Pro-Russian Separatist Rebels Killed Five Ukrainian Troops

Speaking on Sunday, Ukrainian military spokesman the rebels had blocked a Ukrainian army attempt to break through between Avdiivka and Yasynuvata.

Early on Monday rebel mortars targeted Ukrainian troops in the north of Donetsk.

The Ukrainian military said five of its soldiers have died in fighting just north of Donetsk – the second-highest death toll in one day this year.

Pro-Russian separatist rebels killed four in an ambush at Verkhnetoretskoye, near Avdiivka. The fifth died when his vehicle hit a landmine.

Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk confirmed the death toll.

A spokesman for the self-styled “Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)”, Eduard Basurin, said the two died during Ukrainian shelling of DPR positions.