Today's situation map by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council does show Debaltseve being encircled and attacked, as reported earlier:
LATEST on EU's new sanctions on Russia over actions in Ukraine:
The European Commission, the EU's executive, has drafted proposals for a new round of sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.
Proposals outlined in a document obtained by RFE/RL on September 3 include adding Russian state-owned defense and oil companies to the state-owned banks already barred from EU capital markets, and increasing curbs on the export to Russia of sensitive technology and goods with dual civilian-military uses.
The commission has also suggested adding all people and institutions "dealing with" separatist groups in eastern Ukraine to a list of those targeted by travel bans and asset freezes.
Media reports said a suggestion in the document that the EU could consider action within the Group of Seven and beyond to suspend Russian participation in cultural and sports events, such as the 2018 soccer World Cup, did not receive wide support.
EU governments are expected to decide on the proposals on September 5. (Reuters, AP, and dpa)
Russia's favorite volunteer separatist, Igor Girkin, continues to show signs he's not dead, as was rumored:
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council says 837 soldiers have died in its "antiterrorist" operation against separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Investigators to release a preliminary report on the Malaysia Airlines crash in July on Tuesday, AP reports:
Dutch authorities investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine say they will publish a preliminary report next Tuesday into the disaster that killed all 298 people on board.
The Dutch Safety Board said in a statement Thursday the report "will present factual information based on sources available" to its investigators.
Those sources include satellite imagery, radar details and data from the plane's "black box" recorders. Dutch investigators have not visited the site in conflict-ravaged Ukraine where wreckage of the plane plunged to the ground on July 17.
The jet was shot down while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists.
Tuesday's report will set out what investigators believe happened, but will not apportion blame.