The Ukrainian Army says two of its soldiers have been killed in clashes with Russia-backed separatists controlling swathes of eastern Ukraine.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on March 5 that the skirmish took place close to the government-held port of Mariupol when Ukrainian soldiers detected a reconnaissance group of separatists.
Five more Ukrainian soldiers were wounded over the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine, Lysenko said.
The latest casualties came after a fresh European effort to resolve the nearly two-year conflict collapsed this week, with Russia and Ukraine failing to agree on elections in the separatist regions.
More than 9,000 people have been killed and some 21,000 others injured since the conflict started in April 2014.