Rebel missile fire hits bus convoy carrying refugees in east Ukraine: Military spokesmen

Refugees from the Luhansk region wait to board a train terminating in Kharkiv, at a railway station near the town of Svatovo on Aug 12, 2014. A convoy of buses carrying refugees from the east Ukrainian city of Luhansk was hit by rebel missile fi
Refugees from the Luhansk region wait to board a train terminating in Kharkiv, at a railway station near the town of Svatovo on Aug 12, 2014. A convoy of buses carrying refugees from the east Ukrainian city of Luhansk was hit by rebel missile fire on Monday, Aug 18, resulting in an unknown number of casualties, Ukrainian military spokesmen said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

KIEV (Reuters) - A convoy of buses carrying refugees from the east Ukrainian city of Luhansk was hit by rebel missile fire on Monday, resulting in an unknown number of casualties, Ukrainian military spokesmen said.

"Terrorists fired Grad missiles at a convoy of refugees from Luhansk near the areas of Khryashchuvatye and Novosvitlivka... we are waiting to hear how many died," a spokesman for the military operation in the east said.

A spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said she had no information about the case.

A rebel news outlet, however, said that separatists and Ukrainian forces had exchanged heavy artillery fire where the buses had been travelling.

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