Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
Ukrainian Lawmakers Approve New Chief Of National Bank
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- Ukraine's parliament has approved Yakiv Smoliy as the new chief of the National Bank.
After lawmakers approved his nomination on March 15, Smoliy vowed to continue reforms.
"Our goal remains the same. First, to preserve financial stability. Second, to support economic development and integration of Ukraine's financial system into the European one," Smoliy told lawmakers.
President Petro Poroshenko nominated Smoliy to run the bank in January, ending months of uncertainty over the highly politicized position.
Poroshenko's delay in putting forward a candidate following the resignation of former governor Valeria Hontareva last May caused concern among Ukraine's backers, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Hontareva's efforts to clean up Ukraine's financial sector irked wealthy oligarchs who critics say have treated the country's banks like their private coffers.
Hontareva also came under fire from some ordinary Ukrainians who blamed her for losses they suffered after she was appointed to follow the IMF advice to partially abandon state support for the hryvnya currency.
With reporting by Reuters
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, March 15, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling today with a couple of tweets that caught our eye overnight: