epa04678414 Relatives and comrades attend the funeral ceremony of the Aydar battalion servicemen Vadim Shalatovsky (31) and Nazar Yakubovsky (17), who were killed in the eastern Ukraine conflict, on Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, 25 March 2015. Ukraine has made some democratic progress over the last year, despite the ‘major challenges’ presented by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the conflict in the east of the country, the European Commission said. EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY