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ODESSA, Ukraine (AP) Ukraine sent an elite national guard unit to re-establish control Monday over the southern port of Odessa and government troops fought pitched gunbattles with a pro-Russia militia around an eastern city.

The twin moves reflected an apparent escalation of efforts to bring both regions back under Kiev's control. The possible double 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 that were using large-caliber weapons and mortars. His agency said four officers were killed and 30 wounded in the fighting.

Pro-Russia militias said at least eight people, both insurgents and local residents, were killed. A militia spokesman three of 10 people admitted with gunshot wounds to a hospital in Slovyansk had died. Five more were killed during fighting in the village of Semenivka.

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 that favor closer links to Russia 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 West has offered billions of dollars in loans to help the Kiev government stave off economic collapse. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Ukraine expects to receive more than $5 billion in May, according to a statement Monday. This includes $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund, $1 billion from the United States and up to 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion) from the European Union.

The goal of the pro-Russia insurgency is ostensibly geared toward pushing for broader autonomy for local regions, but some insurgents do favor seceding from Ukraine and joining 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 Sends Elite Force To Key Port Of Odessa