Ukrainian servicemen ride in a tank close to the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk, a facility which has been the site of intense fighting for several weeks.
Re-upping our interactive map on the humanitarian situation -- where displaced persons are going. If it's unwieldy navigating this in the embed below, just click HERE for a full-page version.
Hromadske TV quotes Ukrainian security official in this report alleging that "Luhansk pseudorepublic" separatists tried to strong-arm miners from the Komsomolskaya mine into fighting for them.
11:0619.6.2014
President Poroshenko relief...
...as newly appointed Prosecutor-General Vitaly Yarema (bottom) and outgoing acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia (top right) congratulate newly appointed Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin after parliamentary voting on June 19.
11:0719.6.2014
11:1819.6.2014
"At least a few thousand more Russian troops" in buildup on border with Ukraine, says NATO's secretary-general, via Reuters:
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday that at least a few thousand more Russian troops were now at Ukraine's eastern border, a build-up he called a regrettable step backwards.
"We now see a new Russian military build-up around the Ukrainian border. At least a few thousand more Russian troops are now deployed," Rasmussen said in London.
"I consider this a very regrettable step backwards. It seems Russia keeps the option open to intervene further in Ukraine," he said. "The international community would have to respond in a firm manner if Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine."
He added: "That would imply deeper ... economic sanctions against Russia which would have a very damaging effect on the Russian economy."
11:2219.6.2014
11:4119.6.2014
12:2319.6.2014
Here's a wrap up from our news desk on Poroshenko's key appointments:
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has received parliamentary backing for his nominations to several key posts in his new team.
The parliament on June 19 endorsed Poroshenko's nominations for foreign minister, central bank chief, and prosecutor-general, with each of the candidates winning more than two-thirds of parliament's votes.
Pavlo Klimkin, until now ambassador to Germany, was approved as foreign minister.
Klimkin, 46, has played a key role in negotiating the association and free-trade agreements with the European Union, which Ukraine is expected to sign later this month.
Klimkin is currently Poroshenko's representative in OSCE-mediated negotiations with Russia that were launched in Kyiv.
Russia's RIA state news agency quoted the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin as saying "we wish the new minister success and are ready for contact with him."
Valeriya Hontareva, an investment banker who has worked in international financial institutions for nearly two decades, is the new head of the central bank.
Vitaliy Yarema, currently first deputy prime minister, becomes prosecutor-general.
Presenting Yarema's nomination, Poroshenko said he would a key figure in the fight against corruption in the country.
Poroshenko still has to announce his nominations for defense minister and the head of the SBU state security service -- two other key posts as government forces clash with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
