Ukraine on Wednesday reported the death of two soldiers and was blamed by pro-Russian rebels for killing a civilian in fighting that followed another failed round of EU-mediated peace talks.

Ukraine on Wednesday reported the death of two soldiers and was blamed by pro-Russian rebels for killing a civilian in fighting that followed another failed round of EU-mediated peace talks.

The Kiev-appointed head of Lugansk said three troops were also injured when their vehicle came under fire from insurgents.

"One soldier was seriously wounded and then died, and three more injured soldiers were hospitalized," Lugansk governor Gennadiy Moskal said in a statement.

Kiev's army reported the death of another serviceman in a separate incident in the devastated industrial heartland of the ex-Soviet state.

“The number of (rebel) attacks has doubled," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters.

The Donetsk militants' news site said an elderly man had also died of his wounds after the regional town of Gorlivka came under attack from Ukrainian units.