The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission is to open at least two new forward patrol bases in Donbas, according to its press service. The mission already has five located in Donbas.
Forward patrol stations differ from regular bases because they are located closer to the contact lines with the separatists and fewer monitors are stationed there.
"The principal deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug will travel to eastern Ukraine from 14 to 18 January 2016 to assess the security situation, open new Forward Patrol Bases and encourage all concerned to work towards peace and normalization of the situation in Ukraine", the statement said.
Hug will visit Donetsk, Kominternove, Shyrokyne, and Luhansk, among others.
Ukraine has officially registered 1.15 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), including 21,712 IDPs from Crimea. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service published the information today.
The majority of IDPs reside in neighboring regions of the territory occupied by the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics," as well as annexed Crimea.
About a third of IDPs -- 339,708 people -- required medical attention, while 165,664 people sought psychological help.
Before the beginning of conflict in eastern Ukraine, almost 7 million people lived in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Before Russia's annexation, Crimea was a home to approximately 2.4 million people.
Putin describes EU sanctions as 'theater of the absurd':
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described European Union sanctions against Moscow in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis as "absurd."
In an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper published on January 11, Putin said, "What the European Union is doing with those sanctions is nothing but a theater of the absurd."
The referendum by Crimea in 2014 to separate from Ukraine and join Russia was "democracy, the people's will," Putin said.
Putin also deflected criticism of Moscow's role in eastern Ukraine, saying the peace agreement between Kyiv and the pro-Russian separatists had not been properly implemented.
He was referring to a key clause of the Minsk agreements, which stipulates a new Ukrainian Constitution that enshrines the autonomy of the separatist regions.
The president also hit out at NATO's expansion toward Russia's borders after the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991, saying the West's expansion after the Cold War exacerbated international crises.
"NATO and the U.S. wanted a complete victory over the Soviet Union," he said. "They wanted to sit on the throne in Europe alone." (dpa, Reuters)
This ends our live blogging for January 10. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
