International Security News: 

• Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy announced that anti-terrorist operations in the east will continue regardless of any decision made by representatives of the "Donetsk People's Republic" concerning their referendum, set for May 11.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian media reported that the representative of Svoboda Party leader and presidential candidate Oleh Tiahnybok was kidnapped by armed men from his home in Makiyivka (Donetsk). 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) The body of Valeriy Salo, the head of Donetsk’s Prosvita All-Ukrainian Society branch, was found in a burned car in Luhansk. Salo had been kidnapped by armed representatives of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’. 

 

• (ITAR-TASS) The Ukrainian State Administration of Railway Transport announced that international trains will only stop at the major stations in Ukraine due to “an unstable situation in the country and to prevent unauthorized interference in rail transport.”

 

• (RIA Novosti) Ukraine's security forces will fire at anyone with weapons in their hands, according to the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs. 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that gunmen attacked a border unit between the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Internal Observation News: 

• (ITAR-TASS) Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the OSCE, arrived in Kiev for meetings with Ukrainian government representatives. 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukraine received a roadmap from the Swiss chairmanship of the OSCE on resolving its crisis. Ukrainian leaders are reviewing the document before providing a response. 

 

• (ITAR-TASS) Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the UN and the OSCE to condemn the Ukrainian government’s treatment of journalists. 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said he hopes that the OSCE will support the roadmap to resolve the Ukrainian crisis proposed by Kiev.

 

 

Constitutional Reform News: 

• Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he will propose envisaging the right of local councils to grant official status to Russian and other languages, leaving Ukrainian as a sole state language.

Diplomacy News: 

• (Interfax Ukraine) The EU said that a May 11 referendum in eastern Ukraine is illegal, will lead to further escalation of the situation, and should not be held.

 

• (RIA Novosti) The Kremlin said it is going to take time to analyze the situation in Ukraine after separatists in southeastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk decided to move forward with autonomy referendums.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk expressed surprise that the Ukrainian crisis was actively discussed at a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Switzerland, without representatives of Ukraine, the U.S., or the EU.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Russian strategic offensive and defensive forces are prepared and proficient, President Putin said after overseeing a routine drill of the country’s armed forces.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the two countries could coordinate joint activities.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Border Service announced Russian troops and hardware maneuvering are still visible along the border.

 

• German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said Russian President Vladimir Putin's newly "constructive tone" could provide new momentum for a diplomatic solution.

 

• (RIA Novosti) President Putin convened an urgent meeting with the country's security council to discuss Ukraine in the context of his talk with OSCE Chairman Burkhalter. 

 

• (ITAR-TASS) President Putin cited “irresponsible policy” as the main reason for the Ukraine crisis, stating that as a result, hundreds of thousands of people are unable to live a peaceful and prosperous life.

 

• -    (ITAR-TASS) NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said that NATO is not considering the possibility of providing military aid to Ukraine, but urged Moscow to withdraw its troops from the border, stating that “the international community supports Ukraine.”

Governance New: 

• -    Pro-Russian separatists decided to go ahead with the May 11 referendum, despite President Putin’s call for its postponement. 

 

• -    A Pew Research Center poll revealed that a strong majority of Ukrainians want their country to remain a single, unified state, even in the largely Russian-speaking east where a pro-Russian insurgency persists.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Forty percent of Ukrainians stand for negotiations with separatist protesters and 35% support the military crackdown, according to a poll conducted by the Rating sociological group.

 

• (ITAR-TASS) The Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution prohibiting Russian citizens from entering Ukraine.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Ukraine's authorities are ready to talk to representatives of local self-procliamed governments, and activists in regions demanding decentralization, President Oleksander Turchynov said.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Pro-Russian activists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said they are open for talks with Kiev, but fear the regime will deceive them.

 

• The press service of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy announced that a delegation of the European Commission visited Kiev in late April to discuss reform plans, efforts to fully integrate with the European energy market, and the start of accumulating natural gas stocks at Ukrainian underground storage facilities.

 

• (ITAR-TASS) President Yatsenyuk announced that Ukraine is ready to pay off debts for Russian gas within ten days if its cost is set at $268.5 per 1 thousand cubic meters.

 

• Ukraine's national budget could fall short of Hr 1.5 billion in taxes and duties due to the situation in its southeast region, according to First Deputy Income and Tax Minister Ihor Bilous.

 

• Presidential candidate and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko said that Ukraine is not going to accept any ultimatums from Russia, and believes the unconditional implementation of agreements reached in Geneva are the terms of possible negotiations.