About two dozen women and children from the embattled city of Luhansk arrived by train on July 9 in Lviv, in the west of Ukraine. Parents said they left Luhansk fearing for the health and safety of their children as fighting intensified in the city between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces. According to official information, some 3,300 people from Ukraine's southeast have found refuge in Lviv. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
First wedding in the "'Donetsk People's Republic." They don't look very happy.
OK, they look a bit happier here.
Video from our Ukraine Service. Activists staged a rally in central Kyiv on July 11 demanding the immediate release of Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot held in Russia. (Read our profile of her here.) Savchenko was seized by pro-Russian separatists in June near Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.
She was turned over to authorities in Russia, where she faces charges of complicity in the June 17 killing of two Russian journalists who died in the fighting near Luhansk. The protesters in Kyiv held up banners that read, "Ukraine Needs Nadiya," which also translates as "Ukraine Needs Hope."
This is what Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said earlier today at a news conference in Kyiv.
"All those who used a 'Grad' multiple-rocket launcher against the Ukrainian armed forces will be found and destroyed. For every life of our servicemen, rebels will pay with tens and hundreds of lives. None of the terrorists will avoid responsibility. Each of them will get what he deserves. [Ukrainian President] Petro Poroshenko stressed that."
News just in from Brussels:
The European Union, Russia, and Ukraine on July 11 agreed to set up a consultation mechanism to address Russian concerns about Ukraine's Association Agreement signed with the EU last month.
Under the consultation mechanism, Russian will circulate a list of precise concerns or potential risks it feels might affect its economy as a result of the EU’s June 20 deal with Ukraine.
Experts from the three sides will try during the summer to find solutions to problems presented by Moscow that are related to technical regulations, standards, and customs.
The experts are to present a final report no later than September 1.
The EU trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and Russia’s Minister for Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev are due to meet in Brussels on September 12 to discuss remaining concerns.