Here is the latest map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, according to Kyiv's National Security and Defense Council:
Agence France-Presse: Hospital hit in east Ukraine rebel stronghold #Donetsk http://t.co/IUPUKkiPz2
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) August 24, 2014
Conflicting reports on #Telmanove.Locals don't confirm their town being seized by pro-#Russia militants pic.twitter.com/7nwzrgw0wO tnx @IgorZ_ua
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) August 24, 2014
Separatists show off remains of #Ukraine APCs, trucks on Lenin Square countering Kiev's independence day celebrations pic.twitter.com/dPsImkXAnR
— Thomas Grove (@tggrove) August 24, 2014
Seeing DPR & Ukrainian reports about attacks on Novoazovsk and Telmanovo - Ukrainian-held towns on the Russian border by the Sea of Azov.
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) August 24, 2014
There is a report that the Russian army has moved 250+ armored vehicles & artillery pieces into Amvrosiivka #Ukraine http://t.co/hFZn35ubgX
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) August 24, 2014
Here is another update on Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukraine is marking 23 years of independence amid the ongoing crisis in the east of the country.
President Petro Poroshenko has presided over a military parade in Kyiv's Independence Square -- known locally as the "Maidan" -- where armored vehicles armed with antitank weapons and machine-guns and trucks towing missile systems followed behind columns of soldiers.
Crowds of Ukrainians, many sporting the national colors of blue and yellow, sang the country's anthem as the flag was raised.
Speaking to the crowd of thousands in the square, Poroshenko announced that Ukraine will spend some $3 billion on re-equipping the army in 2015-2017.
The Ukrainian defense ministry says its current budget is $1.5 billion.
Poroshenko said Ukraine would be under constant military threat for the foreseeable future.
The anniversary comes as tensions continue in the country's east, where pro-Russian rebels still hold two major cities, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukrainian forces have encircled the two rebel strongholds.
Meanwhile, a shell hit a hospital in central Donetsk in the early hours on August 24, damaging a morgue and two other hospital buildings.
Medical officials said the staff and patients were sent to a basement shelter. No one was hurt.
On August 23 shelling attacks killed six civilians – including a child -- in Donetsk's residential neighborhoods.
Kyiv accuses Moscow of sending in weapons and personnel through parts of the frontier controlled by the rebels. Russia denies the claim.
Russia unilaterally sent hundreds of aid trucks into Ukraine through a rebel-held border point on August 22, saying it had lost patience with Ukraine's delaying tactics, a move that Ukraine promptly described as an invasion.
By mid-afternoon on August 23, all the vehicles had returned to Russia, Paul Picard of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) told reporters in Donetsk.
Russia said the trucks carried only food, water, generators and sleeping bags to Luhansk.
Unrest in eastern Ukraine began in mid-April, one month after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 people have been killed, and some 340,000 forced to flee their homes during the conflict.
(AFP, AP, Interfax, Reuters)
And these are some of the Grad missile launchers that took part in today's parade to loud cheers. Did not enjoy that. pic.twitter.com/nfN0nligm1
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) August 24, 2014
Poroshenko does his meet the people thing pic.twitter.com/IyMcoyu3EN
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) August 24, 2014
Three choruses accompany parade: Glory to ukraine! // Glory to heroes... Glory to the nation! //Death to enemies... Putin // (unpublishable)
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) August 24, 2014