KYIV: Two Ukraine soldiers were killed and another 18 injured in shelling in eastern Ukraine, the Joint Forces of Operation (JFO) reported on Tuesday.

The JFO reported that Russia-backed separatists had violated the ceasefire about 84 times in the past 24 hours.

"Occupation forces utilised 388 artillery projectiles and 546 mines  and shelled 41 settlements of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions," said Pavlo Kovalchyuk, head of media service of Joint Forces of Operation.

The Associated Press had no independent means of verifying the figures released by the Joint Forces of Operation.

Shelling along the line of contact between Ukrainian forces and Russian-aligned rebels has intensified of late amid Moscow's moves to secure its hold on the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.