From the Associated Press:
A report by Ukraine's parliament revealed Monday that more than 300 soldiers were killed during a weekslong battle that marked a crushing setback in the military campaign to root out pro-Russian separatist forces in the east.
The report is the first official confirmation of the scale of a defeat in the city of Ilovaisk that critics of the country's military command have described as the result of disastrous leadership.
It is believed the ultimate number of servicemen lost may be even greater, and the parliamentary inquiry into the Ilovaisk battle complained that military authorities have failed to cooperate.
"Neither the Defense Ministry nor the General Staff has responded to queries from the investigating committee about losses in the armed forces," the committee said in a statement.
Ukrainian forces mounted an assault on Ilovaisk in early August only to eventually find themselves besieged by heavily armed separatist fighters.
The city and surrounding villages still bears signs of heavy shelling.
A cease-fire deal struck a month ago by Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the rebel leadership is often violated.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday "there's a long way to a cease-fire, unfortunately," given the number of people who have been killed since the deal was struck. Europe is seeking full compliance with the cease-fire, clear border controls and local elections in eastern Ukraine in compliance with Ukrainian law, and not under auspices of the rebels.
Speaking in Slovakia, where she met with its prime minister, Robert Fico, Merkel said Ukraine's territorial integrity must be ensured "not just on paper" and that the cease-fire plan has to become effective in all its details..
From the French news agency AFP:
The European Union said Monday it believed a cease-fire and peace plan have helped reduce fighting between government and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine but condemned continued violations of the accord.
The accords reached last month were a step towards a sustainable political solution of the crisis, the EU's 28 foreign ministers said, but they left to another day any review of current sanctions against Russia.
While the EU took "good note of the decreased overall level of violence as a result of the agreed cease-fire," it also regretted and condemned "continued numerous violations."
The cease-fire and peace plan drawn up in Minsk were backed by Russia, which in March annexed former Soviet state Ukraine's Crimea territory, as Kyiv turned decisively to the EU for its future.
Some 3,700 people have been killed since then, including over 300 soldiers and civilians after the Minsk cease-fire was agreed September 5.
The foreign ministers said in a statement that they expected all sides to live up to their Minsk commitments, stressing Russia's "responsibility in this context."
They also called for "the withdrawal of illegal armed groups, military equipment, fighters and mercenaries" from Ukraine and securing of the border by the pan-European OSCE security group.
Moscow insists it has no military presence in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian rebels control large areas.
From the French news agency AFP:
The Swedish Navy stepped up its hunt Monday for a suspected foreign submarine in its waters with fingers pointing at Moscow in a throwback to the Cold War.
Swedish soldiers and sailors were scouring the sea southeast of the capital, Stockholm, in the biggest operation of its kind for years, while the public was warned for the first time to keep a distance and airspace restrictions were enforced.
The mystery around the alleged incursion thickened Monday, with Russia and the Netherlands denying that the vessel was theirs as tensions in Baltic rise over the crisis in Ukraine.
"There's an increase in military exercises from both the Russian and the NATO side," Prime Minister Stefan Loefven said, speaking at a press conference in Helsinki.
In one of two airspace violations in September, two Russian SU-24 fighter-bombers allegedly entered Swedish airspace in what Foreign Minister Carl Bildt at the time called "the most serious aerial incursion by the Russians" in almost a decade.
The Baltic Sea, an area of immense strategic importance, saw intense naval maneuvering throughout the Cold War years, with the Soviet Navy paying particular attention to neutral Sweden's long, rugged coastline.
Speculation mounted Monday over the whereabouts of the elusive vessel as the armed forces extended the search area southwards to open sea about 70 kilometres southeast of Stockholm.
As the search expanded, the military warned the public for the first time to keep a distance of at least 10 kilometers from the operation -- while stopping all non-essential air transport in the area.
With concern growing about the possibility of an unravelling of the European security order in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, events in Sweden racked up tensions around the Baltic.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter that he was following events in the Swedish territorial waters closely.
"[It] may become a game changer of the security in the whole Baltic Sea region," he tweeted on Sunday.
The arrival of the shockwave at the end of this video from Donetsk gives some indication of how powerful today's explosions were:
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Monday, October 20. Check back here in the morning for more continuing coverage.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
The European Union has called on Russia to implement its commitments under the Minsk agreement to resolve the Ukraine crisis, underscoring the Kremlin’s “responsibility” in the process.
The EU said in an October 20 declaration following a meeting of its foreign ministers that it expects "full engagement and swift implementation of all other commitments under the Minsk documents," calling for "the withdrawal of illegal armed groups, military equipment, fighters and mercenaries, as well as for the securing of the Ukrainian-Russian border."
The declaration came on the same day as a massive explosion near a munitions plant in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Pro-Russian rebels said Ukrainian forces struck the factory with a rocket. The Ukrainian military denied involvement.