KIEV (Reuters) - The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in an offensive by pro-Russian separatists over the past two days has risen to seven, Ukraine’s military said on Monday, in the deadliest outbreak of fighting in the east of the country since mid-December.

The clashes between Ukraine’s military and the pro-Russian separatists coincide with U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for better relations with Moscow that has alarmed Kiev while the conflict in its eastern region remains unresolved.

The rebels began attacking government positions in the eastern frontline town of Avdiyivka on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. Five soldiers were killed and nine wounded on Sunday and two more were killed on Monday, they said.

“The situation in the Avdiyivka industrial zone is challenging. The enemy continues to fire at our positions with heavy artillery and mortars,” Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a regular daily briefing.

The separatist website DAN said on Monday shelling by Ukrainian troops had killed one female civilian and wounded three others in the rebel-held town of Makiyivka, south of Avdiyivka. The reports could not be independently verified.

On Sunday the separatists said one of their fighters had been killed during heavy Ukrainian shelling of their positions.

Both sides accuse the other of violating a two-year-old ceasefire deal on a near-daily basis.

Close to 10,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev first erupted in April 2014.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was due to discuss the state of the conflict on Monday in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who helped broker the Minsk ceasefire deal.

Ukraine and NATO accuse the Kremlin of supporting the rebels with troops and weapons, which it denies. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict, as well as for its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

Ukraine is anxious that international resolve to hold Russia to account may waver following the election of Trump, who has spoken of possibly lifting sanctions against Moscow.

Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday and the two men agreed to try to rebuild strained ties and to cooperate in Syria.</s>At least seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in an apparent upsurge in fighting in the east of the country, government officials have said.

An armed conflict between government troops and separatist rebels has killed more than 9,600 since it began in 2014, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

A January ceasefire had until recently helped to limit the fighting to sporadic shootouts.

The government’s press office for the operation in the east said it recorded an increase in fighting on several fronts on Sunday which left at least five killed and nine troops injured.

“The situation in the Avdiyivka industrial zone is challenging. The enemy continues to fire at our positions with heavy artillery and mortars,” Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a regular daily briefing.

Two more were killed and five injured yesterday morning north of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, the press office said.

Kiev accused the rebels of using tanks and Grad multiple grenade launchers, and said they recorded intensified fighting all along the frontline – outside the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, in the south of the frontline north of Mariupol and west of Luhansk.

The Grad launcher is among heavy-calibre weapons that should have been pulled back from the front line under a 2015 truce between the warring parties.

In Donetsk, self-proclaimed separatist authorities reported damage to civilian infrastructure, with several villages and areas left without electricity and gas supplies.

The separatist Donetsk News Agency reported one civilian killed and three injured in Makiivka, north-east of Donetsk.

The rebels also reported that government forces opened fire on a checkpoint to the north of Donetsk where thousands of civilians pass through every day between rebel-held and government-controlled territories.

Close to 10,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev first erupted in April 2014.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko was due to discuss the state of the conflict yesterday in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who helped broker the Minsk ceasefire deal.

Ukraine and Nato accuse the Kremlin of supporting the rebels with troops and weapons, which it denies. The US and EU have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict, as well as for its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.</s>Ukraine says five of its soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in some of the worst fighting in eastern Ukraine in weeks.

An offensive by Russia-backed separatists resulted in intensified fighting on January 29 in areas outside the separatist-held stronghold of Donetsk, west of Luhansk, and north of the government-controlled port city of Mariupol, the military said.

It also accused the separatists of using Grad (Hail) multiple grenade launchers.

The toll included four servicemen whose deaths were reported on January 29, when Ukraine’s army said it had repelled an attack by separatists near the town of Avdiyivka, north of Donetsk.

The separatists reported heavy shelling of their positions in the area, with one of their fighters and one civilian killed.

The conflict between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists has killed more than 9,750 civilians and combatants in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

The latest clashes came ahead of talks between President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on January 30.

The two are due to discuss the stalled peace process in Ukraine and Kyiv’s efforts to move closer to the EU.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and Interfax</s>Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed when pro-Russian rebels attacked government positions in Avdiyivka on Sunday, cutting off power supplies to the eastern frontline town, Ukrainian officials said.

The two-year-old Minsk peace agreement has failed to stop fighting in eastern Ukraine with each side accusing the other of violating the terms of a ceasefire on a near-daily basis.

Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said troops had repelled an early-morning attack by rebels seeking to storm their positions in Avdiyivka's industrial zone.

"The situation remains very tense. The enemy continues to fire artillery and mortars at our positions, although it is not on the offensive for now. Ukrainian troops along the whole front line are in a state of higher alert," he said in a regular daily briefing.

The latest shelling also left much of Avdiyivka, which had a pre-conflict population of around 35,000, without electricity as of 1130 GMT, the news agency Interfax Ukraine quoted local official Pavlo Malykhin as saying.

As a result, only one of four power feeds at Avdiyivka Coking Plant - one of Europe's largest producers of fuel for the steelmaking industry - is currently running, chief executive Musa Magomedov said on Facebook.

Meanwhile separatist officials said Ukrainian forces had fired from tanks and artillery more than 900 times at rebel positions on the other side of the front line near Avdiyivka.

One rebel fighter was killed and another wounded, separatist website DAN reported.

Close to 10,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev erupted in April 2014.

Kiev and NATO accuse the Kremlin of supporting the rebels with troops and weapons and the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict, as well as for its annexation of Crimea.

The latest clashes come ahead of a visit by President Petro Poroshenko to Berlin on Monday to discuss the state of the conflict with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who helped broker the much-violated Minsk peace deal.

Kiev is anxious that international resolve to hold Russia to account not waver following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Trump has expressed a desire to improve ties with Moscow and spoken of possibly lifting sanctions.</s>Ukrainian authorities said four soldiers had been killed in fighting Russia-backed separatists, some of the worst violence in weeks in war-torn eastern Ukraine. Kyiv military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said the clashes occurred January 29 near Avdiyivka, a town north of the regional center Donetsk.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Weekday Magazine.</s>Ukrainian authorities said four soldiers had been killed in fighting Russia-backed separatists, some of the worst violence in weeks in war-torn eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said the clashes occurred January 29 near Avdiyivka, a town north of the regional center Donetsk.

The town is home to a major coke producing plant and a steel smelter.

Motuzyanyk said at least one separatist fighter was killed in the fighting which involved large-caliber mortars and artillery.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine, which erupted nearly three years ago, has ebbed and flowed amid repeated efforts to cement a lasting cease-fire.

The latest truce was announced in December.

More than 9,750 people have died in the conflict, which began shortly after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled amid violent antigovernment protests in Kyiv in February 2014.</s>Ukraine says at least seven people have been killed in a two-day outbreak of fighting between pro-Russian separatists and government troops in war weary eastern Ukraine.

Both sides blame the other for the latest violence, which the government said erupted Sunday on several fronts in the Russian-speaking east, including the rebel controlled bastion of Donetsk and other territory near the Russian border.

Kyiv accused rebels of sparking the clashes with tanks and Grad multiple grenade launchers. Grad launchers are among the heavy caliber weapons that were to have been withdrawn from frontlines under terms of a 2015 truce that has dramatically reduced casualties in the contested region.

In Donetsk, rebel leaders seeking autonomy from Kyiv reported major damage to civilian infrastructure, and said water and electricity were cut to several outlying villages.

Nearly 10,000 people — more than half of them civilians — have been killed in fighting that erupted in April 2014, a month after Russia unilaterally annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, and two months after lengthy pro-Western protests in Kyiv forced Ukraine's pro-Russian president into exile.

Moscow has been repeatedly accused of arming and supplying the rebel force, and in 2015 was accused of sending Russian troops across the border and into battle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discounted those allegations, and said any Russian troops found on Ukrainian soil were there as volunteers.

The 2014 annexation sparked widespread protests from Western governments and the United Nations, and led to a series of crippling economic and trade sanctions against Moscow by the West that remain in effect nearly three years later.

Ukraine has in recent weeks voiced increasing concern that international pressure on Russia could weaken under the leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly voiced support for a thaw in U.S.- Russian relations.</s>Members of the Azov civil corp sit next to a placard reading, "Welcome back to Russia" during a protest in front of a branch of Sberbank, which they say supports Russian "aggression" in Eastern Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine, on January 30, 2017. Photo - Reuters Members of the Azov civil corp sit next to a placard reading, "Welcome back to Russia" during a protest in front of a branch of Sberbank, which they say supports Russian "aggression" in Eastern Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine, on January 30, 2017.

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The Ukrainian military says seven soldiers have been killed by pro-Russian separatists since Sunday. The separatists report over 5 days of artillery attacks on them by the Ukrainian side.