Here's more on from our news desk on the lifting of some U.S. sanctions vis-a-vis the FSB:
U.S. Treasury Eases License Sanctions On Russian Security Agency
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Treasury Department has eased some financial sanctions imposed on Russia's lead security agency, a move one expert said appeared to be aimed at helping U.S. technology companies.
The directive, issued on February 2 by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, deals specifically with the Federal Security Service, or FSB.
It authorizes IT companies looking to import, distribute, or use certain information technology in Russia to pay up to $5,000 in a calendar year for licenses that might be issued by the FSB.
Previously, such license transactions were barred under a U.S. executive order issued in late December by former President Barack Obama in response to the conclusion by U.S. intelligence that Russia used computer hacking to interfere in the November 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Sam Cutler, a sanctions expert with the New York-based consultancy Horizon Client Access, told RFE/RL that the move appeared aimed mainly at helping U.S. companies.
The directive explicitly states that it "does not authorize the exportation, reexportation, or provision of goods or technology to or on behalf" of the FSB.
Still, the decision comes at a time when the FSB and other Russian security agencies are under close scrutiny for their alleged role in the U.S. election won by President Donald Trump.
During the campaign, Trump said he wants to improve relations with Moscow that were badly strained over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
Here's another video from the Donbas, courtesy of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Current Time TV:
Intense Fighting Prompts Evacuations In Eastern Ukraine
For days, fighting has intensified between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists. Civilians in villages near Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine have been bearing the brunt of artillery and rocket battles, prompting evacuations.
Vladimir Putin had some stuff to say today about the situation in the Donbas while he was visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest:
Putin Blames Kyiv For Escalation In Eastern Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the Ukrainian government of provoking this week's flare up in fighting with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country. At a news conference in Budapest on February 2, Putin said Kyiv was using the escalation of the conflict as a ploy to win support from new U.S. President Donald Trump. (AP Video)
A tweet putting names and faces to some of the Ukrainian fatalities in recent days: