Ten months of bloodshed in Ukraine
Kiev (AFP) - A new peace deal aimed at ending 10 months of conflict in eastern Ukraine was agreed at a summit in Minsk on Thursday, although some leaders have cautioned that major hurdles remain.
Following are key dates in the fighting between pro-Moscow separatists and government forces that the United Nations says has killed at least 5,350 people since April 2014.
Kiev and the West accuse Russia of arming the rebels and of sending in thousands of soldiers to Ukraine -- charges Moscow denies.
-- 2014 --
April 6: Two weeks after Russia annexes the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, pro-Moscow demonstrators seize government buildings in towns and cities across Russian-speaking east Ukraine, including Donetsk and Lugansk.
April 13: Kiev announces the launch of an operation aimed at retaking the rebel zones.
May 11: Voters back independence in referendums in Lugansk and Donetsk that Kiev and the West reject as illegitimate.
May 25: Ukraine's presidential election is won by Petro Poroshenko.
May 26: A major battle breaks out for control of Donetsk's airport after it is seized by rebels.
June 27: The EU and Kiev sign an association agreement, whose initial rejection by the previous pro-Moscow government originally sparked the Ukraine crisis.
July 5: Rebels abandon their main base of Slavyansk in the face of a government onslaught, retreating en masse to Donetsk.
July 17: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is shot down over rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people on board.
July 29: The EU and the United States broaden sanctions against Russia.
August 25: Rebels mount a counter-offensive in the southeast, reportedly backed by Russian troops and heavy weapons.
September 5: A ceasefire is signed in Minsk, shored up by a subsequent September 20 protocol, but violence continues.
October 26: Pro-Western parties win a majority of seats in Ukraine parliamentary elections boycotted in the east.
November 2: Separatists in eastern Ukraine vote in Russia-backed elections that Kiev and the West refuse to recognise.
November 12: NATO accuses Russia of sending additional columns of tanks, troops and military hardware into Ukraine.
-- 2015 --
January 22: Donetsk airport falls to rebels who two days later launch an assault on the strategic government-held port city of Mariupol.
February 6: The leaders of Russia, Germany and France agree to draw up a blueprint to end fighting, a day after Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande presented their plan to Kiev.
February 9: The Ukrainian military claims at least 1,500 Russian troops and convoys of military hardware entered the country in two days.
The EU agrees to postpone the implementation of new sanctions against Russia.
Merkel, who opposes sending arms to Kiev, visits Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama on the peace initiative. Obama says he has not yet decided whether to supply weapons to Ukraine.
February 10: Intense fighting resumes, including a rocket strike on Kiev's military headquarters in the east.
February 11: Kiev, Moscow, mediators and pro-Russian rebels agree a peace roadmap during marathon talks in Minsk, with the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine agreeing a declaration to support the deal.
The IMF and Ukraine agree a new $17.5 billion financial deal for Kiev, bringing total international assistance over four years to $40 billion.
