Ukraine to start tackling corruption through national system of AC Bodies? Laws in first reading adopted http://t.co/MdCTXgbvma
— UNDPUkraine (@UNDPUkraine) October 7, 2014
Carrying water in Shaktyorsk, deep inside DNR territory. Most of town still without basic supplies. pic.twitter.com/GG9hRblR01
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) October 6, 2014
this is insane: a rebel 'republic' in Eastern Ukraine reportedly has voted to execute & jail homosexuals http://t.co/8StDjVqLmV
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) October 7, 2014
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:
