Ukraine refugee convoy hit by rockets, says military

Russian-made Grad rockets are used by both sides in the conflict (file pic)

Many people died when rockets and mortars hit vehicles moving refugees from the Luhansk area of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military says.

Ukraine has blamed pro-Russian rebels but they have denied carrying out the attack, near the village of Novosvitlivka.

A rebel news outlet reported a heavy exchange of artillery fire in the area.

Ukrainian forces have moved into the outskirts of rebel-held Luhansk where basic supplies are running out.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said "militants" armed by Russia had fired at a refugee convoy with mortars and Grad rockets, on a road east of Luhansk.

"Many people have been killed, including women and children," he said.

Another military spokesman said people had been burned alive inside their vehicles.

A spokesman for the rebel self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic", Andrei Purgin, denied that rebel forces had attacked the convoy.

"The Ukrainians themselves have bombed the road constantly with planes and Grads. It seems they've now killed more civilians like they've been doing for months now," he was quoted as saying.

There has been sustained artillery shelling of the city of Luhansk, where civilians are suffering chronic shortages of water, food and electricity.

Hundreds of civilians are fleeing the city every day as Ukrainian forces edge into Luhansk.

Authorities announced on Sunday that the Ukraine flag had been raised at a police station in the city for the first time since separatists took control of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and declared them "people's republics" in May.

The convoy of Russian lorries has been parked at a base close to the Ukraine border for days

More than 2,000 civilians and combatants have been killed since mid-April, when Ukraine's government sent troops to put down the rebel uprising in the east.

Russia has said an aid convoy of some 270 lorries to a base near the Ukrainian border. The lorries are parked close to a rebel-held border post awaiting inspection as the Red Cross wants security guarantees before the aid can enter Ukraine.

Earlier Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said full agreement had been reached on the aid convoy after talks in Berlin.

But he said no deal had been reached on achieving a ceasefire.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said "the aim remains to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine and to prevent future victims". He said the talks in Berlin had been "a difficult discussion but I believe and I hope that we made progress on some points".

They were speaking after talks with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany and France in Berlin on Sunday.