Putin blames Kiev for escalating east Ukraine violence

It is thought to be the highest single day death toll in more than a month.

Meanwhile pro-Moscow separatist officials reported the deaths of four civilians in overnight bombardments, three of them in the city of Donetsk.

“Putin’s arrival in Ukrainian Crimea, without agreement from Ukrainian authorities, is a challenge to the civilised world”, Mr Poroshenko said.

Putin criticized his Ukrainian counterpart for appointing foreign specialists and advisers to key government posts, such as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who became governor of Ukraine’s southern Odessa region in May.

The violence represents one of the largest violations of a ceasefire reached earlier this year.

The fighting between Russia-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian government troops in the country’s industrial heartland eased after a truce was signed in February. Violence has increased significantly in the past few days, with the Ukrainian government forces and separatists trading shellfire. The flare-up has fueled concerns that the shaky February ceasefire could collapse altogether.

“Most likely, the “party of war” says we should hit the Ukrainian military now, and military victory will mean destabilization and maybe collapse of the present regime in Kyiv”, he said.

Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s overseas minister, has warned of a attainable Ukraine offensive towards pro-Moscow separatists in east Ukraine, following an upsurge in preventing that has left seven civilians lifeless.

“We’re anxious about events of the recent days, which look very much like preparation for fresh hostilities”, he said.

“The situation is still most tense in the area of the militant-controlled city of Donetsk”, the military’s so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) said on Facebook, according to a translation by Ukraine’s Unian news agency.

He was echoed Monday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who blamed Ukraine for the uptick in violence, and accused Kiev of arranging a new attack.

Poroshenko, in his comments to journalists on Thursday, criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for making “an illegal visit” to Crimea this week and called for coordinated steps to ensure that Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014 is not recognised internationally.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko is scheduled to meet next Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande in Berlin.

Felgenhauer said Russian Federation and the rebels they support are trying to shift the blame to reduce calls for more sanctions, while factions in Moscow decide what action to take.