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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

12:40 10.9.2017

Almost inevitably, it seems Femen have made an appearance at Krakovets:

12:41 10.9.2017

12:47 10.9.2017

Saakashvili now seems to be going to Ukraine by train. Ukrainian MP Egor Firsov has been live streaming from the train station:

13:45 10.9.2017

Here's a locator map of where Saakashvili is expected to try and cross the border at Krakovets:

13:46 10.9.2017

And speaking of maps, here is the latest overview of the situation in the east of Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry:

14:24 10.9.2017

Here's the latest on our news desk on the Saakashvili situation:

Saakashvili Boards Train In Effort To Return To Ukraine

Former Georgian president and ex-Odesa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili and his son Nikoloz sit in a train at a Polish railway station as they prepare to head for the Ukrainian border on September 10.
Former Georgian president and ex-Odesa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili and his son Nikoloz sit in a train at a Polish railway station as they prepare to head for the Ukrainian border on September 10.

KRAKOVETS, Ukraine -- Mikheil Saakashvili, the ex-president of Georgia and former governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region, changed his strategy for returning to Ukraine on September 10 -- boarding a train in Poland that runs straight into the Ukrainian city of Lviv instead of attempting to cross the border by road.

But the state management of the Ukrainian-operated train banned it from leaving for the border with Saakashvili on board.

An announcement made for passengers on the train said the National Police of Ukraine had informed the rail service that "a person without a permit to enter the territory of Ukraine" was on board. The announcement said, "in accordance with Ukraine's legislation, the train will move on as soon as that person leaves the train."

Ukrainian police were braced at border checkpoints on September 10 where the 49-year-old Saakashvili had said he would cross into Ukraine -- despite the revocation of his citizenship in July at the order of President Petro Poroshenko.

The stateless Saakashvili said he boarded the train in the Polish city of Przemysl en route to Lviv because of concerns that "provocateurs" could cause trouble at the Krakovets border crossing, where hundreds of supporters of his Movement of the New Forces party had gathered to greet him on September 10.

Saakashvili was on the train together with Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

An RFE/RL correspondent at the border reports that Ukrainian police on September 10 detained about 40 Ukrainian men wearing camouflage military uniforms who allegedly were "hired" to disrupt events marking Saakashvili’s attempted return.

Saakashvili says he is determined to return to Ukraine to challenge the revocation of his Ukrainian citizenship and to reenter politics.

But in doing so, Saakashvili runs the risk of being arrested at the request of Georgia's government or being refused entry into Ukraine on the grounds that he is a stateless person who lacks the necessary documents.

Tbilisi is seeking Saakashvili's arrest and extradition on allegations that he misappropriated property and abused his powers when he was president of his native Georgia from 2004 to 2013.

Saakashvili denies the allegations, saying the charges are politically motivated.

He says Georgia’s extradition request was made on behalf of "oligarchs" who fear his presence in Ukraine.

ALSO READ: Ukraine Braces For Saakashvili's Possible Return

Saakashvili went to Ukraine in 2015 to work for the country's pro-Western authorities as governor of the Odesa region.

He lost his Georgian citizenship when he was granted a Ukrainian passport in 2015 because Georgia does not allow dual citizenship.

Saakashvili quit the post of Odesa's regional governor in November 2016 after falling out with Poroshenko.

In July, Poroshenko stripped Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship while Saakashvili was traveling abroad.

Saakashvili says he wants to return to challenge that decision in court and to return to politics.

Saakashvili said he would present his Ukrainian passport to Ukrainian border officials on September 10, along with other “legal documents,” in his attempt to enter the country.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, AFP, and TASS
14:33 10.9.2017

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14:35 10.9.2017

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