From AFP:
Ukraine authorities on Saturday banned flights to the rebel-held east of the former Soviet republic, the head of Ukraine's aviation authority said.
"Flights are banned for Russian companies to Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk for safety reasons," Denis Antoniuk told AFP without elaborating.
The two cities serve the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
The open-ended ban also affects a Ukrainian airline, Dniproavia, Antoniuk said.
The Luhansk airport has been gutted by fighting between separatists and Kiev forces, while combat continues over the Donetsk facility.
From AFP:
The mother of a victim of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has begun legal proceedings against Ukraine at the European Court of Human Rights, accusing Kiev of failing to close the country's airspace, a German daily reported Sunday.
The woman, who lodged her complaint at the Strasbourg-based court "last week", is suing Ukraine for 800,000 euros ($1 million) in damages for negligent homicide, the Bild newspaper said.
The Boeing 777 exploded over insurgent-held east Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 on board, 193 of them Dutch. Four were German, according to the airline.
Kiev and the West have accused separatists of shooting it down with a surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia -- a charge Moscow denies.
The plaintiff in the case claims that Ukraine should have closed its airspace to civilian flights when fighting raged in the east of the country, Bild reported.
The woman argues that Ukraine chose not to close its airspace because it did not want to lose out on overflight fees.
At the time, some 700 flights were thought to be crossing Ukrainian territory per day, bringing in several millions of euros (dollars) a month in revenue, Bild added.
The woman is being defended by German lawyer Elmar Giemulla, a professor of aviation law.
Giemulla announced in September he would represent three families of German victims of MH17.
"By keeping its airspace open for transit by aircraft from other countries, the state must ensure the safety of the flights. If this is temporarily impossible, it means that it should close its airspace," he told AFP at the time.
From TASS:
A convoy of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry has delivered humanitarian aid to Donetsk on Sunday.
The ministry's representative Oleg Voronov said "over 60 trucks
carrying more than 800 tonnes of humanitarian cargo have come to Donetsk."
The cargo is mostly construction materials and food products as well as cargo for work of socially important facilities.
"All the drivers - rescuers, who have delivered the cargo, feel well. The trucks are in good conditions," the ministry's representative said.
Unloading is underway.
Earlier on Sunday, over 40 trucks came to Lugansk. They were carrying over 400 tonnes of humanitarian aid, mostly construction materials and food products.
The convoy moved in bad weather conditions. Due to blizzard, ice on the road and poor visibility in Russia's Rostov region, the drivers had to move at the lowest possible speed with all necessary precautions. Thus, the delivery of the humanitarian cargo has taken more time than previously.