KIEV, July 19 - Ukraine said Tuesday seven of its soldiers had been killed and 14 wounded in "very heated" fighting that marked the bloodiest clashes with pro-Russian separatists in two months, AFP reported.
This is the highest daily death toll since Ukraine reported seven of its soldiers dying on May 24. It comes six days after Ukrainian security officials warned the rebels are provoking an escalation, and perhaps a major offensive.
"In the past 24 hours, as a result of military operations, seven Ukrainian servicemen died and 14 were injured," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters.
Lysenko told AFP the fighting had "become very, very heated" in the past few days.
"Things have escalated for the simple reason that this is what (the rebels) want," Lysenko said. "They do not want to live in peace."
Oleksandr Turchynov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said on July 13 that Russia increased supplies of weapons to the rebels, a sign that “the Russian General Staff is preparing an offensive operation.”
Ukraine has been riven by clashes that have claimed nearly 9,500 lives and shattered Moscow's relations with the West.
The bloodshed drew a vow of immediate revenge from the Ukrainian armed forces chief of staff.
"Our soul cries for each of our soldiers who lost their lives for Ukraine," Viktor Muzhenko wrote on Facebook. "We will deliver an appropriate response!"
The latest violence follows a series of negotiations between EU leaders and Putin about ways to resolve one of Europe's bloodiest conflicts since the 1990s Balkans wars.
US Secretary of State John Kerry also raised the issue during a visit to Moscow last week.
But neither Kiev nor the insurgents have followed the steps agreed upon in a February 2015 truce deal negotiated with the help of Germany and France.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe report that neither side has withdrawn its heaviest weapons from the front line -- one of the first points of the pact.
The heaviest clashes have come along the 30-kilometre-wide buffer zone the sides agreed to set up during last year's peace negotiations in the Belarussian capital Minsk. (afp/nr/ez)
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