Seven Ukrainian soldiers killed in past 24 hours despite ceasefire: military

KIEV (Reuters) - Seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours in the east of the country despite a ceasefire with separatists, a military spokesman said on Thursday. "They were killed in different places by shelling and one was killed in an ambush," spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. Eleven others had been wounded in various incidents. The deaths further strained a tenuous ceasefire, which came into force on September 5, while tension is growing in the run-up to a local election on Sunday organized by the separatists and which has been denounced as illegal by the Kiev government. (Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams)