Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have said that two people including one of their fighters were killed following gunfire from Ukrainian army forces.

The other deceased was a miner who was shot on his way to work, the rebel forces posted on Telegram.

It is impossible to independently verify the state of hostilities in the region.

The separatists and Russia said that Ukrainian forces were closing in on them and they were urging people to flee into Russia.

Ukraine said that it had no such intentions, while its western allies said Russia was spreading false information to give it an excuse to march in, a charge Moscow denies.

More than 61,000 people have followed the suggestion to flee to Russia, the Interfax news agency reported.

Tensions were on edge in the region, with many in the west worried that war was coming.

However, U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to conduct a summit in the near future, raising hope that no fighting would happen until after those talks.

International observers say ceasefire violations were growing more common in the disputed Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which have both distanced themselves from Kyiv’s rule since 2014.

More than 14,000 people have died in periodic fighting since then, with a peace deal put in place in 2015 largely ignored.

(dpa/NAN)