Events in Ukraine on 19 December 2014.

Briefly about the most important today's events in our digest of events

that have happened in Ukraine today

Almost 12 thousand people moving out of the ATO area

Almost 12 thousand people moved out of the ATO area within 48 hours, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, Andriy Lysenko, reported at a briefing.

"According to our information, 12 thousand people have moved out of the ATO area to other regions just in recent days. In total, 550 223 citizens of Lugansk and Donetsk regions have moved from the ATO area so far, he said.

Tymchuk: Donetsk airport and the town of Pisky under fire

Rebels continue to shell the ATO forces of Ukraine stationed at the Donetsk airport, the head of the Information Resistance Group, MP Dmytro Tymchuk, posted on his Facebook Wall.

"Subdivisions of Russian and terrorist forces continue to carry out attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops trying to provoke Ukrainian military into firing back. The rebels mainly used small arms", he writes.

"Also, gunmen regularly carried out a number of intensive assaults on the settlement of Pisky and nearby areas to the south (Krasnogorivka district) at short intervals using submachine guns", Tymchuk reports.

Insurgents firing near the settlement of Schastya with grenade launchers, and at some other places with submachine guns

Militants shelled the positions of anti-terrorist operation forces in eastern Ukraine nine times in the past 24 hours; the situation remains tense, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Vladislav Selezniov, asserted.

"Positions of ATO forces have been fired upon nine times within the past 24 hours," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

According to him, since the beginning of the ceasefire (September 5) illegal armed groups have carried out in total 4,311 attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops, and 128 times on   positions of law enforcement units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military formations since a new ceasefire deal was agreed(December 9).

Selezniov noted that the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions was tense, especially in the rebel-held areas.

"The situation has not changed significantly," he concluded.

In addition, Selezniov said that a Russian humanitarian convoy was heading for Ukraine from the Rostov region.

EU announces new sanctions against the Crimea

EU sanctions against the Crimea and Sevastopol approved by the European Union Council on December 18 were published by the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) on Friday.

From now on acquiring real estate assets or expanding real estate assets acquired earlier, acquiring enterprises or expanding one's stake in operating companies, lending to organizations operating in Crimea, setting up new enterprises in Crimea and Sevastopol in partnership with local organizations and rendering investment services in the acquisition of real estate assets or enterprises and their expansion is prohibited.

The EU legislative act imposes trade restrictions. Selling various types of commodities and technologies which may be used in transport, telecommunications, energy, oil, gas and mining to individuals and legal entities in the Crimea and Sevastopol or with the purpose of their use in the Crimea and Sevastopol is also prohibited.

5 military died, and 7 others were wounded in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, Andriy Lysenko, reported at a briefing.