Kiev will ask the UN to grant the crisis-hit Crimean peninsula the status of a demilitarised area, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
The Russian State Duma or lower house of parliament Thursday approved a federal law on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is based.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Thursday that objects possibly related to the Malaysian airliner that went missing March 8 have been found in the southern Indian Ocean.
Pro-Russian forces Wednesday captured the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Crimea even as UN chief Ban Ki-moon got ready for a visit to Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema and Defence Minister Igor Tenyukh have been barred from entering Crimea, the Minister of Social Policy Lyudmila Denisova said Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred that the plane was traveling north to southeast, towards the southern tip of the Addu atoll. They also spoke about the incredibly loud noise that the flight made when it flew over the island.