Kiev: Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 29 wounded in fighting against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, a Ukraine military spokesman said on Monday morning.
Separatists have stepped up attempts to push government forces out of the small town of Debaltseve, which is a strategic rail hub northeast of the main regional city of Donetsk, since peace talks collapsed on Saturday.
Kiev military said separatist forces launched more than a 100 attacks by artillery, rocket systems and tank fire on Ukrainian positions and residential areas in the past 24 hours.
"As a result of these attacks and military clashes, Ukraine lost five service personnel and another 29 have been wounded," military spokesman Vyacheslav Seleznyov said at a morning briefing.