It looks like it could be a hard winter in the Donbas, if this photo gallery from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service is anything to go by:
With winter looming, the European Commission estimates 5 million people require urgent humanitarian aid in eastern Ukraine. The situation is most dire for those who have been displaced or live near the front lines in areas beyond government control. The World Food Program is racing to distribute food vouchers and parcels to the one million people who are the most vulnerable and require immediate food assistance.
Eastern Ukraine On Brink Of Humanitarian Crisis As Winter Looms
Igor Plotnitsky, the so-called leader of the “LPR,” told the Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets that he would appear as a witness at a court hearing about Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who is currently jailed in Russia. Plotnitsky was supposed to be present at a November 11 hearing.
“Actually, next week I’ll be at the hearing,” he said.
Two of Savchenko’s lawyers seemed happy about the news.
“Next week, leave everything and come to Plotnitsky’s questioning. It will be unforgettable,” Nikolai Polozov tweeted.
"I guarantee much thrill and unforgettable impressions to Ukrainian and foreign media during Plotnitsky’s questioning,” tweeted Mark Feygin.
President Petro Poroshenko on the anti-discrimination clauses added to the country’s labor code by the government today:
“Ukraine breaks away from the shackles of discrimination of the Soviet past. And family values are intact,” he tweeted.
Here's some more information from our news desk on the passing of antidiscrimination rules concerning the LGBT community, among others:
Ukraine's parliament has voted for changes to the country's labor code that include protection against discrimination for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
The amendments prohibit any discrimination in the workplace on the basis of "race, color, political, religious and other beliefs, sex gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic, social and foreign origin, age, health, disability, or suspected presence of HIV/AIDS, family and property status, family responsibilities, place of residence, or participation in a strike."
The legislation says: "The idea is that, if a person is working, we cannot discriminate” against them.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that the protections for members of the LGBT community were adopted on a sixth vote, only after Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyrr Groisman announced that lawmakers "stand for family values and will never support gay marriage."
The adoption of the antidiscrimination rules is required by the European Union in a package of so-called "visa-free reforms."
So, it seems the Ukrainian parliament has passed the LGBT antidiscrimination bill after much wrangling:
Video footage that apparently shows a Russian convoy in eastern Ukraine yesterday: