Five more Ukrainian soldiers killed, German foreign minister visits Kiev

KIEV (Reuters) - Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the military said on Tuesday, as Germany foreign minister prepared to hold talks on the crisis in both Kiev and Moscow.

The trip by Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be one of the first visits by a senior German official to Moscow since the Ukraine crisis erupted earlier this year, provoking a deep rift between Russia and the West.

Steinmeier's visit comes amid rising violence in eastern Ukraine and accusations by Kiev and the West that Russia is sending soldiers and weapons over the border to help pro-Russian rebels there, a charge the Kremlin denies.

Steinmeier will meet President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk in Kiev before heading to Moscow.

"During the past 24 hours, due to shelling and explosions of mines, five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and eight others received injuries of varying severity," military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said in a Facebook post.

Shelling from both sides has repeatedly punctured a ceasefire, agreed in a deal signed on Sept. 5. Both government forces and rebels have accused each other of violating the terms of the truce, raising fears that it could collapse entirely.

Around 140 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire was declared, according to Ukraine's military. More than 4,000 people have been killed overall since the separatist rebellions erupted in eastern Ukraine in April.

European Union governments voiced alarm on Monday about the upsurge in violence in Ukraine and called for all parties to respect the terms of the ceasefire and for the withdrawal of "illegal and foreign forces, mercenaries and military equipment".

Tension between Russia and the West has increased further since the separatists staged elections on Nov. 2 in their self-proclaimed 'people's republics' in eastern Ukraine.

(Reporting By Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Gareth Jones)