Ukraine says three of its servicemen have been killed and seven wounded in fighting with Russia-backed separatists in the past 24 hours.
Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said the fighting had taken place on the front line near the village of Zaytseve, some 50 kilometers north of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk.
Meanwhile, the separatists said shelling from the Ukrainian government side had hit Zaytseve and Donetsk suburbs.
More than 9,000 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and rebels in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, and a year-old cease-fire agreement has failed to completely stop the violence.
On February 14, the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Lamberto Zannier, told RFE/RL that fighting had flared up in eastern Ukraine and the humanitarian situation was "dire."
