KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian army says one soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in Russian-backed separatist rebel artillery fire on Sunday as hostilities rise sharply in the east of the country .
According to the reported attack, Ukraine says 27 soldiers have been killed in the east this year, more than half the number killed in 2020. The attacks have intensified in recent weeks and Russia has amassed troops in the along the border with Ukraine.
Russia denies Western claims that they have sent troops to eastern Ukraine to help the rebels, but officials say the army could intervene if Ukraine tries to retake the area by force. The accumulation of troops has raised strong concerns in the West.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Sunday that “if Russia acts recklessly or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences.”
Ukrainian forces and separatists backed by Russia have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014. More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict and efforts to negotiate a political agreement have stalled.