Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for tonight.
Ukraine Posts Video Of Captured ‘Russian Soldier’ Asking For Putin’s Help
Ukraine’s state security agency has released a new video purporting to show a Russian army officer who was detained last month in eastern Ukraine appealing to President Vladimir Putin to secure his release.
Kerry has called Lavrov:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on August 13 to express “grave concern” about the sharp increase in separatist attacks in eastern Ukraine, the State Department said.
According to a State Department spokesman, Kerry also urged for an immediate cease-fire to take place.
Ukraine said two soldiers had been killed in the heaviest clashes with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since a fragile cease-fire was negotiated in Minsk in February.
Kerry also expressed concern about the visit by Iranian elite Quds force leader Qasem Soleimani to Moscow in late July.
The spokesman said the visit would be discussed with Russia at an upcoming New York meeting on violent extremism.
Soleimani is one of several Iranian officials targeted by a 2007 UN travel ban because of their alleged links to Iran's nuclear or ballistic-missile programs.
In other news:
Russian TV 'staged battles' at Donetsk airport:
Russian pro-Kremlin website LifeNews was staging battles during the fight for Donetsk airport, a Ukrainian fighter has told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
"I had the Internet on my phone, I watched how LifeNews was filming the 'capture' of the airport. In fact, they staged it," he said. "We then heard how they were shooting at each other and it turned out they were making a movie, as if they captured the airport."
Ihor arrived with his unit at the airport in October 2014 and spent two months there.
"Our orders were to keep the line at a certain direction," Ihor said. "If you see somebody, you have to shoot. If you don't -- don't shoot. Nobody was shooting just anywhere."
-- Anna Shamanska
For almost a year, areas of eastern Ukraine under the control of Russia-backed separatists have been cut off from the rest of the country. The economic price is enormous. Much of Ukraine's 17 percent fall in GDP is due to the collapse in economic activity in these areas. At the market in Luhansk, money is scarce and prices are soaring. The common refrain: ''Somehow, we're surviving." (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
