Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded during fighting with militants on Thursday near the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk region, as part of the government's anti-terrorist operation (ATO), the operation spokesman, Vladyslav Selezniov, said.

"Yesterday, Ukrainian servicemen conducted a number of successful operations, in particular they prevented another attempt to break the ATO's encirclement in the north and eliminated a terrorist squad near the town of Rubizhne. The squad in question was a gang of militants from Luhansk, and Russian mercenaries who were recently stationed near the town of Antratsyt... Unfortunately, the Ukrainian army suffered losses. Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded during the operation," he wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.

According to him, the militants lost some 20 fighters, and another 30 were wounded.