 police to Ukraine to help recover the remaining victims.
Some 90 Australian police are in Europe awaiting permission to deploy to Ukraine, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he would send another 100.
(Reuters, BBC, UNIAN)
Ukraine Says 325 Troops Killed Fighting Rebels In East
The Ukrainian military says 325 soldiers and officers have been killed since the "antiterrorist" operation was launched in the country's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk more than two months ago.
Ukrainian National Security Council's spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters today that additionally, 1,232 soldiers and officers have been injured in the fighting against pro-Russian separatists, which officially began on April 15.
The figures include 13 troops killed and 19 injured in the past 24 hours.
Hundreds of rebel fighters and dozens of civilians are believed to have been killed in the clashes, though there is no reliable information on exact numbers.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency said today that some 230,000 people have fled their homes in eastern Ukraine because of the fighting.
The UNHCR said some 100,000 moved to other Ukrainian regions, while some 130,000 gone to Russia.
Ukrainian troops are currently involved in intense fighting outside of Donetsk and Luhansk.
In the past two weeks, Ukrainian troops have nearly cut the amount of territory held by the insurgents in half.
(UNIAN, pravda.com.ua)
Russia Bans All Ukrainian Dairy Imports
Russia has banned all dairy imports from Ukraine, citing a lack of quality control.
The move is the latest sign of worsening trade relations between the two countries after Ukraine signed a free-trade pact with the European Union.
A spokesman for Russia's food and agricultural inspection service, Rosselkhoznadzor, said the ban was imposed after high levels of antibiotics and bacteria were detected in Ukrainian dairy products.
The ban comes into effect on July 28.
Russia has previously imposed import bans on countries seeking to move closer to the European Union and away from Moscow.
Earlier this month, Russia banned meat and fruit imports from Moldova, which also signed an EU Association Agreement in June.
(Reuters, AFP, Interfax)
See TIME’s new cover on MH17: Cold War II—Can anything stop Vladimir Putin? http://t.co/0b1aVpC4bd pic.twitter.com/VHMZWjdWg9
— TIME.com (@TIME) July 24, 2014
Zyuganov says is not afraid of prosecution in Ukraine http://t.co/bNigR2029o
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) July 25, 2014
.@FT's @courtneymoscow scores an interview w/ Russian oligarch Malofeev, who once employed DNR's Borodai, Strelkov http://t.co/PzZqaaMlTl…
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 25, 2014
The Interfax news agency reports that the Voronezh regional court has ruled that detained Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko shall remain in custody until at least August 30. Savchenko is controversially facing charges of complicity in the June 17 killing of two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, in a mortar attack on a separatist checkpoint outside Luhansk.
US ambassador here in Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt says Russia's President Putin could stop unrest here "with one phone call" #fnr
— Simon Owen (@simon504) July 25, 2014
Pyatt: "Tragedy" post-#MH17: "Rather than putting [E Ukraine] on diplomatic track what we've seen from Kremlin is pouring gasoline on fire."
— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikLAT) July 25, 2014
Some more fallout from the Ukraine crisis, this time affecting the Russian ruble (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Russia's central bank has unexpectedly raised its main interest rate in a bid to stem inflation and support the ruble amid tensions over Ukraine.
The Bank of Russia said today it has increased its main interest rate by a half point to 8 percent.
In an apparent reference to uncertainty generated by the Ukraine crisis and Western sanctions against Russian companies and officials, it said "heightened geopolitical tensions" were pushing down the ruble, increasing the risk of inflation.
The bank said it will continue raising the key interest rate if high inflation risks persist.
Higher interest rates tend to support the strength of a currency but can hurt economic growth.
The interest rate was 5.5 percent at the beginning of the year.
(AP, AFP)
It seems Oliver Stone is now weighing in on the Ukraine situation:
Who Shot Down the Malaysian Airliner? This is too good to be true. After this massive rush to judgment by US media, please read...
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) July 24, 2014
From our news desk:
Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said he does not take seriously the accusations made against him by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
Zyuganov said on July 25 that he had always been for Russian-Ukrainian friendship and accused Kyiv of "killing its own people."
Zyuganov's statement came hours after Zoryan Shkiryak, an adviser to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said probes against Zyuganov and Russian ultranationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky had been launched.
The two are suspected of "financing activities aimed at changing Ukraine's territory and its state borders."
On July 22, Avakov announced a probe against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and businessman Konstantin Malofeyev on suspicion of organizing illegal armed formations on Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities said earlier this month that investigations are ongoing against Avakov and Dnipropetrovsk Governor Ihor Kolomoyskiy on various charges, including obstruction of journalism.
Here's video from our Russian Service of a court in Voronezh upholding today the detention of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who is accused of complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists in Ukraine. The court rejected an appeal filed by Savchenko's lawyers who asked the court to release her on bail. Savchenko participated in the hearing via videolink from her detention facility. Security guards removed a woman protester after she unfolded a Ukrainian flag in the courtroom.
