Good morning, we're starting the live blog this morning with the news that rebels have fled their stronghold in Slavyansk. From our news desk:
Ukraine's interior minister says most pro-Russian rebels and their top commander have fled their eastern stronghold of Slavyansk.
Arsen Avakov told reporters in Kyiv July 5, "This morning, intelligence reported that Girkin (Igor Strelkov) and a substantial part of the rebels had fled Slavyansk" amid intense fighting overnight.
Routing of the rebels in Slavyansk would be Kyiv's biggest success of its nearly three-month campaign to regain control of separatist-held parts of its eastern region.
Insurgents took over Slavyansk, an industrial city of nearly 120,000, on April 6.
Barring any major developments, this ends the live blogging for today.
From our news desk:
Ukraine's parliament has approved a draft law that would give the government more control over the energy sector.
Parliament also approved, in a first reading, a bill that would allow consortiums with European and American companies to operate and modernize Ukraine's ageing gas transportation system.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told parliament on July 4 that Russia was "trying to tighten as many screws as possible."
He urged parliament to give Kiev the right to declare a "state of emergency" in the energy sector.
Russia – Kiev’s main supplier of gas and natural gas for Europe via Ukraine – halted supplies to Ukraine in June in a dispute over unpaid bills.
Moscow has hinted it will take retaliatory trade measures against Ukraine over its signature last month of a free trade deal with the EU.
BREAKING: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has told EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton he's ready to convene new European-mediated crisis talks with separatist leaders and Russian officials July 5.
Poroshenko's office said July 4 that "Ukraine has proposed a place and time for the meeting and is waiting the other party's confirmation."
A "contact group" is to work out conditions for a ceasefire.
The group includes a former Ukrainian president, Moscow's ambassador to Kyiv and a high-ranking official from the OSCE.
ITAR-TASS reports that French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also held joint telephone conversations with Poroshenko on July 4
Hollande and Merkel "called for soonest fulfilment of the agreements" reached by France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine in Berlin June 2 to relaunch the peace process.
From our news desk:
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay says renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine is putting civilians at increasing risk.
Pillay said July 4 in Geneva that since the end of Kyiv's cease-fire on 30 June, the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has reported numerous cases of death of people in Donetsk and Luhansk who are caught in the middle of ongoing security operations.
Pillay said she was also concerned by rising hate speech.
She said she was particularly disturbed by a message on the website of one leader of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’, which states that underage children and women are legitimate targets and that the goal is to ‘immerse them in horror’.
“Such blatant incitement to violence is utterly reprehensible and a clear violation of international human rights law.” Pillay said.
BREAKING: Kyiv has said it is prepared to open fire on Russian helicopters if they violate its airspace.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy told a press conference that Ukraine has registered violations of its airspace by Russian helicopters over the past day and is ready to open fire on any aircraft continuing to do so.
More details from our news desk on Ukraine's claim that its forces have killed 150 militants in the east.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian army's operation in eastern Ukraine says government forces killed 150 militants near the town of Mykolayivka, outside of Slovyansk in Donetsk region.
Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy said one Ukrainian soldier was killed and another four injured in the fighting, which began on the evening of July 3 and was aimed at sealing off the town.
Separately, residents of Donetsk city report hearing sounds of fighting involving heavy artillery overnight.
A city administration spokesman told reporters the fighting was near the villages of Peski and Karlivka.
There are no immediate reports of casualties.
Meanwhile, the head of the separatist Luhansk People's Republic,Valery Bolotov, has dismissed his administration.
A statement on the self-declared republic's website said Bolotov had appointed Marat Bashirov as his acting prime minister, and Dmytro Semenov and Vasyl Nikitin as acting first deputy prime ministers.
No reasons for the dismissal of the former administration were given.