The Ukrainian Paralympic Committee has confirmed that their team will compete at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
The decision was announced by Ukrainian Paralympic Committee President Valeriy Suskevich at a press conference just hours ahead of the Opening Ceremony at the Fisht Stadium.
Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), said: "We are delighted by Ukraine's decision as we want sport to prevail and a full complement of teams to compete in what we are confident will be a fantastic Paralympic Winter Games.
"All week the IPC has been working closely with the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee in an effort to keep them here in Sochi.
"The talking point of Sochi 2014 needs to be great sport and great athletes, not global politics."
12.10 Ukraine border guards say 30,000 Russian troops now on Ukrainian territory, according to Reuters citing Ukraine's Channel 5.
A Russian Mi24 military helicopter flies over the Russian navy seagoing armament transport 'General Ryabikov' in the harbour of Sevastopol. PHOTO: AFP / GETTY
11.03 Roland Oliphant reports:
"Pravy Sektor is revolutionary and remains at the avangarde of the revolution, although fighting with revolutionary methods no longer makes sense," the agency quoted Mr Yarosh's deputy Anderei Tarasenko as saying, explaining the decision.
Pravy Sektor - Right Sector in English - emerged in the early stages of the pro-European protest movement as an alliance of far right groups who believed Viktor Yanukovych would only be evicted by force. They played a prominent role in street fighting in January and February, and Mr Yarosh won a lot of respect even amongst ordinary protesters for what his followers' did on the barricades.
But the group's far-right ideology and subscription to the doctrine of Stepan Bandera, a mid-20th century Ukrainian nationalist insurgent leader considered a Nazi collaborator by many ethnic Russians, makes him a toxic candidate in the east of the country.
He has become a hate-figure in Crimea, where many ethnic Russians have denounced the revolution in Kiev as a fascist coup, and self defence groups have set themselves up to fight what they say are Yarosh's plans to send his men south to cleanse Crimea of Russians.
So far there has been no sign whatsoever of Pravy Sektor or other ultra-nationalists coming anywhere near Crimea.
Angela Merkel, left, meets Yulia Tymoshenko, second right, and Vitali Klitschko in Dublin. PHOTO: EPA
10.29 Ukraine has decided not to boycott the Winter Paralympic Games, that begin tonight in Sochi.
Ukraine's Paralympic chief, Valeriy Sushkevich, said that he asked Vladimir Putin to ensure there would be peace during the Games and that his team would not pull out over events at home:
I repeated my one request, the one and most important request, that before and during (the Games) there will be peace.
10.09 The Kremlin claims there is "no understanding" of Vladimir Putin's position on Ukraine. The Russian president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:
Regardless of all the efforts of our president, his readiness to explain Russia's position practically on a daily basis, we still hit a wall of no understanding.
It is rather sad and what is worse is that it is very bad from the point of view of possible repercussions.
Armed men, believed to be Russian soldiers, march outside the Perevalnoye military unit. PHOTO: EPA
09.43 Russia's lower and upper houses of parliament have pledged to vote into law the result of a "historic" March 16 referendum in Crimea on whether to become Russia. The EU and US state the decision is "illegal".
The heads of Russia's two houses of parliament indicated President Vladimir Putin's resolve by announcing that Moscow intended to respect Crimean MPs' decision to renounce ties with Ukraine and stage a March 16 referendum on switching over to Kremlin rule.
We will respect the historic choice of the people of Crimea. We support the free and democratic choice of the population of Crimea.
The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun sets sail in the Dardanelles straits towards the Black Sea. PHOTO: REUTERS
09.33 The Ukraine crisis has highlighted China's muddled foreign policy, according to an interesting AFP analysis:
"Welcome to the real world," said Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
"China by now has global interests but is not a global strategist or global player...(it) is not the one that initiates and tries to drive the outcome," he said.
Although China aspires to greater global standing, it pursues narrow goals overseas as long as its core concerns are not involved, letting its ally and fellow UN Security Council member Russia take the lead on crises such as the conflict in Syria while it zeroes in on business deals in Africa and elsewhere.
Its foreign ministry tends towards non-specific bromides, urging "calm" here, "restraint" there and a "political solution" elsewhere.
09.04 The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, says Crimea's parliament has the right to hold a referendum on the region's future status:
Yesterday we learned about the historic decision taken by the Crimean parliament to hold a referendum on accession, on entry into the Russian Federation.
Without a doubt, the Crimean parliament, as a legitimate authority, has that right ... The sovereign right of the people to determine their future.
09.03 Video of Barack Obama speaking yesterday evening on Russia sanctions:
09.02 Crimea has reportedly terminated the broadcasting of Ukraine national televsion.
09.01 The Telegraph's Roland Oliphant reports from parliament building in Simferopol where Cossacks stand guard outside as politicians decide to hold a referendum on whether Crimea should become part of Russia:
09.00 London (GMT), 11.00 Kiev (EET), 13.00 Moscow (MSK), 01.00 Washington (PST) Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Ukraine crisis.
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