A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.
-- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says that Moscow and Kyiv have reached a "mutual understanding" on key parts of a plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko for ending violence in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
-- Reports say up to 20 armed gunmen were trying to seize property from a factory (Topaz) that makes communications and electronic-warfare equipment in the Donetsk region.
-- A deputy foreign minister says Russia will consider any expansion of NATO forces near its borders a "demonstration of hostile intentions" and "take the necessary political and military-technological measures to support our security."
-- A two-man crew for Russian Zvezda TV arrived in Moscow after being released from detention in Ukraine.
-- Serbian officials say their own work on the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline will have to be suspended after Bulgaria stopped construction of its portion based on EU and U.S. concerns.
-- Ukrainian security forces are reportedly still battling pro-Russian separatists in the east near Slovyansk and Donetsk.
*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
The barricades on Kyiv's Independence Square are coming down, but not without a fight.
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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is again denying having sent fighters to Ukraine, despite the presence of the Vostok Battalion, which was formed in Chechnya. From our news desk:
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has denied sending Chechen fighters to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine but said some could have gone "voluntarily."
In an interview to be aired on Russian television on May 31, Kadyrov said he had recognized some of the fighters in pictures from Ukraine.
Kadyrov said: "We did not send them; They are absolutely not our staff."
Kadyrov put the number of Chechen fighters in eastern Ukraine at 14.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had expressed concerns about reports of foreign fighters, including Chechens, crossing into Ukraine from Russia.
The Moscow-backed Chechen leader did not rule out sending Chechen fighters to Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders him to do so to protect the Russian-speaking minority there. (Reuters, ITAR-TASS, and Rian.ru)
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As former British diplomat Andrew Wood tells our Ukrainian Service, President-elect Petro Poroshenko may have no choice but to push for real change. Read more here (in Ukrainian).
