Here are some new comments by Petro Poroshenko on the situation in eastern Ukraine, reported by RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned on May 6 of an increasing threat of extensive military action in the east of the country.
Poroshenko told a security and defense council meeting in Kyiv that "the threat of large-scale military action from Russian terrorist groups not only remains but is growing."
According to a statement posted on his website, Poroshenko said there were more than 40,000 pro-Moscow fighters in the rebel-controlled territories and a further 50,000 Russian troops across the border.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said four Ukrainian servicemen had been killed by a landmine and a fifth in a rebel ambush since May 5.
Casualties are reported on a regular basis despite the truce, brokered in February in the Belarusian capital Minsk to end a year-old conflict in which more than 6,000 have been killed.
(Reuters, Interfax)
Here's another video from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk rehearsed on May 5 for an upcoming Victory Day parade. The separatists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic drove tanks, grad rockets, and other military hardware through the city as at least 1,000 spectators gathered to watch.
We're now closing the live blog for today, but we'll leave you with this update from our news desk before we go. (Don't forget that, until we resume again tomorrow, you can still follow all our ongoing Ukraine news coverage here):
Ukrainian and separatist representatives have met in Minsk for the first time since the two sides signed a peace deal in February.
The two sides plus officials from Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held closed-door talks on May 6 to discuss ways to shore up the faltering truce in eastern Ukraine.
Both Kyiv and the pro-Moscow rebels accuse each other of continuing to violate the cease-fire.
Kyiv's representative, former President Leonid Kuchma, said after the meeting that it had been a "serious step towards the political resolution" of the conflict but stressed the need to ensure that the shooting stops completely.
Kuchma told journalists that the separatist representatives had been "constructive."
Russian representative Azamat Kulmukhametov said the talks had given hope for a "political solution" to the fighting.
The meeting also set up expert groups that are expected to start looking into the next steps contained in the peace plan.
OSCE representative Heidi Tagliavini said that the first of the groups would begin work on May 19.
The talks came as Ukraine said five of its soldiers were killed in the east over the past 24 hours.
(AFP and Reuters)