From our newsroom:
European Union leaders have asked their foreign ministers to consider an appropriate response to an escalation of fighting in eastern Ukraine, including possible new sanctions against Russia, when the ministers meet in Brussels on January 29.
In a rare joint statement, EU leaders noted "evidence of continued and growing support given to the separatists by Russia" and said that support "underlines Russia’s responsibility."
The statement also urged Russia to condemn separatists' actions and to implement the September 2014 Minsk agreements, which include a cease-fire deal.
The EU leaders also condemned the killing of 30 civilians on January 24 through "the indiscriminate shelling of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol."
The United Nations said rockets fired from separatist-controlled territory into a residential neighborhood of Mariupol deliberately targeted civilians in an attack that violated international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on January 27 that nine government soldiers were killed and 29 wounded by fighting in eastern Ukraine during the previous 24 hours.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
A military spokesman says nine Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in fighting in the country's east in the past 24 hours.
Vladyslav Seleznyov told a news briefing in Kyiv on January 27 that 29 servicemen were wounded in the same interval.
Seleznyov said the most intense fighting occurred near the strategic town of Debaltseve, which is on a road junction between the rebel-held provincial capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine is at its worst level since a cease-fire was agreed between government forces and Russian-backed separatists last September.
In the worst recent incident, 30 people were killed by rocket fire targeting a civilian neighborhood of the government-held port city of Mariupol, in the Donetsk region.
The UN said January 26 that the rocket fire came from separatist-controlled territory and deliberately targeted civilians. UN political chief Jeffrey Feltman said the attack was a "violation of international humanitarian law."
Today's map from Ukrainian authorities.
