Family of 5 killed in Ukraine army shelling

Shelling by the Ukrainian army has killed five members of a family in Ukraine’s eastern city of Lugansk.

According to reports, the five were killed as a basement, where they had taken refuge, was shelled during military operations by government forces on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian government forces have reportedly bombed a Christian church in the center of the city.

“The Ukrainian artillery launched a shell towards the church; the building was not completely destroyed, but the walls took a heavy impact,” members of the self-proclaimed Peoples Republic of Lugansk said.

This comes a day after Ukraine’s military launched airstrikes on the volatile eastern city of Donetsk, which is controlled by pro-Russia forces.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since the government in Kiev launched military operations in mid-April. The United Nations says at least 1,129 people have been killed in the military campaign.

The fighting has intensified since July 17, when a Malaysian airliner carrying 298 people on board was downed in the Donetsk region with Kiev and pro-Russians accusing each other of being behind the tragedy.

A United Nations official warned earlier this week that the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse on a daily basis as the war between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russians rages on.