Latest updates on Ukrainian events. [View all]

[another_liberal]

There has been a flurry of diplomatic exchanges and a crisis meeting of the United Nations Security Council:

Ukraine turmoil LIVE UPDATES

21:19 GMT:

The head of the general directorate of Ukraine’s Interior Ministery troops Stanislav Shulyak has been relieved of office by the acting President Aleksandr Turchinov.

The presidential decree published online says to "Release Shulyak Stanislav Nikolayevich from the post of chief of the Main Directorate - Commander of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine."

Earlier on Friday, the country's Prosecutor General's Office has given the Ministry of Interior 10 days to detain 24 officials for their alleged role in the deaths in Kiev during the riots. Among them was Shulyak.

20:46 GMT:

The United Nations Security Council is holding private consultations on the crisis in Ukraine, after the Ukrainian interim government asked for a session on Friday. On his way into the meeting, Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said he has “no idea” what could come out of the session. Ukrainian envoy Yuriy Sergeyev has told the journalist ahead of the meeting that he is hopeful the SC will “support Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

20:22 GMT:

Simferopol’s airport is closed for unspecified reasons, a senior duty official at the airport told Itar-Tass. The airport is scheduled to reopen at 17:00 GMT Saturday. Another official at the airport told Itar-Tass the airspace over the Crimea was closed for flights until 19:00 GMT Saturday.

"The airport is closed and all the departures have been cancelled," the source told the agency.

20:03 GMT:

Ukraine’s national telecommunications operator "Ukrtelecom" has lost the ability to provide connection between the Crimean peninsula and the rest of Ukraine because of damage to fiber optic cable, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"As a result of actions of unknown people, the company’s fiber optic cables were damaged. As a consequence, telephone and internet services on the Crimea peninsula have almost completely been suspended,” the company’s statement says.

18:48 GMT:

US lawmakers have said Friday that they were drafting legislation to authorize financial and technical assistance for the country. Senator Chris Murphy, chairman of a senate subcommittee on European Affairs, said the package would be part of “a broader, coordinated program” with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and other international partners, Reuters reports.

To become law, the package needs to pass the Senate and the House of Representatives, before being signed off by the president.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on events in Ukraine and US foreign policy to Kiev on March 6.

18:25 GMT:

Russia’s Consulate General in Simferopol, Crimea, will start issuing Russian passports for officers of Ukraine’s recently disbanded Berkut special security force, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow says.

“The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Simferopol was instructed to promptly take all necessary measures to start issuing Russian passports to troops of the Berkut unit,” the ministry said in a message on its Facebook page.

Read more at: http://rt.com/news/kiev-clashes-rioters-police-571/