Friday, February 21, 2014

Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) signs an EU-mediated peace deal between Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leaders, aiming to end a violent standoff that has left dozens dead and opening the way for a early presidential election this year, at the presidential headquarters in Kiev February 21, 2014. (Reuters)

16:37 GMT: (click here)
The Ukrainian parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) has voted in favor of a bill that will allow the release from jail of the former Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.
310 MPs have voted to decriminalize the article of the Ukrainian law defining the charges under which Timoshenko is serving her term. The former Ukrainian PM was sentenced to 7 years in prison for abuse of office during the signing of the January 2009 natural gas imports contract with Russia. 

17:14 GMT:
Ukraine’s parliament has adopted a resolution aimed at granting aide to protesters and families of the victims who died or were injured during the unrest, according to the parliament’s website. According to the Health Ministry’s figures, at least 77 people have died in Kiev since February 18, while 581 have sought medical aid and 371 have been hospitalized. 

There is an assassin loose in Kiev. People need to take shelter.

Latest
18.45...Like dozens of other Ukrainians on Thursday, (click here) she had fallen prey to one of the snipers prowling Independence Square in Kiev. With infinite care and precision, this unknown marksman had taken aim beneath Miss Zhukovska’s protective helmet and fired one round clean through her neck.