Ukraine Crisis News Updates -- March 29, 2015

New York Times: Fragile Cease-Fire in Ukraine Inspires Little Confidence in West

BRUSSELS — No one really expects Ukraine to get better before it gets worse, or for the promises contained in last month’s cease-fire agreement to be kept.

Instead, senior Western diplomats and analysts are predicting a further escalation of tensions, including the placing of Russian nuclear weapons in the annexed Crimean Peninsula; efforts to create more unrest in cities like Mariupol and as far west as Odessa; advances by Russian-supported rebels against an undergunned and dispirited Ukrainian Army; and attempts to destabilize the Western-leaning government in Kiev, beginning with President Petro O. Poroshenko himself.

Ukraine Crisis News Updates -- March 29, 2015

Ukraine Front Calms as Explosion Hits Odessa With No Casualties -- Bloomberg
Recent blast in downtown Odessa qualified as terrorist attack - interior ministry -- ITAR-TASS
Kiev Says Situation Stabilized in East Ukraine As Ceasefire Holds -- Sputnik
Ukraine military accuse militants of 8 breaches of truce from March 27 until March 28 -- Kyiv Post
Ukrainian Military Violated Ceasefire 27 Times in One Day – Donetsk Militia -- Sputnik
Ukraine's military spokesman: Russian-backed militants using grad rockets on Ukrainian positions -- Ukraine Today
Ukraine accuses rebels of firing Grad rockets -- Zee News
Separatists In Eastern Ukraine Expected To Target Mariupol -- NPR
Ukraine prospects of peace: Monitoring a ceasefire -- BBC
Civilian Casualties Push Men to Join Rebels in Eastern Ukraine -- VOA
Ravaged east Ukraine village reveals cost of war -- AFP
Judge looks to build 'new society' in Ukraine rebel bastion -- AFP
Ukraine monitors find 'catastrophic' damage in Donetsk towns -- Sydney Morning Herald/Bloomberg
EU-Ukraine Summit Set for Late April in Kyiv -- VOA
EU-Ukraine summit to take place on April 27: Poroshenko -- AFP
Exclusive: West holds off on Ukraine aid pledges, seeking reforms -- Reuters
Ukraine's debt rescue plan is in trouble -- AFP
Ukraines's $3bn debt to Russia puts multibillion dollar IMF package at risk -- RT
Russia is digging in its heels on its $3 billion loan to Ukraine -- Business Insider
What’s $3 Billion Between Enemies? Ukraine and Russia Battle Over Debt Terminology -- WSJ
Fall of oligarch who bankrolled Ukraine's war -- The Telegraph
Residents in Eastern Ukraine City Rally Against Separatism -- NYT
Meet the 'pocket army' funded by sacked Ukrainian billionaire Igor Kolomoisky -- Business Insider
Ukraine Unity Holds Up as Backers of Ousted Governor Hold Rally -- Bloomberg
Ukrainian oligarchs' private armies flex their muscles -- Deutsche Welle
Podcast: Can Ukraine's Oligarchs Be Housebroken? -- Radio Free Europe
Biggest Threat to Poroshenko His Inner Circle: Kolomoiskyi on His Dismissal -- Sputnik
AP Interview: Ukraine PM: Russia could start new offensive, aims to erase Kiev's independence -- AP
No One Sees Easy Way Out on Ukraine -- Steven EErlanger, NYT
The Political Perils of a Ukraine Default -- Marc Champion, Bloomberg
Ukraine: Divided and Bitter -- Tim Judah, New York Review Of Books