KIEV, Aug. 19 - Russia may be preparing to halt its natural gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan said Tuesday.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - A gun battle broke out in the center of the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk and residents ran for cover from artillery fire on Tuesday, taking a government military offensive into the heart of the retreating pro-Moscow separatist rebellion, Reuters reported.

NEW YORK (UN), Aug. 19 - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep concern about reports of the shelling of a column of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Luhansk region and urges all sides to respect the rules governing the status of IDPs, the secretary general's spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, has said.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - As many as 1,026 reports of abductions have been registered in Donetsk and Luhansk regions since April 1, and the whereabouts of 558 people have been tracked down, while 468 remain unaccounted for, said Zorian Shkiriak, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - Ukraine does not have funds to compensate savings in former Soviet Union's Sberbank and resuming these payments is unreal in the short term due to difficult economic situation in the country, Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said.

KIEV, Aug. 20 – Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said the damage done to Ukraine by the actions of Russia-coordinated militants in southeastern Ukraine is estimated at billions of dollars.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - A Ukrainian warplane was blown out of the sky over rebel-held territory Wednesday as fierce clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents left dozens of civilians dead, AFP reported.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - Heavy shelling hit residential neighborhoods in Ukraine's rebel stronghold of Donetsk and government forces fought street battles in other towns on Wednesday as they sought to crush a four-month-old separatist rebellion, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - Ukraine's conflict with separatist rebels is draining the economy by the day and hampering efforts to implement reforms as required by an IMF bailout program, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 19 - MEPs Elmar Brok and Jacek Saryusz-Wolski have described the EU's position in Russia's trade war with Ukraine as passive and called for immediate action to defend Kiev and its right of a free choice.