The pro-Russian Chechen president, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was installed in October by the Kremlin in widely condemned elections, said: "Yandarbiyev was the chief ideologue of the separatists and later of terrorist organisations which brought such tragic consequences to Chechnya.
But in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which also has been the scene of struggle between separatists and supporters of the Ukrainian government, the OSCE met with deputies of the regional assembly.
On May 23rd more fighting broke out between separatists and members of the Donbas batallion of pro-Ukrainian volunteers, also close to Donetsk.Few people are likely to be able to vote in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions because of intimidation of election officials, attacks on election-commission premises and the theft of election materials by armed and masked separatists.
One was in the burned-out city administration building, seized by separatists and scene of fierce clashes in recent days.
This was an important moment, marking a formal end to an on-off war against separatists and radicals of various Islamic tinges that had lasted for 15 years.
Commentators and members of the public are united on Ukrainian television channels in accusing the separatists and Russia of shooting the plane down.
Footage later emerged of the crash site in territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists, and witnesses spoke of dozens of bodies on the ground.
"We love Bill," the crowd chanted, drowning out calls of "Slave master" and "Go home" from a group of black separatists and other foes of gentrification.
His bank, PrivatBank, offered rewards of $10,000 for captured separatists and equipped some of its armoured cars for military use.
He called for a period of national reconciliation following the routing of separatists and Islamists, with the help of French troops, earlier this year.Thinning the ranksChina sacked the man in charge of overseeing its state-owned companies.
