5 Ukrainian soldiers die in fighting

UKRAINE, Feb 2 (AP): Officials say five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 29 wounded in the past day in eastern Ukraine as fighting rages around a strategic railway hub.

Defence Ministry Spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told The Associated Press Monday that fighting remains most intense around Ukraine-held Debaltseve, which is now almost entirely encircled by Russia-backed rebels.

 Municipal authorities in Donetsk, the main rebel stronghold in the region some 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of Debaltseve, said in a statement posted online that 15 civilians were killed by shelling over the weekend. Explosions could still be heard throughout the city on Monday morning.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 5,100 lives since April. Despite a September cease-fire and a period of relative calm in December, fighting has intensified in recent weeks.

Meanwhile: Pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko has announced plans to recruit 100,000 men, as fighting with Ukrainian forces intensifies.

The separatists are trying to capture the key town of Debaltseve, while central areas of rebel-held Donetsk have been hit by artillery fire.

Dozens of civilians were killed on both sides of the front line at the weekend.

"Mobilisation will start in 11 days' time," Mr Zakharchenko told Donetsk news agency.

Hundreds of civilians have been moved out of Debaltseve amid reports that the separatists have reached the outskirts of the town.

A fragile ceasefire agreed in Minsk in September collapsed in eastern Ukraine last month as rebels stepped up their offensive on several Ukrainian positions and seized Donetsk airport. Thirty civilians were killed when shells were fired on the south-eastern city of Mariupol and international observers said the firing had come from rebel areas.