Two security officers killed in east Ukraine ahead of summit: army

Two Ukrainian security officers were killed in the country's war-torn east, Kiev said Monday, a week before a crucial summit aimed at ending more than five years of conflict.

Unidentified explosive devices detonated, killing the men, as a group of Russian-backed separatists tried to break through enemy lines, the Ukrainian armed forces said. The army said the combatants died at the scene.

Ukraine's SBU security service identified the troops as its officers, who were fighting alongside Ukraine's military against the pro-Russian insurgency in the east.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased.

"We will definitely achieve a ceasefire," Zelensky wrote on Facebook.

"This will be the end of children's tears, mothers' pain and loss of our brothers."