LUHANSK, July 09./ITAR-TASS/. At least two people were killed and six others wounded as Ukraine’s military shelled east Ukraine’s embattled Luhansk, the press office of the city’s council said on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian military fired a total of 13 artillery shells, damaging buildings and infrastructure facilities in the cities, the press office said.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border on Russia, held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine.

Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to bring them back under control.

The operation in Ukraine's embattled southeastern regions, which involves armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation, has already resulted in hundreds of deaths, destroyed buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to cross the border from Ukraine to Russia.

After a brief ceasefire announced by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on June 20 and terminated by him on June 30, military attacks of the pro-Kiev forces on the country’s southeastern regions resumed.