DONETSK, July 23 - A powerful Ukrainian rebel leader has confirmed that pro-Russian separatists had an anti-aircraft missile of the type Washington says was used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and it could have originated in Russia.

KIEV, July 23 – Two Su-25 attack aircraft belonging to the Ukrainian ATO forces, according to initial reports, were shot down from outside the territory of Ukraine, said Andriy Lysenko spokesman of the National Security and Defense Council.

KIEV, July 23 - President Petro Poroshenko at a meeting with representatives of groups and factions in the Verkhovna Rada thanked MPs for their support but criticized those MPs, who he said did not support the state's efforts in matters related to the country's sovereignty.

KIEV, July 24 – Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov has announced the dissolution of the Ukrainian Communist Party faction in the Verkhovna Rada.

WASHINGTON, July 24 - The board of the International Monetary Fund is expected to meet about Ukraine's loan program in late August, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday, which would likely allow the embattled country to receive its next aid disbursement of an expected $1.4 billion, Reuters reported.

WASHINGTON, July 24 - The United States said on Thursday that Russia was firing artillery across its border with Ukraine to target Ukrainian military positions in the conflict with pro-Russian separatists, Reuters reported.

KIEV, July 24 – Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk resigned on Thursday, following Parliament's failure to pass legislation to take control over an increasingly precarious energy situation and to increase army financing.

KIEV, July 23 – The construction of the Teremky station on the Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line of the Kiev Metro will be completed in a few months, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul said.

KIEV, July 24 – The Cabinet of Ministers will be able to use treasury bills to restructure budget accounts payable accrued as of January 1, 2013 and to execute the debt on value added tax refunding if taxpayers select this means of refunding.

KIEV, July 24 – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will jointly attend Navy Day festivities in Sevastopol on Sunday, Yanukovych’s press service reported Wednesday.