Border guards in Mariupol received a new patrol boat (video).
Ukrainian law does not allow for the destruction but rather for the preservation of artistic communist monuments.
A report arguing that the annexation of Crimea occurred because of Ukraine's neutral status.
Belarus's Alyaksandr Lukashenka took time away from being reelected president for a fifth term on October 11 to discuss Ukraine and its efforts to join the EU. Report from TASS:
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned Ukraine of responsibility it will have to bear for its striving to "taste the European Union's bread."
"Ukraine wants to taste the European Union's bread. You are welcome but having done that you must bear in mind that you will have to be responsible for that," he told journalists on Sunday.
In his words, it would be very difficult for Ukraine to stand the competition of the European Union market. "The European Union has opened a free-trade zone for you. So, what have you sold in the European Union? It's not that easy," he said.
The European Union already has what Belarus and Ukraine are manufacturing and it will be a daring task to get there "not only because of competition but because of tariff measures of protection on the European market," he said.
"You have chosen your path. We respect it. We will try to adapt to your policy and the course you will pursue," Lukashenko underscored.
President Poroshenko on the need for refugees from the Donbas to be able to vote in elections held in the areas controlled by separatists. Report from Interfax:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has spoken of the importance of allowing Ukrainians, who were forced to leave their homes because of the Donbas conflict, to vote in local elections
in that region.
"We have no right to strip Ukrainians, who have become refugees as a result of the Russian aggression, of their right to elect local authorities in Donbas," the president said in his televised address to the Ukrainian people on Sunday.
But President Poroshenko makes it clear that the weapons being withdrawn can go quickly back to their fighting positions if necessary. Report from TASS:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday Ukrainian troops were withdrawing weapons from the line of engagement in Donbass in line with a plan which "makes it possible to
promptly pull them back to the former positions" in case agreements are violated.
"Be sure, we are withdrawing out weapons under a thoroughly elaborated plan. This plan makes it possible to promptly pull them back to their former positions," Poroshenko said in a televised address. He said such scenario was possible in case of cease-fire violation.
A report from Interfax on the withdrawal of weapons from the front line:
The Ukrainian forces in Donbas have completed the removal of artillery with a caliber of less than 100 millimeters as part of the first stage of weaponry removal, the special operation's press center said.
"In particular, 85-millimeter cannons have been redeployed to certain areas to a distance of at least 15 kilometers under OSCE control. Over the next few days representatives from the Special Monitoring Mission will conduct a verification of weapons," the press center said on its Facebook page on Sunday.
On October 10, the situation remained stable in the conflict zone, it also said.
"Illegal armed formations did not shell our positions. Nor were there any instances of firing on the provisionally occupied territory near the dividing line," the press center said.
A report from AFP:
Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday stressed the need for legitimate elections in the country's separatist regions in order to eventually re-integrate the pro-Moscow strongholds.
Poroshenko said in a televised address that "without elections in these occupied territories, a political solution will be in a deadlock".
The so-called Minsk peace deal between government troops and pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine foresees the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the battlefield and calls for a vote to be held in the separatist regions under international auspices.
The pro-Russian insurgents took a big step toward political reconciliation last week by announcing they would postpone their own disputed local elections until next year in line with Western demands.
Poroshenko emphasised the importance of re-integrating the rebel-controlled territories of Donetsk and Lugansk, acknowledging it would be "extremely difficult" but that the process was essential.
"If you lose the chance to regain the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, who in the world will speak of returning Crimea to a Ukraine that abandons its territories?" Poroshenko asked.
A Russian Orthodox Church official blessing missiles before they are used in Syria.
Pictures of the withdrawal of 85 mm caliber artillery: