War In Europe: Ukrainian Soldiers Killed By Donetsk Separatists Amid NATO-Russia Tensions

Offensives launched by pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine Sunday and Monday have left seven Ukrainian soldiers dead and 14 wounded, Ukrainian government officials said Monday.

The initial assault from the separatists resulted in three of its soldiers being killed while fighting to prevent the rebels from gaining control of the important industrial town of Avdiivka Sunday. Two more Ukrainian servicemen also died in the fighting that occurred the same day outside of the city of Donetsk, which has become the rebels’ de facto capital.

The death toll grew when two Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly killed in a battle just north of Donetsk Monday.

The Ukrainian government has accused the rebels of using tanks and several Grad grenade launchers during the attacks. But both tanks and Grad launchers have been categorized as the types of heavy-caliber weapons prohibited from being used in the conflict, according to a September 2015 truce between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebel forces. The 2015 ceasefire called for the withdrawal of all mortars and heavy weapons with a caliber of less than 100mm from the conflicts’ front lines.

Each sides has routinely accused the other of violating the two-year-old ceasefire. Ukraine and NATO have said Russia was militarily supporting the rebels, which it has denied. Though the United States and the European Union have placed sanctions on Russia over the conflict, the recent outbreak in violence coincided with President Donald Trump’s call for better relations with Moscow, which has alarmed Ukrainian government officials. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday about how the two countries planned to work together to resolve the conflict in Syria. Trump has also spoken about the possibility of lifting the sanctions against Russia.

"The situation in the Avdiyivka industrial zone is challenging," a spokesman of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk Motuzyanyk, told reporters Monday. "The enemy continues to fire at our positions with heavy artillery and mortars."

One rebel fighter was killed during the fight on Sunday, a representative of the separatist groups told Agence France-Presse Monday. The representative also said one female civilian was killed amid the crossfire and three others were wounded.

At least 9,750 civilians and militants have lost their lives in the armed conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels since 2014.