Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine in English by the National Security and Defense Council:
Former Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin talks to Reuters today in Moscow about the impact of international sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukrainian conflict:
"The impact from sanctions will amount to about 1 percent of the potential GDP growth. So the GDP growth will be 1 percent less than it could have been without sanctions. The current slowdown in Russia is not caused by sanctions but by the absence of reforms in the economic system in the environment when oil prices are not rising but rather falling and our growth is declining. We need a different economic model, and it has not been produced."
"Speaking of losses, 1 percent of the GDP growth amounts to 700 billion rubles this year -- it's a loss of more than $20 billion just in GDP growth. And there will be more costs. The spending required on the Crimean territory will amount to about $3 billion annually. Additionally, there will be some extra expenses for security structures and a compensation for the impact of sanctions on our companies."
"There is a recession risk. We will be balancing on the edge of zero growth and a recession. Provided that no more sanctions are imposed, we will be balancing like that for a minimum of three years and possibly more depending on the resolution of the situation."