There is still no confirmation from Kyiv on the line of demarcation that separatist leaders say Kyiv has agreed to. TASS Russian state news agency quotes Ravil Khalikov, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic:
"According to the [Ukrainian] variant, we were to yield a number of inhabited localities to them. But in the long run, our variant was adopted."
Putin is in Minsk, speaking at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Changes at the top in Donetsk
According to Interfax, Oleksandr Kikhtenko is replacing Serhiy Taruta as governor of Donetsk region.
Taruta had recently criticized Poroshenko's peace agreement and had also courted controversy by penning an open letter to Putin on his birthday (he called on Putin to have the "courage" and "wisdom" to stop the war in Donbas).
Here are some details about the dismissal of Serhiy Taruta from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has dismissed the pro-Kyiv head of the country's eastern Donetsk region.
Poroshenko announced the removal of Serhiy Taruta from his post during the Ukrainian president's visit to the town of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.
Poroshenko appointed Oleksandr Kikhtenko to be the new regional administration head.
No official reason has yet been given for Taruta's dismissal but Ukraine's UNIAN news agency reported the likely reason was that Taruta had recently sent a message of congratulations to the Russian president when Vladimir Putin marked his 62nd birthday.
(UNIAN, Interfax)
RFE/RL's Belarusian Service has compiled a nice overview of the Twitter reaction to events at the Belarus-Ukraine soccer match last night, during which several Ukrainian and Belarusian fans were detained after chanting vulgar verses about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Here are a couple of highlights:
"A soccer match where the final score was almost beside the point;"
"The game was between Belarus and Ukraine, but the loser turned out to be Russia."
"Bel fans shouted Glory to Ukraine!' Ukr fans chanted 'Long Live Belarus!,' all cheered '[We're] Together!'
Maidan investigation leaves questions unanswered
In a long investigative piece, Reuters says Kyiv's probe into the shooting of 100 protesters on Kyiv's Independence Square in February may have serious flaws.
Dmytro Sadovnyk, who was a senior member of the Berkut riot police force, is accused of ordering his men to fire on protesters. But a photograph submitted as evidence shows a man wearing a mask and holding a rifle with two hands -- Sadovnyk himself has only one hand.
The 38-year-old, who was put under house arrest in late September, is now missing.
Here's a Reuters video issued by RFE/RL's multimedia department:
Protesters rallied in Kyiv on October 10 to demand the release of Ukrainians seized by pro-Russian separatists in the country's east. Scuffles broke out as guards tried to stop the protesters from marching toward the presidential building. The demonstrators also scuffled with a man who set a tire on fire, calling him a provocateur.
