Russia says truce holding in Ukraine but little progress on peace plan
MOSCOW, Sept 8 (Reuters) -- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday fighting has died down in east Ukraine since a new truce was put in place on Sept. 1 but blamed Kiev for not moving forward on other provisions of a peace plan brokered by Germany and France.
"A relative stabilisation has indeed taken place from Sept.1 and there is practically no shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces of civilian populated areas in Donbas," Peskov told reporters, referring to the rebel-held east Ukraine.
"But if you look at other conceptual points of the Minsk agreements... unfortunately you cannot note progress, it is impossible," he said of the peace deal that also includes provisions of autonomy for the rebel regions, amnesty for fighters and other.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
UN: Nearly 8,000 People Killed In Ukraine Conflict
The United Nations says at least 7,962 people have been killed and 17,811 wounded in the conflict in Ukraine.
"This is a conservative estimate and the actual numbers could be considerably higher," the UN Human Rights Office said on September 8.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east broke out in April 2014.
A truce agreement reached in Minsk in February has been regularly violated.
Based on reporting by Reuters
Crimean Tatars Plan Protest At Peninsula's Boundary
KYIV -- Leaders of the Crimean Tatars say they are planning a protest action at the border with Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014.
The head of the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, told reporters in Kyiv on September 8 that Tatar activists will block roads and checkpoints to Crimea later in September in order to prevent Ukrainian goods from entering the peninsula.
Chubarov added that the exact date will be announced next week.
The veteran leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, criticized Ukrainian businesses for sending their products to Russia via Crimea.
Prices of clothes and agricultural products are higher in Russia that in Ukraine.
Dzhemilev said such activities contradict the Ukrainian government's political stance on Crimea's annexation.
He added that Crimean Tatar leaders will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko next week to discuss the issue.