Internal Security News:

• Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated that the military would continue operations, despite Russian military drills near the eastern border. The interim government also warned that any Russian troop crossings would be seen as an invasion.

• Serhiy Pashinskiy, aide to acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov, said that the anti-militant operation had now entered its "second stage," aimed at encircling Sloviansk and cutting off additional supplies or support.

• An explosion at an Odessa checkpoint injured seven people and is being investigated as a “terrorist attack”.

• (RIA Novosti) Dozens of Russian special service agents have been detained in Ukraine, according to Sergei Pashinsky, acting head of the Ukrainian presidential administration.

• Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy did not rule out the possibility of Russian troops invading Ukraine.

International Observation News:

• (Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that it had lost contact with members of an OSCE military verification mission in Donetsk. “According to preliminary reports, they could be captured by terrorists,” said the ministry's information policy department.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) An International Criminal Court prosecutor started a preliminary inquiry into crimes committed before and during Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was removed from office.

Diplomacy News:

• According to a White House statement, the U.S. is prepared to enact new sanctions against Russia. President Obama said that he will speak with key European leaders to ensure they share “his assessment in terms of what has happened since the Geneva talks.”

• In a phone call, German Chancellor Merkel told Russian President Putin that he had not done enough to back the Geneva accord on Ukraine.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of wanting to "seize" Ukraine, amid escalating rhetoric between Russia and the U.S. RIA Novosti reported that Lavrov stated: “We won’t force anyone; we won’t blackmail anyone with threats that if you don’t vote like we want you to, we’ll cut your aid. That’s how the Americans do it when they collect votes from around the world.”
   
• Standard & Poor’s downgraded Russia’s foreign currency rating from BBB to BBB- with ‘negative’ outlook. Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev said the move was expected and partly politically motivated.

• (ITAR-TASS) The Russian State Duma appointed parliamentary elections in Crimea on September 14, 2014.

Governance News:  

• U.S. President Obama said that Kiev authorities are doing their part to uphold the deal reached in Geneva. “What we see from the conclusions of the Geneva agreement is that the Ukrainian authorities are implementing its provisions.”

• The Regions Party will not nominate a candidate for Kyiv mayor, said the Regions Party head of city branch, Nestor Shufrych.