Two RFE/RL stringers ran for cover during a mortar attack by Russian-backed separatists near the town of Novhorodske in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region on December 22. The latest fighting came just before a new cease-fire agreement reached in Minsk went into effect at midnight. (Vitaly Grynyov and Artem Lyuti, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
Kyiv, separatists accuse each other of violating truce, AFP reports:
Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels accused each other of violating a holiday ceasefire Wednesday, just hours after it came into force in the war-torn country's east.
"Illegal armed groups have already violated these agreements. Since the beginning of the day we recorded seven enemy shellings of our positions," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists.
The sides had agreed Tuesday to halt all fire and manoeuvres starting from midnight to last through the Christmas and New Year's holidays, but Lysenko said rebels were using heavy weapons, including multiple rocket launchers.
Separatist authorities rejected the accusations and said they were "fully" implementing the ceasefire agreements, accusing Ukrainian forces of "continuing to shell" their territory with mortars and using small arms.
Military spokesman Eduard Basurin said Ukrainian troops have attacked Zaytseve, a village 50 kilometres (31 miles) northeast of rebel stronghold Donetsk, as well as near Donetsk airport and the town of Gorlivka.
"They do not fulfil their obligations," he told AFP.
Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists, who declared two "people's republics" in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, have fought since April 2014, with over 9,000 people killed in the violence that Kiev blames on Moscow.
A series of truce agreements have helped significantly dampen the hostilities though sporadic clashes have continued near the line of contact and the two sides regularly accuse each other of violations.
As mentioned earlier, Russia has issued a Crimea banknote:
Russia has issued a new banknote dedicated to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed illegally by the Kremlin last year.
The new banknote, worth 100 rubles ($1.41), depicts a memorial to sunken ships in the port of Sevastopol, where Russia keeps its Black Sea Fleet, and the Swallow's Nest, a clifftop castle near Yalta.
The yellow-colored note also features a watermark of Empress Catherine the Great, who extended the borders of the Russian Empire in the 18th century to absorb Crimea.
Russia's central bank said in a statement it would issue 20 million of the new notes. It has previously minted a 10-ruble coin to celebrate Russia's control of Crimea.
Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in March last year in a military operation denounced by the West, which imposed retaliatory sanctions on Moscow that remain in place. (Reuters, AFP, Interfax)
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
Russia issues Crimea banknote in move likely to irk Ukraine, Reuters reports:
Russia on Wednesday issued a new banknote dedicated to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it annexed last year, in a move likely to anger Kiev which says it wants the territory back.
Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in March last year in a military operation denounced by the West which imposed retaliatory sanctions on Moscow that remain in place.
The new banknote, worth 100 rubles ($1.41), depicts a memorial to sunken ships in the port of Sevastopol, where Russia keeps its Black Sea Fleet, and the Swallow's Nest, a cliff top castle near Yalta.
The yellow-colored note also features a watermark of Empress Catherine the Great, who extended the borders of the Russian Empire in the eighteenth century to absorb Crimea.
Russia's central bank said in a statement it would issue 20 million of the new notes. It has previously minted a 10 rouble coin to celebrate Russia's control of Crimea.
The big news from overnight:
Ukraine, Separatists Agree To Cease-Fire During Holidays
Ukraine reached an agreement with Russia-backed separatists for a truce during the Christmas and New Year holidays that went into effect at midnight on December 22.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian peace negotiator said the new deal was forged in the Belarusian capital Minsk during the latest round of peace talks.
"We have an agreement about a complete and unconditional ceasefire that will begin at 00.00 hours on the night of December 22-23," said Darka Olifer, who is press secretary for Ukrainian negotiator and former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, writing on her Facebook page.
"This initiative is especially needed so that civilians who live in [the separatist east] can spend Christmas and the New Year holidays in peace."
"We express our expectations and hope that the people of eastern Ukraine can enjoy their New Year and Christmas days in peace and keep these conditions in the future," said Martin Sajdik, the head envoy from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Most Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia celebrate Christmas on January 7.
A representative from the partially separatist-held Luhansk province said a new agreement was needed because of repeated violations of an existing truce that was loosely enforced.
Sajdik said the two sides had also agreed to limit their troop and tank movements along the 500-kilometer front.
"We have agreed that the sides will refrain from conducting any military maneuvers, and also reduce to a minimum any movement of forces," he said.
The warring sides had agreed to a September 1 truce that significantly reduced exchanges of artillery and missile fire along a 30-kilometer buffer zone separating the conflict area from the rest of Ukraine.
But a new upsurge in violence last week had threatened to unravel the September deal.
Kyiv on December 22 reported 30 truce breaches by the insurgents along the front line.
The United Nations says more than 9,000 people -- most of them civilians -- have died since the separatist revolt began in April 2014.