Heavy casualties reported as fighting resumes in E. Ukraine

Fighting flared up with a new vigour in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens of others in the past day, reports said on Monday.

According to the officials from the conflicting parties, the battles have concentrated in the outskirts of Donetsk, the stronghold of independence-seeking insurgents.

At least five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded during the battles with rebels in the Kiev-controlled Avdeevka town, which lies 20 kilometers north of Donetsk, said the government military spokesman Olexandr Motuzyanyk.

Besides, three residents of Avdeevka, two women and a man, were wounded during the shelling in the town.

Civilian casualties have been also reported in the rebel-controlled areas around Donetsk. Eduard Basurin, a senior insurgent commander, said two civilians were confirmed dead and three others were injured as the result of the battles in Makeevka and Gorlivka towns.

According to Basurin, three rebel soldiers have been killed and four others wounded in the fighting over the last 24 hours.

The past day's bloodshed, for which the sides blamed each other, marked the worst outbreak of violence in the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the more than a month.

On Dec. 24, 2016, the sides started a comprehensive ceasefire, which has brought a relative calm to the conflict-ravaged region.

The confrontation between government troops and rebels in eastern Ukraine has been raging since April 2014, claiming some 10,000 lives. Endit