Six people died in clashes between government forces and pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine's separatist east, officials said Friday, the highest death toll since international peace talks held 10 days ago. The flare-up in the two-year conflict followed German Chancelor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande's efforts to breathe fresh air in a stalled peace process during talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko in Berlin.
"Over the past 24 hours, as a result of fighting, one Ukrainian serviceman was killed," Kiev's military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters, accusing the rebels of "a sharp intensification" of attacks. The rebels' news agency said two of their fighters were killed and another six wounded on Thursday.