As we and others try to get confirmation on the death toll (which Reuters suggests is likely to be less than the figure Ukrainian television is reporting, citing military sources), here are more details of the incident, from the same agency.
Military officials said a paratrooper unit had come under mortar and tank fire near the town of Shakhtarsk, in the region where a Malaysian airliner was brought down on July 17, and the number of casualties was being checked.
Reuters quotes Ukrainian television as saying that 20 servicemen were killed in a separatist attack in east Ukraine, military officials seeking confirmation.
We are now closing the live blog for today. Don't forget that you can keep abreast of all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has issued a statement on today's trilateral talks in Belarus.
According to this document, all the envoys committed to the immediate release of hostages taken during the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which they said was an important element for securing a sustainable cease-fire.
Other elements include:
The establishment of an OSCE supported monitoring and verification mechanism to become effective simultaneously with the entry into force of the cease-fire
Effective control and verification of the border between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
The OSCE said the delegates would meet again next week.
An interesting tweet from the apparent account of Russia's deputy Prime Minister:
We have different values and allies pic.twitter.com/aJ1312jJNx
— Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) July 31, 2014
Foreign Minister: #Kyiv not questioning support from #Germany http://t.co/BdDVxfVKwG
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) July 31, 2014
At least 363 #Ukraine soldiers killed in the east. Here are the casualties from July 17-28: http://t.co/L2GjQ7LvCR pic.twitter.com/X8GD5At5vl
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 31, 2014
Experts today detected presence of human remains on crash site, says OSCE spokesperson.
— Simon Kruse (@crusoes) July 31, 2014
OSCE and experts fr Netherlands and Australia today reached crash site. Heard and saw artillery fire 10 km from site. pic.twitter.com/aEdcjbMf45
— Simon Kruse (@crusoes) July 31, 2014
New #Russia conspiracy theory: the CIA is zombifying residents of #Ukraine through the tap water. http://t.co/84fDTYYHfK #soundslegit
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) July 31, 2014