From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Four Ukrainian soldiers were reported killed in or near separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.
Two soldiers died after being ambushed by separatists near the city of Luhansk, the Ukrainian military said.
In a separate incident, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two wounded in an explosion near Svitlodarsk in the nearby Donetsk region.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Saturday, November 10, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of out continuing coverage. Take care.
Ukraine Separatists Hold Polls Criticized By Kyiv, The West
Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine are holding elections considered by Kyiv and the West as “illegal” and a “mockery.”
The United States and European Union say the November 11 polls in the areas controlled by Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will further hamper efforts to end a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the elections "represent yet another example of Russian subversive activity."
Moscow disputes that the elections violate the Minsk agreements aimed at putting an end to the violence.
The Donetsk region's acting head, 37-year-old Denis Pushilin, is expected to win polls there. He has worked a series of jobs including casino croupier and pushing financial products for MMM, a successor to the infamous Russian Ponzi scheme that swindled tens of thousands after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The last separatist leader in Donetsk, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, died in an explosion in August. Moscow pointed the finger at Ukraine, while Kyiv blamed internal fighting between “the terrorists and their Russian sponsors."
In the neighboring Luhansk region, acting head Leonid Pasechnik is also expected to sail to victory. Pasechnik, 48, is a former regional chief of the Ukrainian security service.
Both Pushilin and Pasechnik have promised to seek tighter ties with Moscow.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
And in boxing news from overnight:
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, the world cruiserweight champion, successfully defended his four titles by knocking out Britain’s Tony Bellew in the eighth round.
The 31-year-old Usyk sent Bellew to the mat with a combination culminating with a looping left in Manchester on November 10.
It was Usyk’s 16th consecutive victory as a professional and could lead to him stepping up to the heavyweight classification. He holds the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO cruiserweight titles.
The 35-year-old Bellew had said this would be his last fight.
"Oleksandr Usyk is an exceptional champion," Bellew said. "Anyone who faces him is in trouble. Only the very best and very biggest will beat him."
Based on reporting by AP and the BBC
Some background on the polls in eastern Ukraine by our Ukraine correspondent Chris Miller:
We've updated our story on Russia-backed separatists holding elections in eastern Ukraine.
Good thread here: