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)

January 20, 2015 05:05 CET

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

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Here is a map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine today, issued by Kyiv's Security and Defense Council (click image to enlarge):

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Here's another update from RFE/RL's news desk:

The Ukrainian military says that three Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and eight injured in attacks by pro-Russian separatists over the past 24 hours -- the first casualties since a fresh truce deal in eastern Ukraine went into effect on December 9.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on December 11 that Ukraine's army also registered 22 shelling attacks by separatists during the previous 24 hours.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said on December 11 that Russia is sparing no effort to convene another round of peace talks.

A cease-fire agreed on September 5 in Minsk has been repeatedly violated, with more than 1,000 people killed since the deal was signed.

A fresh round of talks in Minsk had been expected this week, but the renewed violence has clouded prospects for the resumption of talks.

(Reuters, AFP, Interfax)

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This item from our news desk is only peripherally related to Ukraine, but does show how the crisis there is having ramifications across the entire region:

Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has said that long-range missiles Warsaw is buying from the United States are especially needed by Poland because of current tensions in the region.

Siemoniak also complained of "unprecedented" recent activity by Russia's navy and air force in the Baltic Sea region -- saying the majority of the incidents involved Russian operations in international waters.

Siemoniak, speaking on December 11 at a signing ceremony for the $250 million deal, said the new U.S. missiles are the most modern military equipment Poland has ever purchased.

The purchase includes 40 joint air-to-surface missiles that are to be integrated into the Polish Air Force's three tactical squadrons of F-16 fighter jets.

The U.S. State Department approved the deal in October. Delivery is to start next year with the missile systems being operational in 2017.

(AP, tvn24.pl)

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Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)