From our news desk:
Five government soldiers have been killed and 28 wounded in the past day in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military said on October 7 the latest casualties bring to 956 the number of servicemen killed since the fighting between pro-Russian separatists and government troops began in April.
Meanwhile, officials in the eastern rebel-run regions of Luhansk and Donetsk said seven civilians died in the latest fighting.
Clashes continued in Ukraine despite the signing of a September 5 cease-fire agreement.
The heaviest clashes are reported around the rebel-held city of Donetsk, where government forces are holding on to the airport.
Also on October 7, Berlin said a convoy of 112 trucks carrying German aid crossed into Ukraine from Poland.
The aid includes mobile kitchens, heating gear, generators, winter clothing, and blankets.
Worn on clothes, portrayed as Hercules, and adorned by singing children. Our Moscow correspondent Tom Balmforth gives a rundown of what's planned for Putin's birthday.
An excerpt from the Reuters story "Floods Of Ukrainian Refugees Seek New Life In Russia" by Olesya Astakhova:
BELGOROD, Russia -- After three days trapped in a cellar by shelling, Svetlana and Sergei Divenko left their home in eastern Ukraine and fled to Russia with their two children and a single bag.
The two-day, 250-km car journey from the city of Slovyansk to the quiet provincial city of Belgorod in June was the most hazardous of their life, taking them across territory hit by fighting and through six checkpoints.
"My son may never pick up a toy gun again. The children had guns pointed at them at checkpoints. They were pale with fear," said Svetlana Divenko, a 28-year-old housewife.
But like many other Russian-speaking east Ukrainians, discontent with the economic situation at home and resentful of Ukraine's Western-looking leaders, the Divenko family headed to Russia not only to seek safety but in search of a better life.
The United Nations says more than 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict. A Russian immigration official last week also put the number of Ukrainian refugees now in Russia at 1 million although Ukrainian officials say the number is vastly exaggerated by Moscow for political reasons.
Read the full story here.
Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council:
From a commentary by Marcel Michelson in "Forbes" online today titled "Ukraine's Fragile Truce Is Thin Veneer For Uneasy Truth":
Any outcome of the explosive situation would hinge on a compromise and needs to take account of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s psychological make-up. Putin cannot be seen as “losing” this chess game. Whatever person is lurking in the background to replace Putin in Russia, it is not in Europe’s or the United States’ interest to stick their noses in that hornet’s nest. There also is no guarantee that any successor to Putin will be less nationalistic.
Putin cannot “win” either and get international backing for his land grabs.
The end-game needs to be focused on the continued territorial integrity of the countries bordering with Russia. It also needs to grant as much autonomy and self-determination as possible to the regions in those countries – and not just the trouble regions.
Above all, there has to be recognition and freedom for the Russian speakers. The non-citizenship issue in Latvia, and Estonia, is a disgrace for those countries and for the European Union. It smells of a kind of apartheid or other special status that western democracies fought hard against in other decades and centuries.
Read the full commentary here.