May 18- 20 in Ukraine

May 18 – 2191 international observers will be monitoring presidential elections in Ukraine on May 25th... May 18 – During the night of May 18th, a motor convoy led by the terrorists is preparing to transport a special load from Ukraine to Russia. "In particular, bodies of terrorists, killed during the fights with Ukrainian soldiers will be transported. There are a few hundred bodies. According to our data, the motor convoy will cross the state border in Luhansk oblast", said Dmytro Tymchuk, the leader of "Information resistance" group.

May 18 – Several insurgents were detained as a result of the anti-terrorist operation near Kramatorsk. Two of these people introduced themselves as Russian journalists, said Dmytro Tymchuk, the leader of "Information resistance" group.

May 18 – After Russia's annexation of Crimea, over 7 thousand Crimean Tatars were forced to leave the peninsula due to "pressure from Russian invaders".

May 18 – Militia officers and the officers of the Special Purpose Mobile Unitfrom Krasnodar were preventing the arrival of Crimean Tatars to Simferopol. Crimean Tatars planned to participate in the commemorative events marking the 70th anniversary of their deportation.

May 18 – During a commemorative event dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the deportation, Crimean Tatars spoke about the need to urgently restore their rights and stop any discrimination based on political, national and religious grounds. They also declared their request to return the historic names to those sites, which names were changed after the deportation of Crimean Tatars, to pass the laws guaranteeing Crimean Tatar representation within Crimean authorities as well as to recognize Kurultai ans Mejlis – representative authorities of Crimea's autochton. Also Mejlis will press to annul the prohibition of entry to Crimea, which was issued to Mustafa Zhemilev, the deputy of the Supreme Council of Ukraine and the leader of Crimean Tatars.

May 18- After a commemorative event dedicated to the deportation of Crimean Tatars, communication has been lost with a journalist Osman Pashayev. On May 18th Osman Pashayev has streamed live from the commemorative events in Crimea. He was arrested by local illegal "authorities" of Crimea.

By annexing Crimea, Russia has carried out an act of aggression against Ukraine. Currently Russia is transferring terrorist and sabotage groups to Eastern Ukraine. Russia aims to prevent legitimate presidential elections from happening. Everyday life in Eastern Ukraine has turned into a continuous nightmare in the middle of Europe. Our country is being destroyed right before our eyes. We therefore take the courage to inform you about current events in Ukraine. This is just another point of view. We will do our best to remain objective.

May 19 – The mood of the residents of Donbas has changed dramatically. Today there are fewer and fewer of those who support the protesters... People are afraid to go out; they fear for the future of their businesses. This has changed the overall situation significantly. Previously, 3-5 thousand people were actively protesting, whereas right now there are far less of them, said the Head of Donetsk Regional State Administration Serhiy Taruta. According to Mr.Taruta "there were 10-15 thousand people protesting overall in all of Donetsk oblast. I am unable to say how many of them were armed with guns. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of them but thank God there are not tens of thousands of them. Therefore I would say that the situation is complicated, but not critical", he said.

May 19 – Payments such as pensions and salaries allocated from the state budget will be suspended in cities of Slaviansk and Kramatorsk (Donetsk oblast) due to rampant behavior on behalf of pro-Russian terrorists, informed the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.

May 19 – As a result of a threat from machinegunners of a so called "People's Republic of Donetsk", a peace rally was cancelled in Mariupol. "A Peace March with no political slogans or flags was supposed to be held in Mariupol at 5 pm today. Thousands of people planned to participate, including approximately 30000 of our employees", wrote Natalia Yemchenko, Director of Public Relations and Communications at System Capital Management (SCM), which is owned by an oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.

May 19 – In Kyiv, the officers of the Security Service of Ukraine apprehended eight members of a criminal group. It is suspected that they were preparing the acts of terrorism aiming to disrupt presidential elections in Ukraine on May 25th.

May 19 – Security Service of Ukraine prevented a terrorist attack in Odesa on May 18th – pro-Russian terrorists had planned to blow up a motor vehicle at Kulikovo Field ("Kulikovo Pole") in Odesa at 2 pm on May 18th. At that point in time over fifteen hundred people would have been present at the scene. These people were pro-Russia oriented.

May 20 – Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev made it clear that Russia is unlikely to recognize the results of presidential elections in Ukraine. Russia cannot and doesn't intent to guarantee the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as it never assumed such obligations, he said. "We are slowly but steadily moving towards the second Cold War", concluded he in his interview with Bloomberg News Agency. Obviously this message was some sort of a threat to the US. And equally obvious is the fact that these are Putin's words stated by Medvedev.

May 20 – In Artemivsk (Donetsk oblast) the terrorists have threatened to burn down one of the schools and hang its director if the building operates as a polling station for the presidential elections in Ukraine.

May 20 – As of Tuesday, 12 pm 11 premises of District Election Commissions out of 34 are blocked in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts by pro-Russian terrorists, informed Konstantin Khivrenko, Central Election Commission's Press Secretary.

May 20 – One of the leaders of the terrorist organization "People's Republic of Donetsk" Denys Pushylin has announced the beginning of nationalization in the region. This is terrorists' interpretation of the pro-Ukrainian speech of the wealthiest businessman of Ukraine Rinat Akhmetov, who condemned "People's Republic of Donetsk" as a terrorist organization.

May 20 – A protest rally initiated by the by civil society organisations has taken place in the city of Donetsk and in Donetsk oblast at 12 pm. The rally was against the destabilization of situation in Donbas, against the violence and chaos, banditry and looting by the activists of the so-called "People's Republic of Donetsk". The employees of local enterprises attended the strike, whereas car drivers supported the event by pressing car klaxons.

May 20 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine states that Russia has not withdrawn its troops from the Ukrainian borders, despite the statements of President Vladimir Putin.

May 20 – Security Service of Ukraine states that it has evidence proving the use of technologies aiming to psychologically impact the viewers by Russian media (so-called "25th frame" in particular). At SSU's briefing, a video of "Russia-24" news program about Odesa events (May 2nd) was demonstrated. Throughout the whole program, slightly visible words such as "arson right sector", "people killed by banderovtsy", "national guards are killers" were appearing in the corner of the screen.