Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, speaking today to reporters in Kyiv:
"The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions remains tense. Rebels violate achieved agreements and in certain towns continue to shell positions of the antiterrorist forces. Ukrainian troops strictly abide by the cease-fire conditions and open fire only in response."
"The cease-fire allowed us to activate the process of the release of prisoners. Overall, according to information by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 648 people were freed, and the work is under way to free about 500 more prisoners."
Just in from our News Desk:
Malaysian Prime Minister Najif Tun Razak says a Dutch investigation suggests Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a ground-to-air missile on July 17 over eastern Ukraine.
Razak issued the statement after the Dutch Safety Board’s preliminary report on September 9 said the passenger plane was brought down by a large number of “high-energy objects” that penetrated the aircraft -- and that there were no indications the crash was caused by “technical faults” or "an error by the crew.”
All 298 people aboard, most of them Dutch citizens, died in the crash near the eastern Ukrainian town of Topez.
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on September 9 repeated their claim they did not have weaponry capable of shooting down the plane -- despite reports that a Russian-supplied BUK missile launcher was deployed in separatist territory and fired a missile at the time of the crash.
From our news desk:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he hopes that talks would start soon on the status of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been waging an armed rebellion.
Lavrov, in comments on September 9, also claimed there was a "heavy concentration" of government forces in an area northeast of Donetsk and accused Kyiv of preparing a strike against the rebels despite a cease-fire.
The separatists are seeking independence for eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where they declared so-called "people's republics."
The Ukrainian government has promised greater autonomy to the mainly Russian-speaking region, but rules out independence.
The cease-fire, which took effect on September 5, appears generally to hold, despite violations reported by both sides.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on September 6 that five Ukrainian servicemen have been killed during the cease-fire. (Reuters and ITAR-TASS)