Five civilians killed as clashes continue in east Ukraine

At least five people have been killed in fresh fighting between forces loyal to the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian forces in the eastern Luhansk region.

Two children are among the dead while another eight-year-old child is in critical condition due to the fighting on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and eight others wounded in the fighting across the conflict zone.

A regional electric substation was also damaged by shelling a in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, trapping nearly 400 miners in a coal pit.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev’s military operation started in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.

The two sides of the conflict have repeatedly accused the other of launching attacks and violating the provisions of a shaky truce deal in the region.

The ceasefire was signed between representatives from Kiev and eastern Ukraine self-proclaimed republics in Minsk last September. The conflict in the region has claimed over 47-hundred lives.