SIX Ukrainian government troops were killed yesterday as the regime’s military continued its push in the Donetsk region.

Anti-fascist forces reported that one of their fighters had been killed during overnight attacks by the army that lasted into yesterday.

Kiev complained that its positions near the rebel stronghold of Donetsk had been fired on 26 times.

Diplomatic officials from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France had called on Monday for the withdrawal of more weapons from the front line.

The four nations also expressed “grave concern” over the surge in fighting.

Their statement was issued after talks in Berlin between their foreign ministers.

The ministers called for the withdrawal of mortars and heavy weapons with a calibre of less than 100mm as well as all types of tanks.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the Berlin discussions had highlighted differences over the year-old conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

“It was again a very long, very intensive discussion, which in parts was very controversial,” he said.

“During these talks today the differences of opinion between Kiev and Moscow also became clear once again.”

However, he added that all parties had reaffirmed their commitment to a ceasefire agreed in February in the Belorussian capital Minsk.

Both sides are thought to have largely adhered to the deal until a recent escalation of fighting in the flashpoints near Donetsk and Shyrokyno.

Kiev and the anti-fascist resistance claim to have withdrawn heavy weapons from the line of contact, but this has not been confirmed by monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

In a separate development, a Russian military journalist was seriously injured by a booby trap in the village of Shyrokyno, near the strategic port of Mariupol in the south.

More than 6,000 people have been killed since the Russian-speaking people in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions refused to surrender to far-right paramilitaries sent to occupy their territory last April.

Their resistance took inspiration from a popular movement in the Crimean peninsula that successfully demanded its return to Russian sovereignty.

By Our Foreign Desk