KIEV, Oct. 20 – The number of internally displaced persons from Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea has reached nearly 417,000 people, Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Volodymyr Hroisman Minister said.

KIEV, Oct. 20 - The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has denied a report by the German magazine Spiegel that the Malaysian airliner flying over Donetsk region on July 17 could have been shot down with a Buk missile system which the militia had reportedly captured from a Ukrainian military unit.

KIEV, Oct. 20 - A powerful explosion near a munitions factory rocked the rebel-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Monday, breaking windows several miles away, but there was no word of any casualties, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – Ukraine and the European Commission have agreed on a common stand at gas talks with Russia which are scheduled for Tuesday, Naftogaz Ukrayiny reported.

The agreement was reached at a meeting in Kiev on Monday, the state-owned company said.

LONDON, Oct. 20 - Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission moved towards an agreement in late September and made further progress over the weekend, Reuters reported.

The deal is expected to be finalized at meetings between officials in Brussels on Tuesday.

KIEV, Oct. 18 - Jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko would have to return to Ukraine to complete her prison sentence after receiving any medical treatment abroad, Reuters reported, citing a draft bill submitted to Parliament Friday.

KIEV, Oct. 18 – If the European Union refuses to continue to cooperate with Kiev, Ukraine is likely to join the Customs Union, said Deputy Prime Minister and Social Policy Minister Serhiy Tyhypko.

VILNIUS, Oct. 19 – The European Union, which has continued cooperation with Moscow in spite of the Mikhail Khodorkovsky case, should apply the same standards to Kiev, despite the imprisonment of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the speaker of the Lithuanian parliament said.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – Parliament has adopted the first reading of the draft state budget for 2012.

The budget, which was registered in Parliament on Sept. 15, provides for revenues of UAH 337.557 billion and expenditures of UAH 361.586 billion, including UAH 291.444 billion in revenues into the General Fund of the budget, UAH 46.117 billion in revenues into its Special Fund, UAH 314.881 billion in expenditures from its General Fund, and UAH 46.705 billion in expenditures from its Special Fund.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – President Viktor Yanukovych said that Ukraine still has time to decide on the possible entry into the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, but the negotiations with the EU are more important at the current stage.

"We have time, nobody is hurrying us," he said in an interview for the Evenings with Vitaliy Korotych TV program aired on the First National TV Channel on Wednesday night.