The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Turchynov, has accused Russia of trying to derail the peace process in Donbas by holding elections there.
"Triggering the mechanism of fake elections on the occupied territory is a defiant exit of the Russian Federation and their marionettes from the peace processes defined by the Minsk agreement," he said.
"Elections in particular regions of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts may happen only after Russian forces leave these territories and we renew control over the border," Turchynov added.
Today, self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko announced that local elections on the territory he controls will take place on October 18. In Ukraine, local elections are scheduled for October 25.
Russia has yet to comment on the statements made by Turchynov and Zakharchenko.
Hromadske TV has shared photos of fortifications built around the southeastern port city of Mariupol:
Photos of Ukrainian soldiers making sushi have surfaced online.
"What happens when you mobilize a sushi chef," reads this tweet:
Two Ukrainian fighters have been wounded over the past 24 hours in Donbas, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko has said..
"The only hotspot in Luhansk Oblast was Krymske village. A few provocations took place there. For example, enemy snipers were working," he said.
Lysenko added that the separatists opened fire a few times, but they didn’t use heavy artillery. At the same time, everything was quiet around Horlivka, Dzerzhynsk, Yasynuvata, Avdiyivka, and Donetsk airport.
According to separatists in Donetsk, Ukrainian forces have not violated the cease-fire regime over the past 24 hours. At the same time, separatists in Luhansk said that Ukrainian forces had opened fire at them at least 10 times.
Kyiv expects all European countries to ratify the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU by the end of 2015, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said.
"We expect that by the end of this year our European partners will ratify this agreement," he said.
The document was signed in March 2014, but every EU member state, as well as all the governing bodies of the EU, have to ratify it separately. The process continues in four more countries -- the Czech Republic, Belgium, Greece, and Cyprus.