Latest from our news desk:
Dutch Experts Visit MH17 Ukraine Crash Site
Dutch experts have returned to Ukraine to probe the crash site of a passenger jet, including visiting a location previously considered unsafe because of fighting with pro-Russian separatists.
The Dutch Justice Ministry said on March 20 that a 12-person team consisting of defense and police officers would remain in the area until March 28.
The Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down on July 17, killing all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch.
On March 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for "unbiased and transparent" investigation into the downing of the plane.
The call came after Dutch broadcaster RTL reported that a metal fragment from the crash site matches a Russian-made surface-to-air BUK rocket.
Russia has suggested that the airliner was downed by the Ukrainian military.
A brave and harrowing report from the BBC's Natalia Antelava about the cease-fire violations around Pesky.
Here's an update from our news desk:
Ukraine's state statistics service has reported that the country's economy shrank by 6.8 percent in 2014, citing financial strains caused by fighting in the eastern part of the country.
The statistic service also revised its figures on March 20 for the fourth quarter of 2014, saying the economy contracted by 14.8 percent, not 15.2 percent as previously announced.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has drained Kyiv's state coffers, as have sharply reduced commercial ties with Russia, its traditional trading partner.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which recently approved a new $17.5 billion financing package for Ukraine, has forecast that its economy will shrink by some 5.5 percent this year and return to growth in 2016.
The IMF warned that efforts to restore financial stability to Ukraine face "extremely high" risks from continued fighting in eastern Ukraine, where a shaky cease-fire has been in place since mid-February.
(Reuters)
From our Ukrainian Service's political cartoonist: