Here's the latest map of the situation in the Donbas region, issued by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (click image to enlarge):
Nemtsov, Savchenko Nominated For Sakharov Prize
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- Russia’s slain opposition politician Boris Nemtsov and imprisoned Ukrainian military pilot and parliament member Nadiya Savchenko are among the nominees for the 2015 Sakharov Prize.
The 50,000-euro prize, established by the European Parliament in 1988, is awarded every year to individuals or groups of people who have dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought.
Nemtsov, a former Russian deputy prime minister of Russia, was murdered in February 2015. He was a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin.
Savchenko was captured in 2014 by Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine and handed over to Russia, where she is being tried on charges of participating in the murder of Russian journalists.
The nominees also include three whistleblowers -- Edward Snowden, Antoine Deltour, and Stephanie Gibaud -- Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, and Somalian activist Edna Adan Ismail.
The winner will be decided in October.
Russian Court Sentences One In Pro-Ukraine Stunt Case
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
MOSCOW -- A Moscow court on September 10 acquitted four people and found one guilty of hooliganism and vandalism for taking part in a pro-Ukraine stunt.
The five, including two women, went on trial on August 17.
They were accused of taking part in a stunt in which a Soviet red star atop a Stalin-era skyscraper was painted in the yellow-and-blue colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Four defendants were accused of drawing attention to the painted star and a Ukrainian flag hoisted from it by parachuting from the 176-meter building.
The fifth defendant, Vladimir Podrezov, was sentenced to 27 months in jail.
The court found Podrezov guilty of helping Ukrainian stunt daredevil Pavlo Ushyvets -- known by the nickname Mustang Wanted -- to paint the star and raise the flag.
Ushyvets, who is in Ukraine, has announced on Facebook that he carried out the stunt alone.
The Italian parliament has ratified the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, making Italy the 23rd European country to ratify the document. Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Fabrizio Romano made the statement on his Twitter account.
The process has not yet been completed in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece or Cyprus.
The association agreement was signed in March 2014, however, for it to come into effect Ukraine and all 28 EU members must ratify it.
This in from RFE/RL's News Desk:
Ukrainian, Slovak PMs Criticize Nord Stream Expansion
The prime ministers of Ukraine and Slovakia have condemned a recent deal to expand the current Nord Stream pipeline that delivers natural gas directly from Russia to Western Europe.
Following the two leaders’ meeting in Bratislava on September 10, Slovakia’s Robert Fico said the deal was a betrayal, while his Ukrainian counterpart, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called the plan "an anti-European and anti-Ukrainian project."
Yatsenyuk said his country would lose $2 billion and Slovakia $800 million in transit fees if the project, known as Nord Stream-2, is implemented.
Last week, Russian giant Gazprom and energy companies from Western EU countries signed a shareholders' agreement on the plan to expand the pipeline that runs beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany.
The project has also been criticized by Poland.