Here's more on that upcoming prisoner swap, courtesy of RFE/RL's news desk:
Kyiv, Separatists Agree On Prisoner Exchange In Eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists have agreed on a major prisoner exchange that will take place on December 27.
The announcement was made on December 25 by separatist leaders and a Ukrainian government representative in televised comments after a meeting in Moscow.
The meeting was mediated by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill in Moscow's Svyato-Danilov Monastery.
Later on the day, Iryna Herashchenko, first deputy speaker of parliament in Ukraine wrote on her Facebook account: "Seventy-four Ukrainians will be released [by the separatists] on December 27. We will exchange them for 306 persons."
Separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko said the two sides had agreed that the swap would be held "under the 306 for 74 formula."
It was not immediately clear if this covers all prisoners of war.
Some reports claim Ukraine has 306 separatist fighters in custody, while the separatists are holding 74 government soldiers.
However, Patriarch Kirill said he hopes that the “upcoming prisoner exchange would begin the process, because not all of those who remain in captivity… have been included in the list.”
Fighting between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.
At a meeting in Minsk on December 20, representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the separatists, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that they had agreed on a holiday cease-fire starting at midnight on December 23.
The cease-fire was agreed "in connection with the forthcoming Christmas and New Year festivities" and existing agreements and obligations, said an OSCE statement.
However, on December 25, both sides in the conflict made claims acusing each other of violating the cease-fire agreement.
Several cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have failed to hold.
With reporting by Interfax, unian.net, and AP
And here's a few other things that caught our eye overnight (including some news of a planned prisoner swap):
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this photo story. (It's not really related to the crisis, but we thought it's worth putting here given what day it is.)
Barring any major developments, that concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Sunday, December 24, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.