#Ukraine military confirms that separatists stronghold #Luhansk is almost entirely encircled - total cut off expected within 24h #ATO
— Volodymyr Solohub (@v_solohub) August 18, 2014
Ukrainian President Poroshenko invites you to follow him on Instagram. https://t.co/uHEAj6K9tC
— Tanya Lokot (@tanyalokot) August 18, 2014
Many #Luhansk refugees were burned alive after Grad rockets fired at their convoy, @bbcrussian reports. Gov't & rebels blaming each other
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) August 18, 2014
Here's an update from RFE/RL's news desk concerning the deadly attack on a convoy carrying refugees:
A Ukrainian military spokesman says separatists fired missiles at a military convoy carrying refugees, killing many aboard, despite the trucks flying white flags.
Anatoly Proshin, spokesman for the North operational command, said the refugee convoy was hit by Grad missiles near the villages of Khyashchuvatye and Novosvitlivka in the Luhansk region on August 18.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kyiv that "many people were killed, among them women and children."
There are no details yet on the number of fatalities.
A rebel spokesman has denied the reports of the attack.
Konstantin Knyrik told Russia's Interfax news agency, "Such claims are pure propaganda."
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says agreements have been reached with Ukraine and the International Red Cross that clear the way for Russian humanitarian shipments into eastern Ukraine.
( Reuters, AFP)
You want to know what President Putin said on august 14th in Yalta, Crimea? Here you are (Kremlin translation) http://t.co/BMQx5fQrlp
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) August 18, 2014
ITAR-TASS (and now Interfax) quote "Donetsk People's Republic" militants saying that a blackout caused by fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatists has trapped "about 30" miners underground at the Komsomolets-Donbassa mine.