Ukraine vowed Tuesday to use all weapons at its disposal to withstand a reported new advance by separatist.

Ukraine vowed Tuesday to use all weapons at its disposal to withstand a reported new advance by separatist.

Kiev accused the eastern separatist fighters of launching a another missile assault north of Mariupol -- a government-held port that provides a land bridge between rebel-held territories and the Crime peninsula.

"We will use our entire arsenal and all the means at our disposal to beat back the enemy's assault," Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told AFP.

"We cannot risk the lives of our soldiers," said the top Kiev army representative.
"The rebels used to launch Grad missile attacks on a rare occasion. Now, it is an everyday occurrence."

The separatists accused Kiev's pro-Western forces of being responsible for the latest flare-up along east Ukraine’s 500-kilometre (300-mile) front.

A top separatist leader accused Ukraine's army of firing 500 mortar shells and rockets at rebel positions since Monday afternoon.

He reported the death of rebel and a civilian in the separatist Donetsk province.

British Secretary Visit
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon met Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kiev on Tuesday before travelling to the nationalist west of the former Soviet country.

"We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the face of Russian aggression, in the face of Russian-directed insurgency and in the face of Russian-inspired terrorism," Fallon said in comments dubbed over into Ukrainian by Kiev TV.

"The conflict has not settled into a frozen war: it is quite 'red hot'," he was further quoted as saying by Yatsenyuk's office.

Fallon is due to oversee how British military trainers are progressing in their efforts to train around 650 Ukrainian soldiers for modern warfare.

The United States and NATO members have redoubled their efforts to equip Kiev forces, a move considered as confrontational by Russia.