Here's another cease-fire update from our news desk:
The cease-fire in Ukraine that came into effect during the night is generally holding, despite some reports of scattered shelling.
The main point of concern on February 15 was the area around the town of Debaltseve, where there has been heavy fighting in recent days. A commander for the pro-Russian separatists in the area told the Reuters news agency that his side does not believe the cease-fire applies to Debaltseve because "it is our territory."
A Ukrainian government spokesman said Kyiv's forces had come under fire about 10 times since the midnight cease-fire but that all shelling was "localized" and no service personnel had been killed.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said Kyiv has prepared storage areas for heavy weaponry that is due to be removed from the line of conflict between the government and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(Reuters, AP, Interfax, Dozhd TV)
This just in from our news desk:
Authorities in Ukraine have detained Oleksandr Yefremov, the former governor of Luhansk Oblast and the former head of the parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions.
Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin announced in Kyiv on February 15 that Yefremov would be charged with abuse of power. He said Yefremov had been detained the previous day but did not say under what circumstances.
Yefremov was a close political ally of former President Viktor Yanukovych until the deposed leader fled the country for Russia in February 2014. After Yanukovych left, Yefremov issued a statement blaming him and his close advisers inside the presidential administration for the chaos in the country.
In January, a Verkhovna Rada deputy asked prosecutors to look into allegations that Yefremov provided financial support to Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(TV Dozhd, Interfax)