Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a grenade attack in the war-torn east of the country on Tuesday, Kiev said, the highest daily casualty toll over the past two weeks.

The troops died in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the village of Pavlopil close to the Kiev-controlled port city of Mariupol, said Oleksandr Danylyuk, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the incident an attempt to "undermine" Ukraine's efforts toward peace and called on France, Germany and Russia to "meet as quickly as possible to resume negotiations".

"We will not cease to work toward ending hostilities or leave any attack on our soldiers unanswered," Zelensky wrote on his Facebook page.

Tuesday's casualties were the highest daily toll since a truce went into force on July 21 -- the latest attempt to ease hostilities between Ukraine forces and pro-Russian separatists.

In a separate attack, Moscow-backed separatists fired at the positions of the Ukrainian army near the village of Bogdanivka located south of the Donetsk rebel stronghold, military spokesman Dmytro Gutsulyak said.

Separatists used an infantry fighting vehicle, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns, he said.

Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists, who carved out two "people's republics" in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, have fought since April 2014, after the annexation of Crimea.

Some 13,000 people have been killed in the violence that Kiev blames on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has denied claims it has funneled troops and arms across the border.

A series of truce agreements, brokered by France and Germany, have helped dampen hostilities but sporadic and sometimes serious clashes continue. </s> Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a grenade attack in the war-torn east of the country on Tuesday, Kiev said, the highest daily casualty toll over the past two weeks.

The troops died in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the village of Pavlopil close to the Kiev-controlled port city of Mariupol, said Oleksandr Danylyuk, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Tuesday's casualties were the highest daily toll since a truce went into force on July 21 - the latest attempt to ease hostilities between Ukraine forces and pro-Russian separatists.

"This crude violation of the truce agreements will not go unnoticed," Danylyuk said on his Facebook page.

In a separate attack, Moscow-backed separatists after midnight fired at the positions of the Ukrainian army near the village of Bogdanivka located south of the Donetsk rebel stronghold, military spokesman Dmytro Gutsulyak said.

Separatists used an infantry fighting vehicle, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns, he said.

Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists, who carved out two "people's republics" in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, have fought since April 2014, after the annexation of Crimea.

Some 13,000 people have been killed in the violence that Kiev blames on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has denied the claims it has funnelled troops and arms across the border despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

A series of truce agreements have helped significantly dampen the hostilities although sporadic clashes continue. </s> Ukrainian authorities said four soldiers had been killed in fighting Russia-backed separatists, some of the worst violence in weeks in war-torn eastern Ukraine. Kyiv military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said the clashes occurred January 29 near Avdiyivka, a town north of the regional center Donetsk.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Weekday Magazine. </s> Donetsk regional militias in eastern Ukraine had no part in the recent deaths of four Ukrainian troops northeast from the city of Mariupol, the representative office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) at the ceasefire coordination center said Wednesday

DONETSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2019) Donetsk regional militias in eastern Ukraine had no part in the recent deaths of four Ukrainian troops northeast from the city of Mariupol , the representative office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) at the ceasefire coordination center said Wednesday.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the four servicemen were killed in two attacks on government positions on Tuesday near the village of Pavlopil. Kiev called the deadly incident a violation of a ceasefire agreement between the central authorities and militias.

"The Republic's representatives at the Joint Center on Control and Coordination of issues related to the ceasefire regime investigated the death of Ukrainian troops.

They concluded that the attacks could not have been conducted from the Republic's positions considering their distance from the site of the incident does not correspond to the tactical and technical characteristics of the weapons that the Ukrainian side said were used," a spokesperson for the DPR told reporters.

The DPR suggested that the servicemen could have died as a result of mishandling munitions and accused the command of the Ukrainian military operation in the east of trying to cover up their non-combat losses by blaming the militias. </s> Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government have been waging a war for over four years in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Kremlin denies that regular Russian servicemen take part in the conflict.

A Russian journalist has been hospitalized in war-torn eastern Ukraine after coming under fire alongside a pro-Russian separatist who was killed in the shelling.

In Ukraine, Russia Wants Political Control, Not Territory (Op-ed)

Igor Uklein, a sound engineer at Russia’s VGTRK state-owned media company, was with local rebel commander Oleg “Mamai” Mamiyev near the town of Avdiivka when both were hit by shelling, the company reported Friday.

Mamiyev died from injuries while Uklein was diagnosed with partial hearing loss, the company said on its Vesti.ru news website.

A third crew member was also slightly injured, VGTRK war correspondent Alexander Sladkov was quoted as saying.

“The guys are in normal condition,” Sladkov said.

Mamiyev will be buried in his native North Ossetia, VGTRK reported. </s> Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a grenade attack in the war-torn east of the country on Tuesday, Kiev said, the highest daily casualty toll over the past two weeks

Kiev, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 6th Aug, 2019 ) :Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a grenade attack in the war-torn east of the country on Tuesday, Kiev said, the highest daily casualty toll over the past two weeks.

The troops died in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the village of Pavlopil close to the Kiev-controlled port city of Mariupol, said Oleksandr Danylyuk, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council.

Tuesday's casualties were the highest daily toll since a truce went into force on July 21 - the latest attempt to ease hostilities between Ukraine forces and pro-Russian separatists.

"This crude violation of the truce agreements will not go unnoticed," Danylyuk said on his Facebook page. </s> Ukraine says five of its soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in some of the worst fighting in eastern Ukraine in weeks.

An offensive by Russia-backed separatists resulted in intensified fighting on January 29 in areas outside the separatist-held stronghold of Donetsk, west of Luhansk, and north of the government-controlled port city of Mariupol, the military said.

It also accused the separatists of using Grad (Hail) multiple grenade launchers.

The toll included four servicemen whose deaths were reported on January 29, when Ukraine’s army said it had repelled an attack by separatists near the town of Avdiyivka, north of Donetsk.

The separatists reported heavy shelling of their positions in the area, with one of their fighters and one civilian killed.

The conflict between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists has killed more than 9,750 civilians and combatants in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

The latest clashes came ahead of talks between President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on January 30.

The two are due to discuss the stalled peace process in Ukraine and Kyiv’s efforts to move closer to the EU.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and Interfax </s> Ukrainian authorities said four soldiers had been killed in fighting Russia-backed separatists, some of the worst violence in weeks in war-torn eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said the clashes occurred January 29 near Avdiyivka, a town north of the regional center Donetsk.

The town is home to a major coke producing plant and a steel smelter.

Motuzyanyk said at least one separatist fighter was killed in the fighting which involved large-caliber mortars and artillery.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine, which erupted nearly three years ago, has ebbed and flowed amid repeated efforts to cement a lasting cease-fire.

The latest truce was announced in December.

More than 9,750 people have died in the conflict, which began shortly after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled amid violent antigovernment protests in Kyiv in February 2014. </s> KYIV -- A separatist commander in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk has been assassinated, the Russia-backed separatists say.

Mikhail Tolstykh, better known by his nom de guerre Givi, died after a bomb exploded in his office in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk just after 6 a.m. local time on February 8, de facto separatist authorities and a source with ties to its military told RFE/RL by phone.

Donetsk separatists have called the killing "a continuation of the terrorist war launched by the Kyiv authorities" against the residents of eastern Ukraine, according to Russia's RIA Novosti news agency. They said an investigative team was working at the bomb site.

Givi was leading the Somali battalion and made a name for himself in the brutal battle for Donetsk airport.

Video footage from 2015 shows him verbally and physically abusing Ukrainian servicemen captured during the battle.

Another separatist commander -- Arseny Pavlov, who was better known by the nickname Motorola -- died on October 16 when a bomb exploded in an elevator in his apartment block in Donetsk.

Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
Four Ukrainian Ground Forces soldiers are killed in an attack by pro-Russian separatists, near the village of Pavlopil in the war-torn eastern Donetsk Oblast.