KIEV -- The Ukrainian military said Wednesday that fierce fighting has flared up again in the restive eastern regions ahead of new round of peace talks in Minsk.
"The situation in the conflict zone has worsened," spokesman Andriy Lysenko Lysenko said, adding that five government troops were killed in clashes with pro-independence militants in the previous day.
In turn, the militants said government forces fired at their positions 60 times during the same period.
The upsurge in violence came as representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) prepared to meet later in the day in the Belarus capital to try to ensure implementation of the Minsk ceasefire deal and stop the ongoing violence.
