Ukraine says 2 soldiers killed despite latest ceasefire

KIEV: Ukraine reported Monday the death of two soldiers in renewed fighting with Russian-backed rebels in the east, the country's first losses after the latest ceasefire came into effect on Saturday.

Two other soldiers were wounded when their positions were attacked with heavy weaponry, the Ukrainian military said in a statement.

The truce that began Saturday, brokered by international monitors, was the latest in a string of similar accords aimed at halting three years of fighting.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last week ordered his military to implement a ceasefire starting on April 1, but said he was "not very optimistic" that pro-Russian rebels would respect it.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the start of a pro-Russian insurgency in April 2014 which Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of masterminding.

But efforts to secure a peace deal have ground to a halt as the fighting has dragged on, and neither side appears prepared to make concessions.

The conflict, along with Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, have pushed ties between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.