Officials in the Ukrainian region of Crimea are preparing a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, while Russian lawmakers are drafting legislation that would enable Moscow to accept Crimea as a new subject of Russia. Meanwhile, OSCE monitors are once again denied access to Crimea as Western leaders impose a package of diplomatic pressures on Russia. Here's the latest on the crisis in Ukraine from RFE/RL and its Ukrainian Service, Radio Svoboda.
# LIVEBLOG: Everything you need to know about what's happening now in Ukraine.
# GRAPHIC: The worst-case scenario in the Russia-Ukraine crisis would be a war between the two states. How do their respective forces compare? Correspondent Charles Recknagel reports.
# VIDEO: Tatars in the central Crimean town of Bakhchysaray -- once the cultural center and seat of government for Crimean Tatars -- say their community is being intimidated by pro-Russia thugs who are trying to either scare them into fleeing the region, or to provoke a violent backlash that could be used by Russian forces to justify a military crackdown. Correspondents Ron Synovitz, Dilewer Osman, and Nail Khissamiev take a closer look. (See also, Rim Gilfanov of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service writes on the Tatar perspective for Al Jazeera.)
# PODCAST: We've been here before -- in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in Moldova's separatist Transdniester region, in the 2008 Russia-Georgia war -- and history may repeat in Ukraine's Russophone East. The latest from "The Power Vertical" by Brian Whitmore.
# Correspondent Robert Coalson discussed the issue of annexation with Adam Roberts, senior research fellow in international relations at Oxford University and editor of "Documents On The Laws Of War."
# Also from Coalson, a report on the "Wag the Dog" information war being waged to lay the groundwork for continued Russian intervention in Ukraine.
# In Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk, it's often assumed Russian language dictates pro-Russia political views. But as correspondent Tom Balmforth reports, the reality is more nuanced. (See also: Reporter's Notebook: Simferopol Sketches.)
# Nowhere do Ukraine's events have greater resonance than in the Balkans, where a similar cauldron of history, ethnicity, and the breakup of a once-great nation led to the devastating wars of the 1990s. Gojko Veselinovic and Ivana Bilic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service report.
# Activists from Ukraine's Euromaidan Civic Sector and several children have prepared packages with toy soldiers and guns to send to Russian President Vladimir Putin to encourage him to play with toys, not people.
# Russia's takeover of Crimea has provided a rich vein for satirists to mine. Central Newsroom editor Kathleen Moore has more on the most buzzed about cartoons, memes, and Photoshops.
For news from all of RFE/RL's broadcast regions, follow us online and on Twitter and Facebook.
# LIVEBLOG: Everything you need to know about what's happening now in Ukraine.
# GRAPHIC: The worst-case scenario in the Russia-Ukraine crisis would be a war between the two states. How do their respective forces compare? Correspondent Charles Recknagel reports.
# VIDEO: Tatars in the central Crimean town of Bakhchysaray -- once the cultural center and seat of government for Crimean Tatars -- say their community is being intimidated by pro-Russia thugs who are trying to either scare them into fleeing the region, or to provoke a violent backlash that could be used by Russian forces to justify a military crackdown. Correspondents Ron Synovitz, Dilewer Osman, and Nail Khissamiev take a closer look. (See also, Rim Gilfanov of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service writes on the Tatar perspective for Al Jazeera.)
# PODCAST: We've been here before -- in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in Moldova's separatist Transdniester region, in the 2008 Russia-Georgia war -- and history may repeat in Ukraine's Russophone East. The latest from "The Power Vertical" by Brian Whitmore.
# Correspondent Robert Coalson discussed the issue of annexation with Adam Roberts, senior research fellow in international relations at Oxford University and editor of "Documents On The Laws Of War."
# Also from Coalson, a report on the "Wag the Dog" information war being waged to lay the groundwork for continued Russian intervention in Ukraine.
# In Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk, it's often assumed Russian language dictates pro-Russia political views. But as correspondent Tom Balmforth reports, the reality is more nuanced. (See also: Reporter's Notebook: Simferopol Sketches.)
# Nowhere do Ukraine's events have greater resonance than in the Balkans, where a similar cauldron of history, ethnicity, and the breakup of a once-great nation led to the devastating wars of the 1990s. Gojko Veselinovic and Ivana Bilic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service report.
# Activists from Ukraine's Euromaidan Civic Sector and several children have prepared packages with toy soldiers and guns to send to Russian President Vladimir Putin to encourage him to play with toys, not people.
# Russia's takeover of Crimea has provided a rich vein for satirists to mine. Central Newsroom editor Kathleen Moore has more on the most buzzed about cartoons, memes, and Photoshops.
For news from all of RFE/RL's broadcast regions, follow us online and on Twitter and Facebook.