Here's an update from RFE/RL's news desk on the situation in eastern Ukraine:
Kyiv Says Fighting In East Intensifies
The Ukrainian military says that fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatists has intensified in eastern Ukraine.
Senior government official Andriy Lysenko said on May 28 that one soldier had been killed in recent fighting.
Russia-backed fighters have accused the army of carrying out dozens of attacks in recent days as both sides charge each other with not observing a ceasefire.
The uptick in violence saw a patrol from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission shot at in the Donetsk region on May 27.
The mission's chief monitor, Ertugrul Apakan, condemned the attack, in which nobody was injured.
Amid the increased violence, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for greater foreign assistance and has appointed former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his adviser.
Rasmussen said on May 28 on Facebook that he will do his “utmost to promote security, economic reforms, and stronger EU ties” in his new capacity.
Poroshenko has not specified on what issues Rasmussen will be advising.
Rasmussen described the “security situation” in eastern Ukraine as “alarming.” He also said Ukraine must fight corruption and implement reforms.
Russian Duma member Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax that Rasmussen’s appointment was “a hostile gesture” toward Russia.
“It shows that Ukraine has chosen the West and NATO as the vector of its drifting movement,” he said, describing Ukraine as “a beachhead against Russia” that “will be used sooner or later.”
Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Facebook that Rasmussen’s appointment, like many other Ukrainian moves, is “for show” because “Ukraine badly needs…attention from the outside.”
With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and dpa
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.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog this morning with some of the tweets that caught our eye overnight:
This tragic fire is naturally making a lot of the headlines in Ukraine. It doesn't seem to be related to the crisis, but here's an item from our news desk to let you know what's been happening in any event:
Seventeen Die In Fire At Ukraine Home For Elderly
At least seventeen people have died and one is missing after a fire broke out at a home for the elderly in a village near Kyiv, Ukraine's state emergency service said in a statement on May 29.
"Emergency services units saved 18 people, five of whom have been hospitalized with burns of varying degrees of severity," the Ukrainian emergencies ministry said in a statement.
It said the fire broke out in the early morning hours of May 29 in a privately-owned two-story building, which housed 35 people, in the village of Litochky, 50 kilometers north of Kyiv.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman expressed condolences to the families of those who died in the "terrible tragedy" and and called for an immediate investigation into the cause of the fire.