DONETSK, August 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko on Monday dismissed Kiev’s claims that militiamen allegedly shelled a convoy of refugees in eastern Ukraine.

“The shelled refugee convoy is a canard,” Zakharchenko told journalists in Donetsk. “No refugee convoy was at the moment shelled by the DPR or Lugansk People’s Republic.”

Earlier, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andrey Lysenko said a convoy of refugees was shelled near Luhansk. He blamed militiamen and reported numerous casualties.

The southeastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been the scene for fierce clashes between troops loyal to Kiev and local militias as the Ukrainian armed forces are conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway territories, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums.

Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation in its military operation, which has been conducted since mid-April. Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in it. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s embattled southeast.