Donetsk

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has extended the truce offered to pro-Russian rebels, which was to end Friday, until the end of June.

Administrations at the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic" have generally agreed to hold on to the ceasefire, despite internal divisions, RIA Novosti quotes their officials as saying.

Unidentified persons have bombed the car of Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, on Thursday, according to Russian media reports.

"My car has been blown up. There were three persons in the car. Two of them are in critical condition," Pushilin told Itar-Tass. "I haven't been using this car for two days," he added.

Ten people died near the town of Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian separatists shot down a military helicopter.

Outgoing President Oleksandr Turchynov confirmed reports that Gen Serhiy Kulchitsky, a senior National Guard general in response for combat and special training, was among the victims.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says it has lost a contact with one of its monitoring teams in Ukraine.

Four monitors operating in the southeast of the country have not been accounted for since 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Monday, according to the BBC.

The observers performing a routine mission.

More than 50 pro-Russian rebels were killed in an unprecedented assault by Ukrainian government forces, which raged into a second day on Tuesday after a newly-elected president vowed to crush the revolt in the east once and for all.
   

At least 24 people were killed after a truck carrying wounded rebels from Donetsk airport was attacked in Ukraine's Donetsk region, according to Russian media reports.

Italy's Foreign Ministry has urged Ukrainian authorities to investigate the death of reporter Andrea Rocchelli, who was killed in a mortar shell attack on Saturday in Slaviansk.

"We urge the Ukrainian authorities to track down the dynamics of the attack which killed Andrea Rocchelli", a statement on the ministry's website read.

The self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" has declared martial law to cleanse its territory of Ukrainian troops, its leadership said Monday.

The Ukrainian news agencies report that the voter turnout in the early presidential elections in Ukraine is high. 

At least 11 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the Donetsk region, the government stated.

The Defense Ministry said on its website that "terrorists" armed with automatic rifles and anti-tank weapons attacked a Ukrainian military checkpoint near the Volnovakha area, Donetsk Oblast. As a result of the shootout, 11 people were killed, while some 30 others were injured.