BREAKING: Ukraine's border service said nine guards were wounded on July 3 when rebels shelled the Dolzhansky border post with Russia, amid continued fighting following the expiration of a 10-day cease-fire late on June 30.
The border post is a strategic crossing that Kyiv won back days earlier in a step hailed as the "first victory" since the renewal of its military offensive.
Elsewhere, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said in a statement that its forces had destroyed five trucks carrying "terrorists."
The statement said rebels had launched 16 attacks on government checkpoints during the past 24 hours.
No casualty figures were available.
Our news desk has an update on the continued Ukrainian offensive in the east:
Ukrainian government forces are pressing their offensive against pro-Russian separatists in the east, as the country's president announced a military shakeup.
A stray grenade damaged a Russian post on the border with Ukraine on July 3 amid continued fighting following the expiration of a 10-day cease-fire late on June 30.
In Berlin, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France agreed on July 2 to work on another truce, with talks starting July 5 at the latest.
Any future cease-fire would be monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The four ministers agreed that the violence should cease on all sides, hostages be released, and Ukraine border points with Russia be brought back under government control.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the Berlin meeting as “constructive,” adding that all participants “realize what responsibility we bear.”
In a conference call on July 3, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help organize a meeting before July 5 in order to define the conditions for a cease-fire.
"To this end, they asked President Putin to intervene with the separatists in order to bring them into negotiations and to find an accord with the Ukrainian authorities," a statement from the French presidency said.
Meanwhile, President Petro Poroshenko announced on July 3 the appointments of Colonel General Valeriy Heletey as Ukraine's new defense minister and Lieutenant General Viktor Muzhenko as head of the joint chiefs of staff.
Heletey is a former policeman who headed the state's VIP bodyguard service, while Muzhenko is a career soldier trained in the Soviet Union.
Poroshenko also appointed Yury Kosyuk, an agriculture magnate and one of Ukraine's richest men, to oversee defense issues in the presidential administration.
In announcing the appointments, Poroshenko promised to "purge the army of thieves and grafters."
He has pledged to stamp out corruption within the country's armed forces, who are battling to assert control over pro-Russian separatists in the country's industrial east.
The appointments were approved by lawmakers on July 3.
Our Ukrainian Service spoke to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, who said Vladimir Putin's past as a Soviet intelligence officer has affected his policies with regard to Russia's neighboring nations. He also said that the Kremlin's philosophy "focuses on aggression and disregard for the interests of its neighbors."
More from our news desk on Poroshenko's defense appointments:
Ukraine's president has nominated new officials to top defense posts.
A statement published online late on July 2 announced the appointments of Colonel General Valeriy Heletey as defense minister and Lieutenant General Viktor Muzhenko as chief of the military's General Staff.
Poroshenko also appointed Yury Kosyuk, an agriculture magnate and one of Ukraine's richest men, to oversee defense issues in the presidential administration.
In announcing the appointments, Poroshenko promised to "purge the army of thieves and grafters."
He has pledged to stamp out corruption within the country's armed forces, who are battling to assert control over pro-Russian separatists in the country's industrial east.
The appointments must be approved by parliament.
Video obtained from Ukrainian military television shows artillery being fired from a field near the eastern city of Slovyansk. The target of the shelling was not identified. The video was distributed on July 2 as the Ukrainian military said it had regained control of several small towns near Slovyansk, a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists. (Video from Reuters)
Good piece in the "Wall Street Journal" looking at the Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Russia:
As a result, some refugees traversing the Russian border expressed a conviction that Ukrainian forces had moved in not to neutralize separatists but to force people like them out. Chistka was the word on their lips, the Russian term for purge that has become a buzzword in reports by Russian state news.
"To them, we have always been Moskaly," said Ms. Vasilieva, using the Ukrainian slur for Russians.
She and others looked on with envy when Russia took control of Crimea, hoping that their region, too, would become Russian. "We always considered ourselves Russians," she said.
Not so sanguine take from the Ukrainian foreign minister after the Berlin talks: