Ukrainian rebels Tuesday accused Kiev forces of killing three civilians in attacks launched hours before the start of talks in Paris on ways to stop the 15-month separatist war.

Ukrainian rebels Tuesday accused Kiev forces of killing three civilians in attacks launched hours before the start of talks in Paris on ways to stop the 15-month separatist war.

Commanders and political leaders of the self-declared "People's Republic of Donetsk" said the strikes started on Monday evening and continued through the night.

One death was reported in a village on the outskirts of Donetsk city -- a pro-Russian bastion the insurgents have turned into their de facto capital.

Kiev's military command was due to report its own losses later Tuesday.

The violence has pushed to more than 60 the number of soldiers and civilians killed this month.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Monday that "we do not know their losses but they are serious".

Only a few hundred foreign monitors have been able to inspect the carnage caused by one of Europe's bloodiest and most politically-charged conflicts of recent decades.

The separatists have called the Western-backed government troops' attacks a "grave" violation of the Minsk agreement that Russia and Ukraine signed during February negotiations spearheaded by the leaders of Germany and France.

The four countries' foreign ministers are due to meet in Paris later Tuesday in the hope of calming the latest upsurge in violence that has claimed some 6,500 lives since erupting in March 2014.