Thousands of people marched through central Kiev on Monday to protest against President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's deal with Moscow to grant special status to a pro-Russian rebel-held region of eastern Ukraine as part of efforts to end a five-year conflict there.

About 10,000 people gathered in central Kiev on Sunday to protest a plan for broader autonomy for separatist territories ahead of a high-stakes summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, news wires reported. The protesters, who descended on Kiev's Independence Square known locally as Maidan, chanted "No to surrender!", with some holding placards critical of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko, who was trounced in an April election, joined the rally.

The Ukrainian government signed last Tuesday an agreement with pro-Russia separatists, Russia and European monitors that will allow a local election to be held in separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, news wires reported. The deal was signed after the parties met in Minsk, and is seen as a major step by the new Ukrainian government under President Volodymyr Zelensky toward resolution of the conflict in the eastern part of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a government proposal to bankroll the modernisation of the armed forces in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, a government document published online showed on Monday.

Russia's ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, lost about one third of its seats in the Moscow city assembly at the local elections held last Sunday, according to final data cited by Russian news agencies. Nevertheless, the party retained its majority in the assembly, and its candidates for regional governors won in St Petersburg and in 15 other parts of the country.

Political novice and presidential protege Oleksiy Honcharuk was appointed as Ukraine’s prime minister on Thursday, claiming that economic reforms aimed at accelerating growth would be the focus of his premiership.

Nearly 50,000 people took part in an anti-government rally in Moscow on Saturday, carrying placards with slogans such as "Give us the right to vote!" and "You've lied to us enough", while others held up pictures of activists arrested at earlier demonstrations. The move marked one of the largest authorised protests since President Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin in 2012.

The attack by a gunman at a Norwegian mosque on Saturday will be investigated as a possible act of terrorism, police said on Sunday.

Polls have opened in Ukraine today, with voters electing a new parliament that could consolidate the power of country's new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and hand the former comedy star a stronger mandate for driving change in the war-scarred nation.

The leader of Georgia's ruling party says the ex-Soviet nation will hold the next parliamentary election based entirely on a proportionate system, fulfilling a key demand of anti-government protesters, news wires reported. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream party, on Monday announced a "large-scale political reform". There will also be no threshold for parties to enter parliament, he said.