"Russian forces" said to have stepped up attacks on Ukrainian forces:
That concludes our live blogging for Monday, December 1. Follow our continuing coverage of events in Ukraine and throughout our region HERE.
Here's our brief rundown of the late-breaking news of a cease-fire that is said to have been agreed for one of the most bitterly fought-for bits of eastern Ukraine:
Ukraine Announces Temporary Truce At Donetsk Airport
This tweet came an hour or so after the first international agency reports of a cease-fire at the airport:
The pinch gets worse in rebel-held parts of Ukraine.
News of a cease-fire in the ongoing battle for Donetsk airport, where fighting continued nearly unabated after the early September truce agreed in Minsk.
From AP:
Ukraine's military said Monday that its forces and Russian representatives had agreed a temporary ceasefire around the airport in rebel-held Donetsk that has been the focus of fighting for months.
The press office of Ukraine's "anti-terrorist operation" in the largely Russian speaking east said an agreement to suspend military operations was reached after 24 hours of fighting that killed at least three government soldiers.
And AFP:
Ukraine's military said Monday that its forces and Russian representatives had agreed a temporary ceasefire around the airport in rebel-held Donetsk that has been the focus of fighting for months.
The press office of Ukraine's "anti-terrorist operation" in the largely Russian speaking east said an agreement to suspend military operations was reached after 24 hours of fighting that killed at least three government soldiers.
"We have just learned that as a result of negotiations between the heads of the joint Russian-Ukrainian centre near the Donetsk airport, the fire has come to a halt," the Ukrainian military statement said.
It was not immediately clear how long the ceasefire was meant to last and there was no immediate reaction to the Ukrainian statement from rebel leaders.
"The Guardian" live blog of the ruble crisis reported that the ruble "stabilized at around 52 to the dollar, a slide of over 3% today. It was down 6.5% one stage..."
It credits intervention by the Russian central bank and comments from a deputy central-bank governor, Ksenia Yudaeva, who appealed to Russian households to "think twice" before "rushing out" to convert their rubles, citing high interest rates that bring hefty returns, currency risks, and the cost of conversion.