Lawyers

• Ukraine still faces threat of Russian military offensive: Poroshenko

  Ukraine still faces the threat of a full-scale Russian military attack despite several days of relative calm on the front-lines of the east where government forces confront Russian-backed separatists, President Petro Poroshenko said on Tuesday.

• Ukraine's parliament backs draft law giving east special status

  Ukraine's parliament on Monday voted for constitutional changes to give its eastern regions a special status that it hopes will blunt their separatist drive, but divisions among pro-Western lawmakers suggested they will have a rougher ride to become law.

• Ukraine's ceasefire under pressure as one more serviceman killed

  A fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists came under renewed pressure on Sunday with the Ukrainian military reporting a serviceman had been killed and seven others wounded in rebel attacks.

• Violence escalates in east Ukraine ahead of talks

  Ukraine's military accused pro-Russian rebels on Monday of using heavy weapons that were meant to have been withdrawn under a ceasefire deal, after one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and six wounded in rebel-held territories.

• Ukraine military, rebels accuse each other of increased attacks

  Ukraine's military and pro-Russian rebels accused each other on Friday of intensifying attacks in separatist eastern territories despite a two-month-old ceasefire deal.

• Ukraine's president says truce not working, urges more Russia sanctions: newspaper

  Ukraine's president accused Russian-backed separatists in the east of failing to respect a ceasefire with Ukrainian troops and called for further sanctions on Russia in comments to a German newspaper to be published on Monday.

• International focus turns to bolstering Ukraine ceasefire

  Steps to bolster a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine gathered momentum on Friday as support within the European Union for more economic sanctions¨on Russia appeared to wane.

• OSCE should play greater role in eastern Ukraine, leaders say

  The leaders of Russia, Germany and France agreed to Ukraine's proposal to ask the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to help with the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine, officials said after a four-way phone call on Monday evening.

• Ukraine, pro-Russia rebels swap dozens of prisoners

  Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists have exchanged dozens of prisoners in east Ukraine, a Ukrainian Security Council aide confirmed on Sunday, a step toward implementing an internationally brokered peace deal.

• Putin tells Kiev to let troops surrender as Ukraine ceasefire unravels

  Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kiev to let its soldiers surrender to pro-Russian rebels, who spurned a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and fought their way on Tuesday into the town of Debaltseve, encircling thousands of government troops.

• Ceasefire agreed for eastern Ukraine after Minsk summit

  The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Thursday.

• Ukraine peace talks aborted as civilians die in east

  Civilians were killed on both sides in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine on Friday, while an attempt to reopen peace talks in neighboring Belarus was aborted before it began.

• Germany's Merkel plays down expectations as new Ukraine talks start

  Germany's Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she hoped a new round of talks with Ukraine and Russia in Berlin could help implement an elusive ceasefire in eastern Ukraine but warned against expecting too much, given another upsurge in the violence.

• NATO, EU set diverging tones on approach to Russia

  A top NATO official said on Friday it was the wrong time to talk about mending relations with Russia, but EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker sounded more conciliatory, saying the bloc must begin to engage with Moscow again in areas of common interest.

• 'Day of Silence' aims to rebuild Ukraine truce but talks in doubt

  Ukraine plans a "Day of Silence" on Tuesday to try to rebuild a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists that has all but disintegrated, but accompanying peace talks -- the first in three months -- look likely to be delayed.

• Worst east Ukraine shelling for month; ceasefire looks in doubt

  East Ukraine's rebel stronghold Donetsk was pummeled on Sunday by the heaviest shelling in a month, and the OSCE said it spotted an armored column of troops without insignia in rebel territory that Kiev said proved Moscow had sent reinforcements.

• Munitions factory hit in Ukraine's Donetsk, buffer zone to be set up

  The Ukrainian city of Donetsk was rocked by blasts on Saturday, even as government forces and pro-Russian separatists prepared to create a buffer zone to separate the warring sides.