From our News Desk:
The Russian ruble fell to a historic low against the U.S. dollar after the West imposed new sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.
The ruble slumped to 38.04 to the dollar shortly after markets opened in Moscow on September 15.
It was the first time the ruble has weakened beyond the rate of 38 to the dollar.
The euro also rose against the Russian currency, reaching 49.25 rubles shortly after markets opened.
The United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions against Russia on September 12, targeting banks and major energy and defense firms.
They have promised to scale back or cancel the measures if Russia abides by a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine and withdraws soldiers Kyiv and the West say Moscow has sent in to support pro-Russian separatists there.
This just in from Reuters:
A six-person international monitoring team came under shelling attack twice in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Sunday despite a cease-fire between government forces and pro-Russian separatists, a spokesman for the group said on Monday.
The incident, in which two marked vehicles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were badly damaged, highlighted the fragility of the truce struck this month in a conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people.
An OSCE statement said four shells had exploded about 200 meters away from a monitoring team that had gone to a Donetsk market place where there had been earlier reports of shelling.
After the team moved to another location, another mortar shell exploded close to where they were and the team pulled out of the area.
None of the OSCE team was injured, though the statement said the monitors had seen the body of a woman lying in the street in the market area.
More about the OSCE monitoring mission that found itself under attack in eastern Ukraine, despite the cease-fire. The chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, speaking on Monday to Reuters in Donetsk:
"We came under fire slightly north of the town of Kirovskoye and we spent 3 1/2 hours in our cars. We counted at least 40 mortar impacts just next to our cars. One of our cars was severely damaged. We then had to move into one car, then move back through Kirovskoye, down to the main road H21, and arrived here safe and sound just a few minutes ago."
"The conflict is not a conflict that stretches across the eastern part of Ukraine. It is patchy. It is between positions, and today we were in a situation where we were caught in between two positions of the two conflicting parties."
From our News Desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has submitted a bill on the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement to parliament.
The Verkhovna Rada made the announcement on its website on September 15.
Poroshenko signed the key trade and economic relations portion of the Association Agreement in Brussels on June 27. It provides for the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free-Trade Area (DCFTA) and closer economic integration.
However, Ukraine and the EU have agreed to put off implementation of the free-trade zone until December 31, 2015.
The Rada and the European Parliament are expected to simultaneously ratify the Association Agreement on September 16.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed potential damage from the agreement with his Security Council on September 15.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow will cancel its own free-trade agreement with Ukraine if it finds "hidden implementation" of the postponed EU-Ukraine deal, suggesting Russia would impose tariffs on Ukrainian imports.