Fighting raged in the city of Donetsk on Sunday, as government forces continued to close in on the rebel stronghold and pro-Russian insurgents backed away from an unconditional cease-fire offer that they announced just the day before.
Russia will ban all imports of food from the United States and all fruit and vegetables from Europe, Reuters reported.
NATO is concerned that Russia has massed 20,000 combat-ready troops along Ukraine’s eastern border and could use the pretext of a humanitarian or peace-keeping mission to invade.
The United States released a series of satellite images Sunday that appear to support its claims that Russian forces have fired across the border into Ukraine to support rebels there, suggesting a new level of direct Russian involvement in the conflict, USA Today reported.
A senior Ukrainian separatist leader handled over the remains of nearly 300 victims and the black boxes of the Malaysian Airlines plane downed last week, Reuters reported.
Russia supplied sophisticated missile launchers to separatists in Eastern Ukraine, a U.S. official told the Washington Post. Meanwhile, separatists prevented international investigators from gaining unfettered access to the crash site on Saturday.
A Malaysia Airlines plane with 295 people on board was shot down over Ukraine, Sky News reported.
Russia is considering ‘surgical retaliatory strikes’ after a Russian citizen was killed over the weekend, RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine accused Russia of building up its troops along its border and said Russian Army officers joined separatists fighting against government troops.
Three bridges were destroyed on roads leading to the pro-Russian separatist controlled city of Donetsk on Monday.
After several days of intense battles, Ukrainian troops finally raised its country’s flag over the eastern city of Slovyansk — a key pro-Russian separatist stronghold, marking the end of the separatist’s rule over the city.
Ukrainian forces launched new military operations against pro-Russian separatists, hours after the expiration of a unilateral cease-fire.
Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova signed sweeping trade and political agreements with the European Union, risking a widening rift with Russia who strongly opposed any deal.
Hours before Ukraine signs a trade agreement with the European Union, Pro-Russian separatists defied a government ceasefire and attacked Ukrainian government forces at an airport in east Ukraine.
An economic trade agreement between Ukraine and the European Union that served as a catalyst for months of protests, the exile of former Ukrainian president, and the death of scores of Ukrainians, is set to be signed on Friday.
Pro-Russian Militas took control of a tank base in Ukraine seizing 221 tanks, 288 armored vehicles, 12 self-propelled guns, 18 Grad volley fire systems, 183 infantry vehicles, and 12 mortars, Interfax reported.
Over 65,000 Russian troops were placed on combat alert and ordered to take part in readiness drills by Russian President Vladmir Putin. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department levied sanctions against seven separatists with broader measures being readied against finance, defense, and technology industries, Bloomberg reported.
Ukraine announced it may declare a “temporary, unilateral, cease-fire” in the eastern part of Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Russia has amassed as many as 38,000 soldiers on its borders with Ukraine and continues to supply arms and personnel to rebel forces in the eastern part of the country, Ukraine’s National Security Council chief said.
NATO provided new satellite images that reveal Russian tanks are operating in the eastern part of Ukraine and raise significant questions concerning Russia’s role in ‘facilitating instability’ in the region.