DONETSK, July 10./ITAR-TASS/. Pro-Kiev military forces have sustained losses in their military operation in the east of Ukraine while Donetsk self-defense fighters are continuing to strengthen their defense, the press office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said on Thursday.

The Ukrainian military’s casualties were confirmed by the press center of Kiev’s military operation.

An armored personnel carrier of the Ukrainian army hit a roadside mine near the village of Krasnaya Zvezda in the Donetsk Region on Wednesday. The blast killed two and wounded six Ukrainian servicemen, the press center of Kiev’s military operation reported, adding that self-defense fighters in the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions continued to lay mines on the way of the Ukrainian army’s movement.

Last night, a truck with Ukrainian troops was subjected to militia’s machine-gun fire near the village of Muratovo in the Luhansk Region.

“During the battle, one servicemen was killed and three others were wounded,” the press office of Kiev’s punitive operation said.

Local self-defense fighters also attacked several checkpoints of the Ukrainian military in the Luhansk Region, including near the settlement of Metallist. No casualties were reported.

Self-defense fighters also wounded two Ukrainian servicemen and damaged a tank in the Seversky district of the Donetsk Region.

Overall, 173 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and another 446 wounded in Ukraine’s military operation in the country’s east, the press center of the Ukrainian military reported.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border on Russia, held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine.

Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to bring them back under control.

The operation in Ukraine's embattled eastern regions, which involves armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation, has already resulted in hundreds of deaths, destroyed buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to cross the border from Ukraine to Russia.

After a brief ceasefire announced by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on June 20 and terminated by him on June 30, military attacks of the pro-Kiev forces on the country’s eastern regions resumed.