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Three civilians killed in Luhansk shelling over 24 hours

The city’s anti-crisis headquarters established by the local authorities assessed the situation in the regional center as critical

© AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky

LUHANSK, August 03, 13:02 /ITAR-TASS/. Three civilians have been killed and another eight wounded in the shelling of east Ukraine’s Luhansk and armed clashes between local self-defense fighters and the Ukrainian army over the past twenty-four hours, the city council’s website said on Sunday.

The city’s anti-crisis headquarters established by the local authorities assessed the situation in the regional center as critical.

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Information on developments in Luhansk remains incomplete as mobile and stationary communications are periodically disrupted and there are serious problems with electric power supply, the city council said.

Pro-Kiev troops and local militias in the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions are involved in fierce clashes as the Ukrainian armed forces are conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway regions, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums.

During the military operation, Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s embattled east.

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