This ends our live blogging for April 13. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
AFP is reporting that the Verkhovna Rad has approved Hroysman as prime minister:
Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday approved a new pro-EU government headed by parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman to replace the cabinet of prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who resigned at the weekend, officials said.
The pro-western coalition in power "has backed the candidature of Groysman for the post of prime minister," a spokesman for another candidate, Dmytro Stolarchuk, said on Twitter, with several parliamentarians confirming the decision which was thrashed out over days of fraught debate.
The new prime minister and his team are expected to be formally named on Thursday, said parliamentary deputy Maksim Bourbak.
Parliament had agreed on who should head up all the ministries, with the exception of the health ministry, the deputies added.
The shaky cease-fire between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government troops appears to have fallen apart around the small industrial town of Avdiyivka. In recent weeks, battles have erupted around the strategically important crossroads in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. European observers have reported the “highest level of cease-fire violations” since September 2015, with deaths reported on both sides. On April 2, photographer Maxim Tucker entered the area and spent a week documenting villages shattered by a conflict that is now entering its third year.
Avdiyivka: Eastern Ukraine's Latest Flash Point
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
A Russian court has rejected Oleksandr Kostenko’s application for parole citing his denial of legally absurd charges and the fact that he was placed in a punishment cell (on the pretext that he hadn’t greeted a prison official). The refusal to release a recognized political prisoner was not unexpected, however the grounds given have been rejected by Russia’s own Supreme Court and an appeal will be lodged.