More from Reuters on the biggest story of the weekend:
Ukrainian troops launched a "mass operation" overnight retaking almost all the territory of Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine lost to separatists in recent weeks, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on Sunday.
The army's offensive at the airport brought the fighting close to the city of Donetsk itself, centre of a pro-Russian separatist rebellion. Residents reported intensified outgoing shelling including from residential areas in central parts of the separatist-held city.
"The decision was taken for a mass operation ... We succeeded in almost completely cleaning the territory of the airport, which belongs to the territory of Ukrainian forces as marked by military separation lines," Lysenko said in a televised briefing.
Lysenko said the operation had returned the battle lines near the airport to the previous status quo and that the Ukrainian army had thus not violated the Minsk 12-point peace plan agreed with Russia and separatist leaders last September.
Four Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 32 injured in the past 24 hours, he said.
With attempts to restart peace talks stalled, pro-Russian rebels have stepped up attacks in the past week, seizing from government troops parts of the airport, which is of strategic value to both sides.
As reports swirl suggesting Ukrainian forces have retaken Donetsk airport, here's something from our archive that highlights the importance of what has become a towering symbol in the current conflict.
Despite Cease-Fire, Fight Continues For Donetsk Airport
From our newsroom:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Kyiv will reassert control over the country's eastern region, where fighting intensified between government troops and pro-Russian separatist rebels over the weekend.
Poroshenko told a several thousand-strong peace rally in central Kyiv on January 18 that Ukraine would not "give up an inch" of its land to the separatists.
Meanwhile, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Ukrainian troops launched a "mass operation" overnight and retook almost all the territory of Donetsk airport lost to separatists in recent weeks.
The army's offensive at the airport brought the fighting close to the city of Donetsk itself.
Local residents reported intensified shelling, including from residential areas in central parts of Donetsk, a key separatist stronghold.
Four Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 32 injured in the past 24 hours, Lysenko said on January 18.
Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, Interfax, and unian.net