Ukraine's separatists are planning local elections, our news desk reports:
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine say they will elect leaders and legislatures on November 2.
Aleksandr Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told the Interfax news agency, "On November 2 we plan elections for the Supreme Soviet [parliament] and elections for the leader of the republic."
Separatists in the neighboring Luhansk region also said they would hold elections on the same day.
Speaking on September 23, Zakharchenko said that separatists would not allow other elections, including next month's poll for Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, to take place on the territory under their control.
The Ukrainian parliamentary election has been scheduled for October 26.
Ukraine has granted separatist-held areas limited self-rule for three years as part of an effort to end an armed conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April. (AFP and Interfax)
From our news desk:
The commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet says 80 more new warships will be added to the force by 2020, bringing the total to 206.
In comments made to President Vladimir Putin on September 23 as he visited the port city of Novorossiisk, Vice Admiral Aleksandr Vitko also said a second base for the fleet will be completed near Novorossiisk by 2016.
This will be in addition to the main base at Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March.
Russia began builfing the Novorossiisk base long before the annexation, when Ukrainian authorities were seeking to limit how long the Russian Navy could use the Sevastopol base.
Vitko said the new base was still needed because of what he said was NATO's expanded presence in the Black Sea. (Reuters and Interfax)
A bit more from our news desk on the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front lines in eastern Ukraine:
Pro-Russian rebels say both sides in the conflict in eastern Ukraine have withdrawn some artillery from front-line positions in keeping with an agreement signed on September 20.
The deal called for the Ukrainian military and rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to create a 30-kilometer-wide buffer zone by pulling back heavy artillery.
The withdrawals could strengthen a cease-fire that has been marred by violations but is seen as a crucial step toward ending the conflict, which has killed more than 3,000 people since April and severely strained relations between Russia and the West.
The prime minister of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, said separatist forces "have withdrawn artillery but only in those areas where the Ukrainian regular units have done the same."
Separatists in Luhansk also reported a partial withdrawal by Ukrainian government forces.
Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council:
