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A priest stands in front of a hospital destroyed after shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 19.
A priest stands in front of a hospital destroyed after shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 19.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

Final Summary For January 20

-- A military spokesman says Ukrainian soldiers on January 20 came under attack from Russian regular forces in the north of the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

-- Germany's foreign minister says he and his counterparts from Ukraine, Russia, and France will meet on January 21 in Berlin in a bid to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

-- The chief of Russian gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's discount "winter price" for natural gas will end on April 1. Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said in a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that the price for Kyiv would be set in accordance with a long-standing contract, one Kyiv has long sought to change.

-- Russia says a European Union decision to keep sanctions against Russia in place shows the EU is not ready to change an "unfriendly course" toward Moscow. The EU's decision "only confirms the fact that the EU is still not ready to alter its unfriendly course or to give an objective assessment of the Kyiv authorities' actions," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

-- A Georgian man fighting on the Ukrainian side in the conflict in Ukraine has been killed in combat near the Donetsk airport, according to relatives. Media reports in Georgia quote members of Tamaz Sukhiashvili's family as saying he was killed in a battle near the bitterly contested airport on January 17.

-- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed deep concern over what it says is the "escalation" of violence between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine over the past two weeks. In a statement, the ICRC said the fighting in and around the city of Donetsk was killing civilians and "preventing" its team from carrying out its humanitarian work.

-- An explosion near a courthouse in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has wounded 14 people, four of them seriously.

-- Russia says Kyiv is trying to solve the crisis in eastern Ukraine through military force and that could lead to "irreversible consequences for Ukrainian statehood." Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin spoke to Interfax news agency as Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of ignoring appeals for a cease-fire to be respected.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv

11:32 10.1.2015

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Here is today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:

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We'll conclude today's live blogging with this video report from our Ukrainian Service produced by Shahida Yakub.

In December, a family in eastern Ukraine was torn apart by fighting between government troops and separatists rebels. Baby Nika and her brother Vitya lost their mother and their home in a shell attack. The children's aunt is now taking care of them and her own young children as they struggle to put their lives back together:

A Family Copes With Tragedy In Wartorn Donetsk
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18:11 9.1.2015

16:54 9.1.2015

From that Reuters report:

"While it may be too early to call this a humanitarian catastrophe, it's clearly progressing in that direction," [Denis Krivosheev, deputy director of Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International,] told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email.

The provision of humanitarian aid was being hampered by pro-Kiev volunteer battalions that were increasingly preventing food and medicine from reaching those in need in eastern Ukraine, he said.

"Attempting to create unbearable conditions of life is a whole new ballgame... using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime."

The battalions often act like "renegade gangs" and urgently need to be brought under control, Krivosheev added.

16:49 9.1.2015

From our newsroom:

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France plan to meet in Berlin next week as part of diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The January 12 meeting was agreed in a phone call on January 9 between the four countries’ foreign ministers.

A source in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry told Interfax news agency that the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France may also meet in the Kazakh capital, Astana, next week.

"If the foreign ministers reach certain agreements in Berlin on January 12, everything is possible," the source said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said four of its soldiers were killed in an upsurge in mortar and rocket attacks against army outposts.

Authorities in the rebel-held stronghold of Donetsk said two civilians died in clashes around the city's disputed airport.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, Interfax, and AP

16:37 9.1.2015

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