Here's another update from our news desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to allow Ukranian troops safe passage out of the encircled town of Debaltseve.
Speaking in Budapest on February 17, Putin said Kyiv should not prevent Ukrainian troops from laying down their weapons.
Separatists said on February 17 that they seized most of Debaltseve and surrounded the remaining government troops there.
Kyiv confirmed part of Debaltseve had fallen to the separatists, but said fighting was continuing -- dashing hopes that a new cease-fire deal would bring peace.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry said some government troops were taken prisoner by separatists in Debaltseve, but denied claims by Russian media that a large number of soldiers were captured.
Both sides failed to begin pulling back heavy weapons from the front lines on February 17 in what was supposed to be the second phase of a cease-fire deal signed in Minsk on February 12.
(Reuters, unian.net, AP, Interfax)