Europe
3 October 2014
Last updated at 11:09 ET
Fighting near Donetsk airport has intensified in recent days
A government spokesman said rebels had broken into one of the terminal buildings but the airport was still under army control.
A truce agreed in eastern Ukraine on 5 September looks increasingly fragile.
"The situation in the area of Donetsk airport remains difficult," Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told Kanal 5 TV.
"The militants, using smoke bombs as a cover, broke into the ground floor of the old terminal," he said.
Ukrainian soldiers had pushed the rebels from half the building, Mr Seleznyov added.
A correspondent for Associated Press reported seeing three rebel tanks firing at the main terminal, with sniper shots ringing out.
Fighting for the airport - a vantage point for the Ukrainian
army to fire on positions in rebel-held Donetsk - has intensified in
recent days. Ukraine says two servicemen have been killed and another
nine wounded since Thursday.
Mr Seleznyov also accused Russia of sending drones over the airport to help the rebels' reconnaissance efforts and direct fire.
Russia has denied sending arms to the rebels or soldiers to eastern Ukraine, though it says "volunteers" have crossed into Ukraine.
A Red Cross vehicle stands near the damaged offices of the ICRC in Donetsk
Earlier, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
condemned indiscriminate shelling in east Ukraine after a Red Cross
employee was killed.
Swiss citizen Laurent DuPasquier, 38, died when a shell landed near ICRC offices in Donetsk on Thursday.
He was one of several casualties in the city, ICRC director of operations Dominik Stillhart said in a statement.
The rebels and the government blamed each other for the shelling.
Mortar shells also landed in central Donetsk early on Friday, the BBC's Dina Newman reports from a hotel in the city centre.
The two sides have accused each other of violating the 5 September ceasefire.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since the conflict erupted between the heavily armed separatists and the new Kiev government in April.
by Maria Ogryzlo and Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Fighting near Donetsk airport has intensified in recent days
There have been more fierce clashes in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are trying to capture Donetsk airport.
Heavy firing could be heard near the airport - strategically important for both sides in the conflict.A government spokesman said rebels had broken into one of the terminal buildings but the airport was still under army control.
A truce agreed in eastern Ukraine on 5 September looks increasingly fragile.
"The situation in the area of Donetsk airport remains difficult," Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told Kanal 5 TV.
"The militants, using smoke bombs as a cover, broke into the ground floor of the old terminal," he said.
Ukrainian soldiers had pushed the rebels from half the building, Mr Seleznyov added.
A correspondent for Associated Press reported seeing three rebel tanks firing at the main terminal, with sniper shots ringing out.
There are fears the fragile four-week-old truce may break down completely
Mr Seleznyov also accused Russia of sending drones over the airport to help the rebels' reconnaissance efforts and direct fire.
Russia has denied sending arms to the rebels or soldiers to eastern Ukraine, though it says "volunteers" have crossed into Ukraine.
A Red Cross vehicle stands near the damaged offices of the ICRC in Donetsk
Swiss citizen Laurent DuPasquier, 38, died when a shell landed near ICRC offices in Donetsk on Thursday.
He was one of several casualties in the city, ICRC director of operations Dominik Stillhart said in a statement.
The rebels and the government blamed each other for the shelling.
Mortar shells also landed in central Donetsk early on Friday, the BBC's Dina Newman reports from a hotel in the city centre.
The two sides have accused each other of violating the 5 September ceasefire.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since the conflict erupted between the heavily armed separatists and the new Kiev government in April.
Ukraine crisis
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Children in Donetsk are going back to school a month late and amid tragedy and the rumble of artillery, the BBC's James Coomarasamy reports from Ukraine.Donetsk's schoolchildren
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Ukraine's wounded
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Respite for Poroshenko
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Russia's forgotten soldiers
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Luhansk licks it wounds
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Guns before butter
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Why is Ukraine at war?
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EU's uncharted territory
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Sanctions targets
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Sanctions impact
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Nato's reaction force
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Frontier Finns
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Foreign fighters on both sides
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Crisis mapped
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Crisis timeline
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Putin's strategy
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Key players
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