Powerful feature from the BBC that looks at how the shooting began on February 20 last year.
"Protest organisers have always denied any involvement - but one man told the BBC a different story."
Crimea gets a new area code:
Crimea's telephone network has been switched to Russian standards and a new area code has been designated for the area.
The press service for the so-called ministry of information of Crimea announced on February 12 that the previous Ukrainian code for the peninsula – 38 065 – was being changed to – 7 – the code for Russia, then 365.
Russia annexed Crimea in violation of international law last March shortly after the pro-Kremlin president of Ukraine was chased from power.
The so-called prime minister of Crimea, Pavel Aksyonov, said only the country and area code was being changed and individual home phone numbers would stay the same.
On February 11, Crimea's telephone and Internet connections were severed as Krymtelecom took over subscriber servicing.
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for tonight.
Good morning. Here's the key news from overnight:
-- European Union leaders have expressed caution about the peace deal hammered out for eastern Ukraine.
-- The World Bank has announced that it will provide Ukraine with up to $2 billion in support in 2015, with assistance focused on aiding the poor, supporting reforms and fighting corruption.
Also, the U.S. is warning the separatists:
The United States is warning pro-Russian separatists that efforts to grab land in Eastern Ukraine between now and when the cease-fire reached in Minsk goes into effect on February 15 (midnight Saturday night) will hurt the agreement.
"We are trying to send the message as strongly as we can that any effort to grab more land between now and Saturday night ... will seriously undercut this agreement and to warn against it in the strongest terms, " said a senior U.S. administration official on a conference call with reporters.
The official said that if the agreement is not implemented there will be "more costs" for Russia.
The official said that further sanctions and " security support" for Ukraine remain as options if the agreement fails.
From Glenn Kates' (@gkates) Rundown. Commentators/pundits respond to the Minsk deal.
After Minsk
# What's in and not in the deal; Questions and answers
# " A Time Bomb Wrapped in a Ukrainian Peace Deal" - Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
# Heavy shelling follows summit as both sides look to gain ground before ceasefire
# Ukraine headed for " total economic collapse"
# Ukrainian deputies give senator misleading photos
# Ukraine adds bonuses to try to rally troops
# "How the War in Ukraine Tears Apart Families and Friends Online" - Natalia Antonova, Bloomberg
This piece in Slate is not very optimistic about the peace deal:
"Most troubling about the new agreement is that Ukraine doesn’t regain “full control” over hundreds of miles of border with Russia until after local elections in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the passing of a new Ukrainian constitution with “the key element of decentralization”—both of which must happen before the end of 2015.
"In other words, Putin determines who and what crosses the border into Ukraine until he is satisfied the Kiev government has genuflected deeply enough. And if Poroshenko doesn’t survive the domestic political fight to implement the Minsk provisions—plenty of Ukrainians already consider him a traitor—then more chaos in Kiev can only open up new opportunities for the Kremlin."