An update with confirmed death toll, via our newsroom:
Ukraine's military said 14 people, including at least 10 soldiers, were killed in an ambush by pro-Russian separatists near the town of Shakhtarsk, in eastern Donetsk region, early on August 1.
Military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said the death of 10 soldiers has been confirmed but that four other bodies had not been identified and could be either soldiers, or separatists.
Ukraine's military has recently forced the separatists out of some areas they held in the east after days of intense fighting.
Shakhtarsk is in the area where a Malaysian airliner came down on July 17, allegedly shot down by the separatists.
A team of Dutch and Australian police and crash experts visited the crash site for the first time on July 31, having been unable to reach the site for days because of the heavy fighting.
Based on reporting by Reuters, UNIAN, and ITAR-TASS
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