Volunteer fighters have told the BBC they have launched a counter-attack against rebels around the port city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine.
The Azov battalion, a volunteer force affiliated with the interior ministry, said it had seized several villages and was advancing on the separatists.
The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany hope to meet in Minsk on Wednesday to hammer out a peace deal.
Russia has warned the West that sending arms to Ukraine will worsen the crisis.
US President Barack Obama said on Monday that he had not ruled out supplying arms to Ukraine if diplomacy failed.
Russia denies Western and Ukrainian accusations of sending troops and supplying the rebels.
The crisis in Ukraine has already claimed more than 5,300 lives and displaced 1.5 million people.
Andriy Biletsky, commander of the Azov battalion based in Mariupol, confirmed to the BBC that the volunteer fighters were advancing and fighting pro-Russian rebels outside the city.
"We have taken the villages of Shyrokine, Pavlovo, Kominternovo. We are currently moving towards Novoazovsk."
He said the battalion did not currently have support from the Ukrainian army, and was waiting for it to provide back-up.
Rebels launched an offensive on Mariupol last month, leaving dozens dead in rocket attacks.
The Ukrainian government said the separatists appeared to be massing forces for attacks on strategic towns, including Mariupol, on Saturday, according to Reuters news agency.
The port town lies in a key coastal position between rebel-controlled areas and the Crimean peninsula.
Russia's Ria news agency reported on Tuesday that more than 600 Russian troops had started exercises in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last year.
It comes a day after separatists said they had cut off a key supply road to Debaltseve, a railway hub near the rebel-held city of Donetsk. The military says the battle is ongoing.
The Kremlin has warned the West ahead of Wednesday's proposed peace talks against sending weapons to the Ukrainian government or putting pressure on Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that any talk about imposing new sanctions on Russia or arming the Ukraine government would destabilise the situation in Ukraine.
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