Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Five Ukrainian serviceman killed in past 24 hours in east - Ukraine military
KIEV, May 6 (Reuters) -- Five Ukrainian servicemen were killed and twelve wounded in separatist eastern territories over the past 24 hours despite a ceasefire deal, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on Wednesday.
"The most severe losses among government troops occurred near Avdiivka, where an armoured personnel carrier was blown up by an enemy landmine," Lysenko said, referring to a town north of rebel-held Donetsk
EU's top diplomat says destabilised Russia in nobody's interest
BEIJING, May 6 (Reuters) - A destabilised and isolated Russia is in nobody's interests, and sanctions are only being kept in place because a truce agreement in the conflict in Ukraine is not being fully implemented, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused "someone in the European Union" on Tuesday of trying to ensure a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine does not hold.
Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government agreed the truce in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Feb. 12, but it has failed to end all fighting and the Lithuanian president told Reuters it was now all but dead.
Speaking to students during a visit to Beijing, the EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said that while she did not see Russia as an "actor" of instability or insecurity, violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty were a matter of universal concern.
"Like China, our European priority is for the violence to stop in the east of Ukraine. Our efforts, as Europeans, are all focused on the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, and we are concretely contributing to that," she said at the elite Peking University.
"At the same time, the European Union has developed a policy of sanctions towards Russia, but I could not stress enough in all my speeches that a sanctions policy is not in itself a policy - it's an instrument, a tool. And as such we are keeping that as long as the Mink agreement is not fully implemented."
Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of sending arms and troops to help the separatists in fighting which has killed more than 6,100 people in just over a year.
Russia denies the accusations and says the West instigated the overthrow of a Moscow-backed Ukrainian president last year as part of efforts to reduce Russian influence in the region.
Mogherini said that in many other areas, such as talks on Iran's controversial nuclear programme, Russia was often a constructive partner.
"A destabilised and isolated Russia is not in the interest of the European Union, is not for sure in the interest of the Russian people, and I believe it's not in the interest of the Russian leadership, but it is for them to decide," she added.
Moscow Court Considers Extending Savchenko's Pretrial Detention
By RFE/RL
A court in Moscow is considering whether to extend the pretrial detention of Ukrainian pilot and parliament member Nadia Savchenko.
The hearing comes a day after Savchenko's lawyer announced that Russian authorities have extended their preliminary inquiry into Savchenko’s case until November 13.
Savchenko has been jailed in Russia since July, when she says she was illegally brought into the country after being abducted by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
She is charged with complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists who died in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as illegal border crossing.
She denies guilt and conducted a hunger strike for more than 80 days to protest her incarceration.
The United States said on May 5 that it is concerned over the “callous and outrageous” treatment of Savchenko by Russian authorities, and called for her immediate release.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and TASS
Here's an update from our news desk:
Ukraine says five of its soldiers were killed in clashes in the east despite the resumption of talks between the government and pro-Russian rebels over an endangered truce deal.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on May 6 that over the past 24 hours four servicemen died when their vehicle hit a landmine close to Avdiivka, while a fifth was killed in an insurgent ambush.
Lysenko said that rebels continued to pound government positions around Mariupol, the largest remaining Ukrainian-controlled city in the conflict zone, and areas around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
The latest casualties come as officials from Russia, Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held closed-door talks in Minsk for the first time since the two sides agreed a shaky peace deal in February.
Both Kyiv and the insurgents accuse each other of continuing to violate the cease-fire deal.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement ahead of the talks, "The first key point towards fulfilling the Minsk agreement is ensuring a comprehensive cease-fire."
(AFP, AP)