Here's today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, courtesy of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
So Ukraine is hitting back:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says his country has imposed a ban on transit flights over Ukraine for all Russian airlines.
Speaking at a cabinet session in Kyiv on November 25, Yatsenyuk asked the Infrastructure Ministry to officially notify Russia about "the closure of [Ukrainian] airspace to all Russian airlines without exception."
Last month, the two countries banned landings by each other's airlines.
Yatsenyuk also said his government had decided to order Ukraine's Naftohaz oil and gas giant to stop buying natural gas from Russia.
Yatsenyuk cited as the major reason for the decision the difference between European and Russian gas prices, with European ones being "much better."
Russia's state-controlled natural-gas giant Gazprom said earlier on November 25 that it had stopped deliveries of gas to Ukraine because of Kyiv's alleged failure to make the required prepayments.
Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax
From our news desk. Russia stops gas deliveries to Ukraine.
Russia's state-controlled natural-gas giant Gazprom has stopped deliveries of gas to Ukraine because of Kyiv's alleged failure to make the required prepayments.
Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said in Moscow on November 25 that no further gas deliveries will be forthcoming until payment is made.
He said Ukraine's refusal to buy Russian gas "creates risks for gas transit to Europe."
The gas cutoff comes less than two months after Russia and Ukraine signed an EU-brokered deal aimed at ensuring gas supplies through March.
Relations between Kyiv and Moscow have been soured since Russia annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and began supporting separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.
Tensions have been particularly high in recent days after explosions damaged power lines sending electricity from mainland Ukraine to Crimea, plunging much of the peninsula into darkness.
Good morning. Three stories on the Crimean blackout.
Explainer: Why Ukraine Supplies Electricity To Crimea, And Why It Stopped
News Analysis: Crimean Tatars Push Kyiv's Hand On Recovering Crimea
and a video, 'They Want To Scare Us': Crimeans React To Blackout
