At least three government soldiers have been killed in fighting with independence-seeking insurgents over the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine, authorities said Thursday.
Besides the fatalities, nine other Ukrainian servicemen were wounded, said Andrei Lysenko, spokesman for the National Security and Defence Council, adding that the insurgents used heavy artillery and mortar weapons during the attacks.
The rebels have intensified their offensive against Ukrainian forces' positions at the three fighting flashpoints of Mariupol city, Debaltsevo town, and the city and outskirts of Donetsk, Xinhua reported citign Lysenko.
According to Donetsk's municipal council, shelling in the city late Wednesday left four people wounded and damaged several houses and a hospital. However, the situation was calm in Donetsk as of Thursday afternoon.
There have been no reports about rebel casualties over the last 24 hours.
According to an earlier EFE report, the Ukrainian military command Thursday reported fresh clashes in the east of the country and accused pro-Russian separatists of breaching the ceasefire agreement signed Sep 5 in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
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A military statement said rebel militias Wednesday shelled army positions in the towns of Debaltsevo, Chernigov, Redkodub, Avdeyevka and Granitne.
Government forces also repelled a rebel assault on the airport in Donetsk city, the main separatist stronghold in eastern Ukraine, the statement said.
Ukrainian forces did not suffer casualties during Wednesday's fighting.
The pro-Russian separatists have violated the truce more than 1,400 times, causing the deaths of 68 soldiers and 52 civilians, according to the Ukrainian foreign ministry.
Heavy fighting has been raging in Ukraine's restive east regions since mid-April, when the government troops launched an offensive to regain control over rebels-seized cities and towns.
The armed conflict has claimed at least 3,660 lives and wounded more than 8,750 others, according to the latest UN estimates.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of shelling in the residential areas of the cities and violating a truce deal that came into force in early September.