Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed and seven others wounded in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east.
The Defense Ministry said on February 21 that separatists violated a frequently breached cease-fire 15 times during the previous 24 hours, firing artillery, machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars.
Meanwhile, the separatists claimed that Ukrainian government forces violated the cease-fire 14 times using the same types of weapons.
Since April 2014, more than 10,300 people have been killed by fighting between Kyiv's forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have failed to hold.
A new cease-fire agreement was reached in late 2017 and was meant to begin on December 23, but both sides have accused each other of repeated violations since then.
