The Ukrainian military says two of its soldiers have been killed in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in the country’s east.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on April 21 that the fighting had been concentrated around Avdiyivka, a government-held town near the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk.
Eight soldiers were also wounded in the previous 24 hours, Lysenko said.
Meanwhile, the separatists said two of their fighters have been killed over the past week.
A new cease-fire agreed by Kyiv and the separatists went into effect on April 1 and largely held through the Easter holidays.
Fighting between government forces and the Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,900 people since it broke out April 2014, shortly after Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
Kyiv and Western governments say Russia fomented separatism in eastern and southern Ukraine at the time and has sent large numbers of military personnel and weapons across the border to fight against Ukrainian forces.
