2 government soldiers killed as fighting escalates in east Ukraine

At least two government soldiers have been killed and five others wounded in fighting with independence-seeking insurgents over the past 24 hours in east Ukraine, authorities said Monday.
Andrei Lysenko, spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council, said combat actions have intensified dramatically in some cities and towns in Donetsk and Lugansk regions and the overall situation in the eastern part of the country remained tense.
Ukrainian military expert and journalist Dmytro Tymchuk wrote on his Facebook page that rebels had fired 65 times on Ukrainian troops in the past day.
The tension, which escalated sharply since Ukrainian authorities decided to repeal the law which grants "special status" to Donetsk and Lugansk regions six days ago, raised fears that a process of prisoners-of-war swap may be disrupted.
Top insurgent leader Alexandr Zakharchenko said his troops will temporarily suspend the exchange of captives with Kiev until a new ceasefire agreement between the two sides is signed.
Ukraine's government and the insurgent leadership inked a ceasefire deal on Sept. 5 in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, which was aimed at de-escalating the tension and facilitating the release of hundreds of prisoners-of-war.
But after Kiev's decision to abolish the law on "special status," the insurgent leadership said that they will not observe the Minsk peace protocol.