Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
Ukrainian National Bank deputy takes over as Hontareva quits:
Ukraine's central bank says its deputy governor, Yakiv Smoliy, will temporarily take charge on May 11 as Governor Valeria Hontareva will step down that day.
Hontareva, a reformist who won praise from the West, submitted a letter of resignation to President Petro Poroshenko on April 10.
Hontareva took charge of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in 2014, after Russia seized Crimea and with Ukraine in the throes of a conflict with Russia-backed separatists.
Her departure leaves Poroshenko with one fewer ally in power at a time when lenders are already questioning Ukraine's ability to follow through on promised reforms.
Hontareva's efforts to clean up Ukraine's financial sector irked tycoons who critics say have treated the country's banks like their private coffers.
She also came under fire from some ordinary Ukrainians who blamed her for losses they suffered after she was appointed to follow the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) advice to partially abandon state support for the hryvnya currency. (Reuters, UNIAN)
RFE/RL contributor Semena's trial to continue in Crimea:
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
The trial of RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena, a Crimean journalist who is fighting what he says is a politically motivated separatism charge on the Russian-controlled peninsula, is due to resume in the Crimean capital, Simferopol.
Semena faces up to five years in prison if convicted by Russia, which has jailed several Crimeans who have opposed or criticized Moscow's 2014 seizure of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine.
Semena's trial has been adjourned three times for different reasons since it started on March 20.
The charge against 66-year-old Semena stems from an article he wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015.
The Kremlin-installed authorities in Crimea have charged that the article called for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity.
Semena says he is innocent. He says that Crimea's status was and remains in dispute, and that he has the right to openly express his opinion.
The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and international media watchdogs have expressed concern about the prosecution of Semena.
Activists say his trial is part of a persistent Russian clampdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea since Moscow's takeover.
RFE/RL President Thomas Kent has described the case against Semena as "part of a concerted effort by Russian and Russian-backed authorities to obstruct RFE/RL's journalistic mission to provide an independent press to residents of Crimea."
After a Moscow-friendly Ukrainian president fled in the face of pro-European protests in February 2014, Russia seized control of Crimea after sending in troops and staging a referendum considered illegitimate by Kyiv, the United States and a total of 100 UN member states.
The United States, European Union, and other countries imposed sanctions on Russia over the takeover of Crimea and say they will not be lifted until it is returned to Kyiv's control.