From Interfax, concerning the bus in Donetsk apparently hit by an artillery shell:
Two people were killed and another eight were injured when an artillery shell hit a passenger bus in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine on Tuesday morning, the head of the city's Kyivsky
district administration, Ivan Prikhodko, said on his Facebook page.
"Marshal Zhukov Avenue came under fire at 8:00 a.m. School No. 21, as well as several private houses and shops were damaged. Unfortunately, fatalities could not have been avoided. Two people were killed and another eight were injured on Bus No. 6," he said.
From Reuters:
Crimeans should pay back loans to Ukrainian banks - Russia
Crimeans should pay off their debts to Ukrainian banks despite now living under Russian law, a Russian central bank official was quoted as saying, marking a change in position by Moscow which had suggested ignoring any payment demands.
Reuters reported last week that thousands of Crimeans were not paying their debts to Ukrainian banks, with many taking their cue from Russian President Vladimir Putin who in April told one resident wondering how to pay off a car loan: "Please use the car and don't worry."
His spokesman later said Putin was referring to the fact that the banks' branches had closed in Crimea since Russia annexed the peninsula in March, making it difficult to pay.
Mikhail Sukhov, a deputy chairman at Russia's central bank, said on Monday Crimean residents' debts to Ukrainian banks would eventually have to be paid off.
"To pay or not to pay the loans is the responsibility of each person. But sooner or later they have to pay," Sukhov was quoted as saying by the Crimean news agency Novosti Krima during a visit to Crimea.
"As soon as working relations improve between Ukraine and Russia, a bank will be found to become an intermediary between borrower and lender and will undertake debt collection."
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to take the first steps this week towards forming a new government.
The United States and other Western government have criticized Kyiv for failing to put together a cabinet following October elections and putting on hold needed reforms linked to Western aid.
Analysts say the delay is due to rivalry between Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk over control of key portfolios.
Separately, Poroshenko also announced that Lithuania would provide Ukraine with some military aid to help Kyiv in its fight against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.
He was speaking in Kyiv at a press conference alongside visiting Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.
Asked whether Ukraine would seek to join NATO, Poroshenko held out the prospect of a referendum in several years' time, but said attempts to join now would cause "more harm than good."
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for today.
British journalist Graham Phillips was injured earlier today in eastern Ukraine.