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ODESSA, Ukraine -- Ukraine sent an elite national guard unit to re-establish control over the southern port city of Odessa on Monday and troops fought pitched gunbattles with a pro-Russia militia that had seized an eastern city.

The twin moves reflected an apparent escalation of efforts to bring both regions back under Kiev's control. The possible loss of Odessa in the southwest and parts of eastern Ukraine could be catastrophic for the new government, leaving the country landlocked, cut off entirely from the Black Sea.

Ukraine already lost a significant part of its coastline in March, when its Black Sea peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia.

Gunfire and multiple explosions rang out Monday in and around Slovyansk, a city of 125,000 that has become the focus of the armed insurgency against the new interim government in Kiev.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement that government troops were battling about 800 pro-Russia forces, which were deploying large-caliber weapons and mortars. His agency reported four officers killed and 30 wounded in the fighting.

A pro-Russia militia spokesman in Slovyansk said an unspecified number of people were killed and wounded in the clashes, including a 20-year-old woman killed by a stray bullet.

Both sides indicated fighting was taking place at several sites around the city. An Associated Press crew saw at least four ambulances rushing injured people to a city hospital and one militiaman being carried in for medical treatment.

This nation of 46 million is facing its worst crisis in decades after its Russia-leaning president, who hails from Ukraine's industrial east, fled to Russia in February following months of street protests. Those eastern regions are now at odds with Ukraine's western and central areas, which seek closer ties with Europe and largely support the new interim government in Kiev.

The goal of the pro-Russia insurgency is ostensibly geared toward pushing for broader autonomy, but some insurgents do favor seceding from Ukraine and joining up with Russia.

In the last few weeks, pro-Russia forces have stormed and seized government buildings and police stations in a dozen eastern Ukrainian cities. Authorities in Kiev accuse Moscow of backing the insurgents and -- since Russia has kept tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine's eastern border -- fear that Russia could try to invade and grab more territory.

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Ukraine fights pitched battles in Slovyansk, sends elite troops to Odessa