That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for November 9, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.
Russia-Installed Head Of Crimea's Capital Removed
By the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
The Russia-installed mayor of the capital of the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea has resigned at the request of the head of the region's Russian administration.
Simferopol municipal head Igor Lukashyov and his seven deputies stepped down on November 9, according to a press release from the office of the head of the Russian administration of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov.
Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and installed its own administration there, even though the takeover has been rejected by most of the international community.
Aksyonov said a new administration would be named next week.
Late last month, Aksyonov promised the shakeup, saying that the Simferopol authorities had overseen the "collapse" of city transport and waste management.
EU Again Condemns 'Elections' In Separatist-Held Parts Of Ukraine
By RFE/RL
The European Union has issued a statement rejecting "elections" scheduled for November 11 in the separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine, saying that they are a breach of international law and undermine the Minsk agreements aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
"The EU considers the 'elections' planned for November 11, 2018, in the nongovernment-controlled territories of the so-called 'Luhansk People's Republic' and 'Donetsk People's Republic' as illegal and illegitimate and will not recognize them," the November 10 EU statement said.
It also called on Russia "to make full use of its considerable influence over the separatists it backs" to ensure the speedy and complete implementation of the Minsk agreements "starting with a comprehensive cease-fire and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry."
The European Union, the United States, and UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo have previously rejected the planned votes.
Ukraine has also denounced the polls, which according to the 2015 Minsk agreements should be held under Ukrainian law.
"I expect that the fake elections that Russia decided to hold on November 11 will prompt the imposition of new sanctions and show that the West's patience is not unlimited," said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on November 7. "It is time now to talk not about easing the sanctions on Russia but about tightening them."
Russia provides military, political, and economic support to the separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.
In November 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) determined the conflict to be "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."
More than 10,300 people have been killed since the violence erupted in April 2014, as Russia was fomenting separatism in eastern Ukraine after pro-European protests drove Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from power.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
