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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

11:31 8.12.2014
Ukrainian workers load parts of the wreckage of MH17 on trucks at a terminal in Kharkiv on December 3.
Ukrainian workers load parts of the wreckage of MH17 on trucks at a terminal in Kharkiv on December 3.

MH17 Wreckage Due In Netherlands On Tuesday

THE HAGUE, Dec 08, 2014 (AFP) -- Wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 will arrive from Ukraine at a Dutch air force base on Tuesday where the plane will be reconstructed as part of probe into the crash.

The convoy of lorries carrying pieces of wreckage from Ukraine is due to arrive at the Gilze-Rijen airbase in the south of the country at around 2 pm (1300 GMT), the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) said in a statement on Monday.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was blown out of the sky on July 17 over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, two-thirds of them Dutch.

Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of supplying pro-Kremlin insurgents with the missile that shot down the jet, but Moscow and the separatists deny they were responsible and have instead pointed the finger at Kiev.

Dutch authorities are charged with establishing exactly what brought the plane down and are reconstructing part of the aircraft as part of their probe.

The convoy of trucks carrying pieces of the Boeing left Ukraine last week and will drive past next of kin on Tuesday who wish to see the wreckage arrive at the base, the OVV said.

"The arrival of the wreckage at the air force base will not be of a ceremonial character and those attending will not be permitted to be present during the opening or unloading of the trucks," it said.

The wreckage will be photographed, scanned and categorised before being reconstructed in a hanger.

The reconstruction will be closed to the public, although next of kin will be allowed to see it if they wish.

A preliminary report in September said that plane "broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside."

A Dutch-led investigation team has so far identified 292 of the dead, but six victims remained unidentified as recovery work at the crash site shut down for the winter.

12:06 8.12.2014

12:08 8.12.2014

From Reuters:

Russia says would accept money or warships to solve Mistral dispute

MOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) -- Russia would accept either money or the delivery of two Mistral helicopter carriers to resolve a dispute with France, a Kremlin official said on Monday.

France has suspended indefinitely the delivery of the first of the two warships, citing the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"Both options will suit us -- either the ships or the money. The money spent must be recovered," Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters two days after President Vladimir Putin had talks with French President Francois Hollande.

12:26 8.12.2014

12:39 8.12.2014

From AFP:

Russsian Car Sales Level Off In November After Steep Fall

Car sales in Russia practically stabilised in November after going into free fall in summer and autumn because of the crisis in Ukraine, industry figures published Monday said.

November saw sales of 229,439 cars, just 1.1 percent less than in November 2013. By contrast, in the summer months, car sales fell 20 to 30 percent year on year, and they were still down 10 percent year on year in October, the Association of European Businesses said in a report.

It attributed November's improved sales to a government cash-for-clunkers programme launched in September, and to people wanting to buy cars before anticipated price rises in the new year.

"Retail demand has been extraordinary in recent weeks, helped by government subsidies and consumers rushing to get ahead of widely anticipated new year price increases," Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the Association of European Businesses automobile manufacturers' committee, was quoted as saying in the report.

Car sales over the first 11 months of 2014 are still down 11.6 percent year on year. The top-selling car make was Lada, and nine of the 10 top-selling models were produced in Russia.

12:47 8.12.2014

12:59 8.12.2014

From RFE/RL's News Desk:

The Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine say they are prepared to meet in Minsk this week for truce talks.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Kyiv officials are ready to talk as early as December 9 to try to improve the shaky cease-fire that was originally agreed to in Minsk in September.

Russia also expressed strong support on December 8 for a plan to hold a new round of talks this week involving Ukrainian, Russian, and separatist officials along with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Denis Pushilin, a leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, indicated he was also ready for meeting in Minsk this week, but did not say when.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said over the weekend that a preliminary agreement had been reached for a December 9 meeting.

13:42 8.12.2014

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13:44 8.12.2014

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