At least six civilians and two government soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine over the past day, a government official and rebels said Sunday.
Three civilians were killed and one was seriously wounded when shelling hit their homes in two government-held towns along the frontline in the war-ravaged Lugansk region, Kiev-loyal local governor Gennadiy Moskal said in a statement.
Two Ukrainian servicemen were also killed by rebel rocket fire in the hotly contested town of Schastya, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the major rebel-held city of Lugansk, Moskal said.
On the other side, a military spokesman for the pro-Russian rebels told the separatists’ news agency that three civilians were killed and 19 were wounded in the past 24 hours across the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The insurgent-controlled mayor’s office in rebel bastion Donetsk said separately that one civilian was killed in shelling in the city overnight, but it was not clear whether this casualty was included in the larger rebel figure.
