This just in from our News Desk, via RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
EU Diplomats Agree To Extend Sanctions Against Russia
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- European Union ambassadors have agreed to a six-month extension of sanctions against Russia in response to its occupation and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and Moscow's support for pro-Russia separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.
The decision by diplomats at a meeting in Luxembourg on June 21 still requires approval by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels next week.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed for prolonging the current sanctions, which are due to expire at the end of July, despite growing calls for a more conciliatory approach from some EU members.
Reports suggest Merkel convinced countries like Slovakia, Hungary, and Italy to set aside their objections and keep sanctions in place until the end of January.
The sanctions, which have targeted Russia's finance and energy sectors, were first imposed in June and July 2014 and have been extended every six months since then.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and TASS
Following his recent release in a prisoner swap, Hennadiy Afanasyev, a photographer from Crimea convicted in Russia of plotting terrorist attacks on the Moscow-occupied peninsula, tells why he decided to recant his testimony implicating fellow Ukrainians.
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (CLIK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
Here's an item from our news desk. It seems like Petro Poroshenko is weighing in on the issue of violent Russian fans at Euro 2016:
Ukrainian President Says Violent Russian Soccer Fans Were 'Trained Killers'
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said during a visit to France that Russian soccer fans behind violence in Marseille during the European Championships were "trained fighters who kill."
Poroshenko made the remark on French television ahead of a June 21 meeting in Paris with French President Francois Hollande.
Two Britons remained in a coma on June 21 after being seriously injured ahead of a June 11 Euro match in Marseille.
They were among 35 mostly British fans hurt in the three days of violence.
French prosecutors said the Russian fans in Marseille targeted England supporters in an orchestrated "hunt."
Three Russian fans were jailed for up to two years and six England fans were sentenced for up to six months.
Twenty Russians were expelled from France for violence -- including far-right fan leader Aleksandr Shprygin, who was expected to be expelled a second time on June 21 after sneaking back into the country.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Meanwhile, in Crimea...