The Ukrainian border authority says 58 border guards have been killed so far in eastern Ukraine, Interfax reports.
From Reuters:
Ukraine's president said on Wednesday Russia had removed the bulk of its forces from his country, raising hopes for a peace drive now underway after five months of conflict in which more than 3,000 people have been killed.
Moscow denies sending troops into eastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian rebels battling Ukrainian forces, despite what Kiev and its Western backers say is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Moscow also denies arming the separatists.
President Petro Poroshenko told a televised cabinet meeting Ukraine would remain a sovereign, united country under the terms of a peace roadmap approved last Friday, but said parts of the east under rebel control would get special status.
"According to the latest information I have received from our intelligence, 70 percent of Russian troops have been moved back across the border," Poroshenko said. "This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects."
Interfax and other reports suggest Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko -- who is being held in Rostov by Russian authorities -- is on the list of captive prisoners to be swapped as a result of the Minsk protocol.
A prisoner exchange between Kyiv forces and pro-Russian separatists planned for today was postponed until tomorrow, according to reports from earlier today.
Here's a tweet from Savchenko's lawyer from this morning in which he says, "It's time to end the shameful story of the kidnapping and criminal prosecution of Nadiya Savchenko."
Here's our story from July about Savchenko's plight.
ITAR-TASS quotes Russian naval commander saying, following what Russian authorities called a successful test launch this morning, that Russia will conduct two more Bulava test launches from nuclear submarines this year:
The forthcoming launches of ballistic submarine-based missiles Bulava will be carried out in October and November this year from two nuclear-powered strategic submarines of the Borei project, the Navy's commander-in-chief, Admiral Viktor Chizhov, told the media on Wednesday.
"In October and November the Navy is to carry out two launches from two submarines carrying ballistic missiles," he said.
This will take the total number of this year's Bulava launches to three.
Via Reuters:
The European Union should go ahead with the announcement of new economic sanctions against Russia, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, adding that they could always be suspended at a later date if there was substantial progress towards a peace plan for Ukraine.
"In view of the current situation, which has indeed brought an improvement in relation to military activities - it is not a 100 percent ceasefire but it's an improvement - the lack of clarity on many other points I named means we are in favour of making these sanctions public now," Merkel told the German parliament.
The chancellor added that Germany would be "the first" to recommend suspending the sanctions if a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine is implemented.
Thousands of mourners paid their respects to six Ukrainian army soldiers at a funeral in the town of Sumy yesterday. Afterward there were chants of "Heroes never die." It was the first multiple burial in Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, since fighting with separatists began in April. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
