'Over 100 troops killed during ceasefire in east Ukraine'

Kiev: Over 100 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the beginning of a ceasefire regime in eastern regions, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Also, some 600 Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in confrontation with independence-seeking insurgents over the past two months, Xinhua quoted foreign ministry spokesman Eugene Perebiynis as telling reporters during a media briefing.

He did not give the details on rebel and civilian casualties.

Although ceasefire brought some calm to eastern regions and the intensity of clashes has reduced, the insurgent forces have not withdrawn their troops from the frontline and continued their offensive, Perebiynis said.

According to the spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Andrei Lysenko, three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in confrontation with rebels over the past 24 hours, but no one died.

Clashes between government troops and pro-independence insurgents since mid-April have claimed at least 4,035 lives and injured more than 9,336 people.

To pave the way for a solution to the crisis, Ukraine's government and the insurgent leadership inked a ceasefire deal Sep 5 in the Belarusian capital Minsk, which helped de-escalate situation although the ceasefire was often violated.