Ukraine Says One Soldier Killed, Nine Injured In Fighting With Russia-Backed Separatists

Ukraine says that one of its soldiers was killed and nine others injured in fighting with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said on July 30 that the bulk of the casualties over the previous 24 hours were sustained in the front-line town of Krasnohorivka due to shelling from separatist forces.

The shelling there left one soldier dead and eight others wounded, the council said in a statement. Another Ukrainian soldier was wounded during an attack on government positions in the town of Shirokino, it added.

Hostilities between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists persist in eastern Ukraine despite an internationally backed 2015 cease-fire deal aimed at resolving the conflict, which has killed more than 10,000 since April 2014.

Kyiv, the United States, the EU, and NATO accuse Moscow of supporting the separatists with weapons and personnel, an allegation Moscow rejects despite substantial evidence of such backing.

Ukraine and the separatists frequently trade accusations of cease-fire violations.