At least two people were killed and seven others wounded in eastern Ukraine in the past day as hostilities between government forces and pro-independence insurgents persisted, reports showed Wednesday.

As tensions mount, the conflicting sides traded accusations of using heavy weaponry in their attacks, which is banned under the Minsk agreement designed to put an end to the year-old confrontation.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the government's military operation in the east, said that one Ukrainian soldier was killed and two were injured as a result of fresh fighting, in which rebels have deployed tanks, mortars and grenade launchers to attack government soldiers.

Meanwhile, the rebel leadership said the Ukrainian army shelled their positions with heavy artillery, killing one insurgent fighter and wounding five others.

The violence in the conflict zone escalated over the weekend, putting an additional strain on a Minsk ceasefire deal reached two month ago, which helped to ease fighting and allowed to withdraw most of heavy weapons from the frontline.

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