Six Ukraine soldiers die in eastern clashes with rebels - military

KIEV/DONETSK (Reuters) - Six Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the past 24 hours, a military spokesman said on Saturday, as a fragile ceasefire in the east was tested by heavy mortar fire in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk ahead of a rebel election.

The deaths follow the killing of seven Ukrainian servicemen on Thursday, as tension grows in the run-up to Sunday's election for a separatist leadership that has been denounced as illegal by Kiev and criticised as illegitimate by the West.