We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
Good morning. We're going to get the live blog rolling today with a few things that caught our eye overnight:
Here's an item on the latest casualties in eastern Ukraine from our news desk:
One Ukrainian Soldier Killed In Conflict Zone, Defense Ministry Says
Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed and seven others wounded in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east.
The Defense Ministry said on February 21 that separatists violated a frequently breached cease-fire 15 times during the previous 24 hours, firing artillery, machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars.
Meanwhile, the separatists claimed that Ukrainian government forces violated the cease-fire 14 times using the same types of weapons.
Since April 2014, more than 10,300 people have been killed by fighting between Kyiv's forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
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.
A new cease-fire agreement was reached in late 2017 and was meant to begin on December 23, but both sides have accused each other of repeated violations since then.