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Ten-year-old Sasha stands in a bomb shelter in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Ten-year-old Sasha stands in a bomb shelter in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

Follow all of the latest developments as they happen.

Final News Summary For September 29

-- We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog. Find it here.

-- Ukraine is marking 75 years since the World War II massacre of 33,771 Jews on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Kyiv.

-- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stabilize a fragile cease-fire in Ukraine and do all he could to improve what Merkel called a "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in Syria.

-- Russia's Supreme Court has upheld a decision by a Moscow-backed Crimean court to ban the Mejlis, the self-governing body of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Ukrainian territory.

* NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv (GMT/UTC +3)

13:21 12.12.2015

Here's how the Russian news agency Interfax is reporting the apparent death of a separatist leader in eastern Ukraine:

MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - A car carrying Pavel Dryomov, a Cossack leader in the self-proclaimed Luhansk people's republic (LPR), has been blown up on a local motorway, Kostyantyn Knyryk, the leader of the News Front information center, told Interfax on Saturday.

"Preliminary findings indicate that a car carrying Luhansk Cossack commander Pavel Dryomov to his own wedding ceremony was blown up on the Pervomaisk-Stakhanov motorway," Knyryk said.

A source from the LPR people's militia told Interfax that Dryomov may have sustained fatal injuries in the attack. "Information on the Cossack commander's death is being verified. Preliminary findings indicate that he may have sustained fatal injuries," the source said.

13:16 12.12.2015

13:13 12.12.2015

Reports are surfacing of the death of a separatist leader:

You can find out more about the man in question here

13:09 12.12.2015

11:52 12.12.2015

Some more reaction to the unseemly brawl in the Ukrainian parliament yesterday:

11:50 12.12.2015

11:49 12.12.2015

11:48 12.12.2015

10:41 12.12.2015

Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling today with this item that came in overnight from our news desk:

The United States and Russia traded accusations on December 11 over the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

Russia delayed the meeting for an hour and a half with an attempt to block testimony by UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, prompting Washington to accuse the Kremlin of trying to suppress public discussion of facts about Ukraine's war with pro-Russian separatists in the east.

In the end, Simonovic spoke at the meeting despite protests from Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who said human rights discussions should take place in Geneva at the Human Rights Council.

Churkin accused U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who is chairing the Security Council this month, of "introducing wrong elements" into discussion. Power also overruled Russia and China at a meeting she chaired on North Korean rights abuses on December 10.

"Washington is playing a destructive role" in Ukraine, Churkin said. "Obviously, this is one of the reasons why political settlement is so difficult."

Power said Russia was the one perpetrating death and destruction, and accused the Kremlin of trying to suppress the facts.

"One does wonder what Russia seeks to hide" by opposing discussions of human rights in Ukraine, she said. "But we understand its very unfortunate desire to prevent the council from hearing inconvenient facts."

Power cited the latest UN report on Ukraine, which said arms and fighters were still pouring into eastern Ukraine from Russia, with the death toll from 20 months of fighting approaching 9,100.

"We are here because even today Russia continues to arm, train, support, and fight alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine," Power said.

Russia denies arming and financing the separatists.

Simonovic recited fresh allegations of human rights abuses in eastern Ukraine: "killings, torture and ill-treatment, illegal detention and forced labor." He also said the Kyiv government has engaged in arbitrary detention, torture, and other abuses.

Churkin said Kyiv was maintaining an economic blockade of eastern Ukraine and refusing to engage in direct dialogue with the separatists.

Moreover, he said Kyiv has "demonstrated complete inaction" against "radical natonalists" who were responsible for blowing up the electricity transmission pylons feeding power to Crimea.

Power urged Kyiv to speed up efforts to ensure supplies and services make it to the east. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin blamed Russia for the blockages.

Despite the sharp exchange, Churkin and Klimkin shook hands at the end of the meeting.

With reporting by Reuters and TASS

22:11 11.12.2015

We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.

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