Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)
Russia Returns Three Navy Vessels To Ukraine Almost A Year After Seizing Them
Russian has returned three navy vessels to Ukraine almost a year after seizing them near the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on November 18 that the vessels had been returned after "investigators fully studied them" in an ongoing probe "on illegal border crossing" and "their further presence in Russia is unnecessary."
Ukraine's Defense Ministry confirmed the return of two small armored vessels and a tugboat in a statement on its website.
On November 25, 2018, Russian Coast Guard vessels fired on and seized the boats and their crews, consisting of 24 sailors, in the Kerch Strait, while they were on their way from the Black Sea to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov.
Running between Russia and Crimea, the Kerch Strait is the sole passageway from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.
The takeover of the peninsula, and Russian support for separatist militants who seized parts of eastern Ukraine at the start of a conflict that has now killed more than 13,000 people, came after pro-European protests pushed Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from power in Kyiv.
Ukraine called the attack and subsequent capture of 24 crewmen a violation of international maritime law.
On May 25, the UN's maritime tribunal ordered Russia to immediately release the crewmen and impounded boats, a ruling that Moscow ignored.
The 24 Ukrainian crewmen were released on September 7 as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine during which each side swapped 35 captives.
Upcoming Summit
Since his election this spring, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has moved quickly to find a way to try to end the conflict with Moscow.
The release of the ships comes less than a month before a December 9 summit between Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany.
The so-called Normandy Format talks are aimed at ending the conflict. The summit will be the highest-level negotiations on the conflict since 2016.
Envoys from Kyiv and Moscow in early October reached a breakthrough after both sides agreed to have forces withdrawn from two flash points in the Luhansk region and one in Donetsk as conditions for the four-way talks to resume.
Ukrainian government and Russian-backed forces have withdrawn from the Luhansk settlements and disengagement is under way near the town of Petrivske in the Donetsk region.