Our wrap-up of the fighting erupting west of Donetsk today:
Heavy fighting has erupted between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists near the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, in an escalation that threatens to rip apart a tenuous internationally brokered peace deal.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said that a June 3 rebel offensive near the eastern Ukrainian towns of Maryinka and Krasnohorivka, west of Donetsk, forced it to use artillery that had been removed under the Minsk II agreement as part of an effort to create a demilitarized zone.
The agreement has served as the basis for a shaky cease-fire since February.
Ukraine's military said it warned its "international partners" about its redeployment of the heavy weaponry, which it said was necessary to repel a separatist offensive that involved 1,000 fighters as well as tanks, mortars, and artillery.
"For the purpose of appropriate response, we were forced to use heavy artillery," military spokesman Oleksiy Mazepa said on television channel 112.
The Ukrainian president's office said that two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 30 wounded in the fighting.
The self-styled Defense Ministry of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) accused Ukrainian forces of initiating the violence, which broke out at around 3 a.m. local time on June 3, saying Kyiv was attempting to "disrupt" the Minsk accords.
A spokesperson for the separatists said 15 fighters and civilians were killed in rebel-controlled areas as a result of the fighting.
Separatists also said that electricity supplies had been cut off, leaving hundreds of miners trapped underground in two mines.
Video footage from RFE/RL's Current Time television program indicates that the Tekstilshik district near Maryinka on the Donetsk outskirts came under artillery fire.
The June 3 footage shows firefighters and emergency responders working at the site of a charred, bombed-out market, as patches of flames continued to burn.
The fighting lasted for around 12 hours. Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Polotorak told reporters later that "for the moment, storming operations have been halted.
The Kremlin expressed concern over the new fighting and called for the unconditional implementation of the Minsk peace agreement.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was closely following events in the Donbas region, and that Russia's position would depend on developments.
Ukraine and the separatists agreed to pull back heavy weaponry from the front lines in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region under the Minsk cease-fire, though sporadic fighting has continued since the deal was reached in the Belarusian capital.
Kyiv, NATO, and Western governments accuse Russia of providing arms, personnel, and training to the separatists in the conflict, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014.
Moscow has repeatedly rejected the accusation despite mounting evidence of such involvement.
It says any Russian citizens fighting alongside the rebels are volunteers acting independently. (w/ Reuters, Interfax, AFP, AP)
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf speaking at a June 3 press briefing in Washington, D.C.:
"We're disturbed by reports, including those by the OSCE, that combined Russian separatist forces launched coordinated attacks overnight against Ukrainian positions near Donetsk city and Pisky, Luhansk, and Maryinka. We’re now seeing unconfirmed reports that the town of Maryinka may have fallen. These attacks are on the Ukrainian side of the cease-fire line. They have reportedly utilized grad-rockets and other heavy weapons that should have been withdrawn under the February Minsk plan."
"Any new attack and aggressive action by combined Russian separatist forces is unacceptable and contravenes the Minsk agreement. Russia bears direct responsibility for preventing these attacks and implementing a cease-fire. Any attempts to cease additional Ukrainian territory will be met with increased costs."
This ends our live blogging for June 3. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.