Ukraine accused pro-Russian rebels yesterday of hitting a convoy of refugee buses with rockets near the eastern city of Luhansk, killing people trapped in the burning vehicles.
The separatists denied responsibility for the attack but Ukrainian military spokesmen said the bus convoy had come under fire from rebel Grad missiles and mortar launchers, causing an unknown number of casualties.
They said the attack happened in an area of fierce fighting between government forces and the separatists.
"A powerful artillery strike hit a refugee convoy near the area of Khryashchuvatye and Novosvitlivka. The force of the blow on the convoy was so strong that people were burned alive in the vehicles - they weren't able to get out," one spokesman said.
Describing the attack as a "bloody crime", another military official said: "A lot of people have been killed including women and children. The number of dead is being established."
A rebel leader denied his forces had the military capability to carry out the attack, and accused Kiev's forces of regularly attacking the area and also using Russian-made Grad missiles.
"The Ukrainians themselves have bombed the road constantly with aeroplanes and Grads," said Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
"It seems they've now killed more civilians like they've been doing for months now. We don't have the ability to send Grads into that territory."
Another rebel spokesman denied the convoy had been struck, challenging Kiev to produce evidence.
Kiev's forces reported new successes overnight, building on a weekend breakthrough when troops took Luhansk, a city held by pro-Russian separatists since fighting began in April.
Troops blockaded or recaptured rebel-held positions after international talks in Berlin failed to reach agreement on a ceasefire. Nine soldiers were killed.
Western sanctions against Moscow have failed to stem what Nato says is a steady supply of military equipment and men from Russia to help the rebels. Russia denies sending support, saying the rebels have seized equipment from the Ukrainians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said issues around a humanitarian convoy sent by Moscow to relieve parts of eastern Ukraine had been resolved. But he sais no progress had been made on a ceasefire or political solution to the conflict in his talks in Berlin on Sunday with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and German and French foreign ministers.
Russia says it wants a ceasefire so aid can get to people trapped by the fighting. A 280-truck Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid has been stalled at the Ukrainian border since last week, as Kiev insists on formalities so it can be distributed by the Red Cross.
Mr Klimkin said: "Russia must close the border and stop shelling. If you have mercenaries and weaponry coming through the border from the Russian federation how can you reach a ceasefire? It's not about terminology or conditions. It's about substance. If you want peace, you have to use peaceful means not the means of war."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article