Ukraine says its army has repulsed an offensive by pro-Russian rebels in the east who sought to seize territory near the strategic town of Debaltseve.
The Ukrainian military command said five of its troops and 25 rebels were killed in heavy fighting on Sunday.
The figures could not be independently verified. It is the most serious flare-up for several weeks on the front line.
The report said the rebels tried - but failed - to outflank Ukrainian government troops at Svitlodarsk.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko, quoted by the news website 112.ua, said the loss of five soldiers was the heaviest toll in five months of sporadic clashes on the front line.
The terms of the Minsk ceasefire deal, agreed between the government and rebel sides in February 2015, are being violated daily, monitors from the OSCE security organisation report.
Ukrainian government troops pulled out of Debaltseve in February 2015 after heavy fighting.
Intense shelling
Eastern Ukraine's unrecognised separatist republics - based in Donetsk and Luhansk - are international pariahs and economically dependent on Russia.
Kiev, Nato and Western leaders accuse Russia of supplying the rebels with heavy armour and regular troops. Moscow denies that, while admitting that some Russian "volunteers" are fighting for the rebels.
The Ukrainian military headquarters commander, Gen Alexander Sirsky, said his troops had come under heavy rebel artillery fire. He said there had been three bombardments in the Svitlodarsk area, lasting up to six hours each time.
The shelling came from Kalinovka, Vuglehirsk and Debaltseve, he said, accusing the rebels of using civilian areas as cover, in violation of the Minsk accord.
The Ukrainian military said there had also been renewed rebel shelling of Shirokyne, a strategic village near the government-held port city of Mariupol.