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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

11:02 19.1.2015

11:01 19.1.2015

Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council:

10:45 19.1.2015
The damaged Putilovsky Bridge near the Donetsk airport on January 18.
The damaged Putilovsky Bridge near the Donetsk airport on January 18.

From RFE/RL's News Desk:

Fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine continued on January 19 amid conflicting claims over the situation at the bitterly contested Donetsk airport.

Reports say sporadic explosions were heard around the airport on January 19, when Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia celebrate Epiphany, but that the violence seemed to be at a lower level than in previous days.

The Ukrainian military says the rebels had shelled government positions and residential areas at least 35 times since 6 p.m. local time on January 18.

It also claimed Ukrainian troops had retaken almost all parts of the ruined airport lost to separatists in recent weeks.

But a separatist leader, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, told a news conference that "all the Ukrainian Army's attempts to take the airport...have failed."

Russia and Ukraine traded accusations over the recent fighting. Vladimir Putin's spokesman claimed that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rejected a peace plan proposed by the Russian president in a letter on January 15.

In a statement early on January 19, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry urged Moscow to sign a timetable for implementing the portion of a September 5 cease-fire deal that called for the withdrawal of foreign forces and heavy military equipment from the region.

10:28 19.1.2015

10:27 19.1.2015

09:35 19.1.2015
Ukraine Honors Victims Of Volnovakha Bus Massacre
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Ukraine Honors Victims Of Volnovakha Bus Massacre

Thousands of people joined marches across Ukraine on January 18 to honor the 12 people killed on a bus near Volnovakha in eastern Ukraine five days earlier. Many held placards stating "Je Suis Volnovakha." Kyiv blames the attack, the bloodiest single incident in several months, on pro-Russian separatists.

08:48 19.1.2015

This from Ruptly TV. A bridge has been destroyed near Donetsk International Airport.

"The Putilovsky Bridge near Donetsk International Airport was destroyed during heavy fighting between Kiev forces and fighters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR/DPR), Sunday. The bridge was blown in half during shelling that accompanied an assault by Kiev forces on areas held by the DNR militias."

08:25 19.1.2015

Latest from our news desk:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has joined other leaders voicing concern over an increase in fighting in the conflict between governing forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Ban said in a statement on January 18 that he was "alarmed by the severe escalation of fighting."

The UN chief called for "an immediate and full cessation of hostilities."

He said the fighting threatens to completely scuttle a 12-point peace plan signed by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the rebels in Minsk on September 5.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said on January 18 that four soldiers had been killed in the previous 24 hours, three of them in fierce fighting in which Kyiv says its forces took almost all the territory of Donetsk airport lost to separatists in recent weeks.

Some reports said at least 14 people were killed over the weekend.

More than 4,700 people have been killed in the conflict since April

07:22 19.1.2015
Aerial footage shot by a drone shows shell craters from intense fighting at Donetsk's international airport.
Aerial footage shot by a drone shows shell craters from intense fighting at Donetsk's international airport.

From RFE/RL's News Desk:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has joined other leaders voicing concern over an increase in fighting in the conflict between governing forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Ban said in a statement on January 18 that he was "alarmed by the severe escalation of fighting."

The UN chief called for "an immediate and full cessation of hostilities."

He said the fighting threatens to completely scuttle a 12-point peace plan signed by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the rebels in Minsk on September 5.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said on January 18 that four soldiers had been killed in the previous 24 hours, three of them in fierce fighting in which Kyiv says its forces took back almost all the territory of Donetsk airport lost to separatists in recent weeks.

Some reports said at least 14 people were killed over the weekend.

More than 4,700 people have been killed in the conflict since April.

07:17 19.1.2015

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