From our news desk:
Ukraine is demanding that Russia immediately release a female military officer who was captured by pro-Russian separatists last month.
Media reports say Nadiya Savchenko has been transferred to a detention center in the Russian city of Voronezh.
That information has not been confirmed by Russian officials.
In a statement on July 8, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called Savchenko's reported transfer to Russia "yet another proof that terrorists" are operating in eastern Ukraine in cooperation with Russia's secret services.
"By kidnapping of Ukrainian citizens in our country," the statement said, "the Russian side violates not only all the norms of the international law, but also the basic rules of decency and morality."
The ministry demanded that Moscow bring to justice all those responsible for Savchenko's "illegal trafficking."
Savchenko, 31, a senior lieutenant in the Air Force, has been serving in Ukraine's armed forces for 10 years.
Video from Reuters. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko visited Ukrainian troops near the town of Izyum just outside the former rebel stronghold of Slovyansk on July 8. After inspecting weapons seized from separatist militants, Poroshenko told reporters there will be no street fighting in Donetsk. He called on pro-Russian rebels to lay down their arms and said he was committed to "decentralization" for the regions.
For some morning viewing, check out Simon Ostrovsky's latest video for VICE News.
"On July 5, the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk was recaptured by the Ukrainian military, driving out pro-Russia rebels and ending their three-month occupation. VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky travels back to Sloviansk and visits the cell in which he was held for days by those rebels in April. The city is in shambles and residents are struggling to find food and water despite a considerable humanitarian effort. The pro-Russia rebels have retreated to Donetsk, but the Ukrainian government is determined to pursue its anti-terror operation until there are no rebels left."
Good morning, starting up the live blog again.
Barring any major developments that ends today's live blogging.
Interesting piece of energy news, more than tangentially related to Ukraine (The pipeline bypasses it).
Russia's state-controlled Gazprom energy company says that its subsidiary, Tsentrgaz, has won a tender to build the Serbian stretch of the South Stream pipeline.
The announcement came as Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss cooperation, including in the energy sector.
Vucic said after the talks that an agreement on the construction of the Serbian portion of South Stream will be signed in the coming days.
He said earlier that only technical issues remained to be resolved before a deal is signed.
South Stream aims to transport Russian natural gas via the Black Sea and the Balkans to Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
Vucic also announced that Putin will visit Belgrade by the end of 2014, and said the visit testifies to the good relations between Russia and Serbia.
Video from our Ukrainian Service. Former Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko and several members of her Batkivshchyna political party arrived at a donor center in Kyiv today to donate blood for soldiers wounded in military operations against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
