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A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.
A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of September 3, 2018. You can find it here.

-- Tens of thousands of people gathered on September 2 in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to mourn a top rebel leader who was recently killed in a bomb attack.

-- Prominent Ukrainian historian Mykola Shityuk has been found dead in his home city of Mykolaiv, police said on September 2.​

-- Ukraine says it has imprisoned the man it accused of being recruited by Russia’s secret services to organize a murder plot against self-exiled Russian reporter and Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko.

-- Ukraine and Russia are trading blame for the killing of a top separatist leader in eastern Ukraine.

-- Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the head of the head of the breakaway separatist entity known as the Donetsk People’s Republic, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in Donetsk on August 31.

-- The United States is ready to widen arms supplies to Ukraine to help build up the country's naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told The Guardian.

-- The spiritual head of the worldwide Orthodox Church in Istanbul has hosted Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for talks on Ukraine's bid to split from the Russian church, a move strongly opposed by Moscow.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Ukraine

21:03 6.9.2017

21:43 6.9.2017

21:49 6.9.2017

This ends our live blogging for September 6. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.

08:38 7.9.2017

Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with a few of the tweets that caught our eye overnight:

09:52 7.9.2017

09:53 7.9.2017

09:53 7.9.2017

10:16 7.9.2017

11:50 7.9.2017

Moldovan troops to join exercises with NATO countries despite president's opposition:

By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service

Moldovan troops will take part in September 8-23 multinational military exercises in Ukraine despite pro-Russian President Igor Dodon's bid to keep them out of the drills.

The Moldovan Defense Ministry said on September 6 that 57 military personnel would participate in the Rapid Trident maneuvers, which involve 1,800 troops from 14 countries -- most of them NATO members.

Dodon announced on Facebook on September 5 that he had rejected the Defense Ministry's request to send the troops, saying that "involvement by Moldovan servicemen in military exercises beyond the national borders" is unacceptable.

The Moldovan government later overruled Dodon's decision.

The dispute has underscored divisions in Moldova, where Dodon is frequently at odds on foreign policy with a government that favors closer ties with the European Union and the United States.

The Rapid Trident exercises, held in western Ukraine near the Polish border, are aimed to foster improved interoperability among forces of countries in NATO and its Partnership for Peace program.

The countries participating are Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Italy, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Russia and Belarus are holding their own military drills, Zapad 2017, on September 14-20 in Belarus and parts of western Russia.

12:50 7.9.2017

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