LUGANSK, May 12. /TASS/. Missiles with a range of 150 kilometers were used for the first time by Ukrainian troops to shell the city of Lugansk, Andrey Marochko, a retired colonel of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), told TASS on Friday.

"These munitions, most likely of the missile type, ought to have a range of 150 kilometers," he said.

There has been no official confirmation of this information.

The retired colonel lambasted the shelling attack on the city as a "predictable provocation," since the republic is marking Lugansk People’s Republic Day on Friday. "So far, there is no official information, but I can say that even before this, we received very disturbing news and it looks like this is the way the Ukrainian authorities congratulated LPR residents on the holiday - LPR Day," he noted.

A TASS correspondent reported earlier that two blasts rocked Lugansk at 6:35 p.m. Moscow time. A plume of smoke was seen from all around the city following the attack.