More on Pavel Gubarev:
An excerpt from RFE/RL's "On The Front Lines In Donetsk, Life Is Both Normal -- And Far From It," an interview with Donetsk resident Enrique Menendez about what life is like in the city these days:
"There are four neighborhoods in Donetsk that are coming under regular artillery fire, and, of course, life is worse there. Utilities have been damaged; people have outages of power, water, gas supplies. But that's not happening in the center. All of the utilities in the center are working fine, except hot water. We have electricity. And people are looking for things to do to help escape the reality of what's going on. So the philharmonic is open, the theater season has begun. They've even opened one of the central movie theaters back up with a whole lineup of new films."
Read the entire interview here.
More from the French news agency AFP on the sacking of Ukraine's defense minister:
President Petro Poroshenko will nominate his fourth defense minister of the year Monday, after dismissing the incumbent ahead of high-level talks with Moscow aimed at bringing peace to the Western-backed former Soviet state.
Poroshenko's official website said he would nominate a new defense chief after "accepting the resignation" of Valeriy Geletey, who was only appointed in July.
The sacking highlighted a sense of failure that has enveloped the once-proud force as the six-month conflict with pro-Russian rebels drags on and the death toll from fighting approaches 3,400.
The military's performance has humiliated Ukrainians who had been celebrating the success of a bloody popular uprising that ousted the then Kremlin-backed leader in February and propelled Kyiv on its Westward course.
Geletey's removal threatens to undermine Poroshenko's position ahead of a crunch meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Milan on Friday that will also include German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Kremlin said Merkel -- a vocal Poroshenko ally who helped arrange the two leaders' first meeting on the sidelines of a Normandy summit in June -- called Putin on Sunday "to discuss preparations" for Milan.
Poroshenko told the nation he had "no illusions" going into his fourth meeting with Putin since rising to power in May.
"These will not be easy negotiations, but I am ready for them," Poroshenko said in a Sunday evening television address.
"My goal (is) our country's unshakable independence, its territorial integrity, the inviolability of its borders, and the return of peace," he said.