Pro-Russians accused of killing dozens in attack on refugees

The rebels denied any attack took place, while the US confirmed the shelling of the convoy but said it did not know who was responsible.

The refugees were attacked with Grad rockets and other weapons imported from Russia as their convoy travelled on the main road leading from Russia to the rebel-held city of Luhansk, said Colonel Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s national security council.

“Many people were killed, among them women and children,” he said of the attack, which occurred between the towns of Khryashchuvate and Novosvitlivka.

“We are not able to count the death toll at this point.”

When asked about a rough estimate of deaths, he said “dozens”.

Donetsk rebel chief Alexander Zakharchenko insisted that no such attack had taken place.

His deputy, Andrei Purgin, said he had no information about an attack and insisted it was not by his forces.

“If someone was killed, it wasn’t us but the Ukrainian military,” he said.

The road where Ukraine said yesterday’s attack took place has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent days as Ukrainian forces try to seal off supply routes into Luhansk from Russia.

It would also probably be the route taken by a controversial Russian aid convoy if Ukraine allows it into the country.

The United States condemned the attack, but said it was unable to confirm who was responsible.

“We strongly condemn the shelling and rocketing of a convoy that was bearing internally displaced persons in Luhansk and express our condolences to the families of the victims,” US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

“All sides must take every precaution to protect innocent lives. We are unable to confirm reports of who was responsible for the shelling and rocketing.”

Fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has forced nearly 344,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations, a number that has only grown as the humanitarian situation in rebel-held cities deteriorates.

Running water and electricity have either been cut off completely in cities like Luhansk or are getting more limited by the day.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than 22,000 people fled the main rebel-held city of Donetsk last week compared to 6,200 the week before.

And city officials have released even higher numbers. Donetsk has seen at least 300,000 of its pre-war population of 1 million leave their homes, while Luhansk has only 250,000 of its 420,000 people remaining, local authorities say.

Residents of Luhansk have had no running water, electrical power or phone connections for 16 days, and basic food is in short supply, leading to long queues outside shops as fighting continues in and around the city. In Donetsk, the largest city in rebel hands, several houses were hit by artillery fire over the weekend.

The Kremlin says Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, at an August 26 meeting in Minsk, 
Belarus.