Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
European Parliament backs trade preferences for Ukraine:
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- The European Parliament has overwhelmingly backed a decision to grant Ukraine temporary trade preference for some agricultural and industrial products.
The measures passed on July 4 will apply for three years from the end of September.
The proposal was made by the European Commission to improve access for Ukrainian exporters to EU markets following the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area that provisionally entered into force at the start of 2016.
EU officials tell RFE/RL they hope the measure will help boost Ukraine's economy, which has suffered greatly since 2014 when Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and began supporting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine's preferential trade treatment includes annual quotas for tariff-free imports on agricultural products such as honey, wheat, corn, and barley as well as industrial goods like copper, aluminum, and fertilizers. (Rikard Jozwiak)
Hague court will hear case brought by Ukrainian firms against Russia:
By RFE/RL
The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague says that it has jurisdiction and will hear the case of a Ukrainian company seeking to recover damages for property lost when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
PJSC Ukrnafta, one of Ukraine's largest oil and gas companies, launched the case and is seeking damages for expropriated gas stations.
The Hague-based court ruled on July 4 that the case was covered by a 1998 bilateral investment treaty between Ukraine and Russia that was meant to encourage economic cooperation and expansion.
In a related decision, the court said it would also hear claims brought against Russia by Stabil LLC and 10 other companies.
An attorney who filed the cases for the Ukrainian firms, John Townshend, said the private gas stations and Ukrnafta made "the same claim that by April 2104, thugs organized by the Russian Federation seized the administrative office" that ran the firms and "took the stations, took the cash, took the petrol [gasoline], [and] kicked our people out."
Russia previously told the court that it had no authority to form an arbitral tribunal to settle the claims and that Russia did not consent to participate in arbitration proceedings.
But the court ruled that the bilateral investment treaty permitted investors of one country whose property has been appropriated by the other country to launch private arbitration proceedings. (w/Reuters)