Sloviansk

Ukrainian officials have called on civilians to urgently evacuate the city of Sloviansk as Russian troops press towards it in their campaign to secure the Donbas region.

Sloviansk has been subjected to "massive" Russian bombardment in recent days, with at least two people killed and seven others wounded in an attack on a marketplace Tuesday.

Defense and security analyst Michael Clark commented on the fall of Lysychansk into Russian hands and the consequences it will have on the development of the situation in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army retreated from the strategic city of Lysychansk on July 3, as Russia claimed a major victory by seizing control of the entire eastern Lugansk region.

The Ukrainian withdrawal followed weeks of fierce fighting and marked a decisive breakthrough for Moscow's forces more than four months after their invasion and after turning their focus away from the capital Kyiv.

A group of young off-duty Ukrainian soldiers gathered at a military distribution center to enjoy a rare respite from the fighting that has again engulfed their fractured home in eastern Ukraine.

About 290 American paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade have arrived this week in western Ukraine with the mission to train the Ukrainian troops.

The US paratroopers’ arrival was announced by the US Ambassador to Ukraine via his Twitter account, although the exact number of the instructors was not mentioned in the tweet.

Pro-Russian forces plan to "retake towns"

DONETSK -- Forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) plan to take the towns of Slaviansk, Kramatorsk and Mariupol, Aleksandr Zakharchenko has said.

The prime minister of the self-proclaimed republic explained that "periods of intensive hostilities will follow."

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have left the eastern town of Slaviansk and moved to Kramatorsk.

Ukrainian defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and the chief of military staff of Ukraine, Viktor Muzhenko, informed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday that the national flag had been raised over the city council building.

Russia has requested the international community to investigate the use of prohibited incendiary bombs in Ukraine.

"We are concerned to hear reports that the Ukrainian military forces use incendiary bombs and some other indiscriminate weapons. These reports should be probed into urgently", Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated, quoted by ITAR-TASS.

A pro-Russian rebel leader in Ukraine’s Sloviansk says he is holding captive 4 OSCE observers.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Monday that it had lost contact with one of its monitoring teams in the Donetsk region.

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.