New battles in east Ukraine leave 2 dead

Fierce battles between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents raged in eastern Ukraine in the past day, killing at least two people, officials said Friday.
Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, told reporters that one government soldier was killed and three were wounded in fighting with rebels around the cities of Lugansk and Donetsk and near Debaltsevo town.
Noting that the situation in eastern Ukraine was "tense", Lysenko said that insurgents were trying to dislodge government forces from their position using multiple rocket launchers, tanks and mortars.
He emphasized that government soldiers opened fire only in response aiming to "protect the life and health of the civilian population".
The announcement came after on late Thursday a civilian was killed as a result of shelling in the residential area of Stanytsya Luganska town.
While Gennady Moskal, the head of Lugansk Regional Administration blamed the insurgents for the shelling, the press service of the rebel forces said that Ukrainian troops were responsible for the incident.
The Ukrainian forces and the rebel leadership have repeatedly accused each other of regularly attacking civilian areas in eastern regions and violating the provisions of the peace deal signed on Sept. 5.
The ceasefire, designed to put an end to the conflict that killed over 4,300 people, appeared to collapse after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked the parliament to repeal the law that grants "special status" to Donetsk and Lugansk regions on Nov. 4.