Corey Flintoff

Following the downing of the Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine, local residents have been talking about the event — but the picture is being distorted by a propaganda campaign in local media.

The first investigators have reached the crash site of the Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, fighting flared in Donetsk between separatists and armed groups supporting the government.

At the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine, international observers are trying to keep tabs on the rebels' treatment of victims' bodies and potential evidence from the scene.

NPR Moscow correspondent Corey Flintoff, who is following the investigation into the Malaysia Airlines flight that was apparently shot down, answers questions about how it's developing.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are now members of the EU and NATO, but they have painful memories of the Soviet occupation. The Baltic states are asking for a bigger NATO presence in their countries.

Russia says it has cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine after Kiev missed a deadline to pay part of its huge outstanding energy debt.

Moscow has been talking lately about "color revolutions" as a new form of warfare employed by the West. The name comes from the Orange and Rose Revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia, respectively, but it's now being applied to popular rebellions such as those in Egypt and Syria. While Russia accuses the West of this kind of subversion, it seems to be following the same playbook in eastern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will respect the outcome of the upcoming election in Ukraine but later said he still has concerns about the legitimacy of the vote.

There are increasing signs of friction between pro-Moscow separatists and local residents in eastern Ukraine, as some local people demand an end to the violence and lawlessness in the region.

Residents of eastern Ukraine are trying to figure out what happens next, now that pro-Russian separatists have claimed independence. But there's even disagreement over what's feasible.