Kyiv says one Ukrainian soldier has been killed and three wounded in attacks over the past 24 hours by Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on June 1 that the casualties were suffered in separatist shelling of the government-held towns of Zaitseve and Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian forces have suffered significant losses in eastern Ukraine in recent days as fighting intensifies.
On May 30, Lysenko accused the separatists of “actively using heavy weapons,” including Grad rocket launchers.
Amid the flare-up in violence, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for greater foreign assistance and has appointed former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his adviser.
In April, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said it could take years to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 9,300 lives since it erupted in April 2014.
