Here's more from RFE/RL's news desk on the hostage stand-off in Kyiv:
Man With Explosives Takes 11 Hostages In Kharkiv
A man believed to be carrying explosives has taken nine adults and two children hostage in a post office in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian police.
Regional police chief Oleh Bekh told the 112 news channel on December 30 that the unidentified man is calm, has not made any demands and is in regular contact with police via the telephones of the hostages.
"We are trying to do everything to maintain communication with him and to do everything that is necessary to ensure the people are released," Bekh said.
The man in the post office was concerned about last week's prisoner swap between the Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists and thought more prisoners should have been released, Bekh said.
He added that police did not know what the man wanted.
In the December 27 swap, Ukraine handed 233 captives over to the Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, while the separatists handed 74 Ukrainian nationals over to Kyiv.
The Russia-backed separatists seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in March 2014, igniting a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people.
Hostilities are still ongoing despite a 2015 cease-fire deal, severely straining Moscow's relations with Kyiv and the West.
With reporting by Reuters and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
This may not be related to the crisis, but we're keeping an eye on it just in case. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has also been reporting on the situation (in Ukrainian):