One Ukrainian serviceman killed in eastern Ukraine: Kiev military

KIEV (Reuters) - One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and eight other have been wounded in attacks by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine despite a ceasefire, a Kiev military spokesman said on Wednesday. Violence has fallen off significantly in Ukraine's east since a ceasefire was brokered in the Belarussian capital of Minsk in mid-February though government forces and separatists accuse one another of violations, with almost daily casualties. Military spokesman Oleksander Motuzyanyk said at a briefing that separatists were keeping up regular attacks on government forces outside the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk and in the southeast near the strategic port city of Mariupol. (Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Toby Chopra)