The sound of heavy bomb blasts have been reverberating around the pro-Russian held town of Donetsk.<br /><br />People were forced to evacuate office buildings as government shells hit homes and a local hospital.<br /><br />At least two people have been killed overnight.<br /><br />Donetsk has been surrounded by the Ukraine military for several weeks now with Kyiv determined to end rebel resistance.<br /><br />The civilians are being squeezed: “My son left, and now I am staying with my daughter. I don’t know what to do afterwards. Where am I going to run to after that please tell me,” said an anxious mother.<br /><br />The Ukrainian army claims to have made inroads into Luhansk, another separatist stronghold in the east of the country.<br /><br />The pro-Kremlin rebel leader in Luhansk, Valery Bolotov, has stood down citing a recent injury for his decision.<br /><br />Two of the main pro-Russian entities, Donetsk and Luhansk, have lost leaders in the past seven days after Aleksander Borodai quit in Donetsk.<br /><br />Kyiv says nine of its soldiers have been killed over the last 24 hours with 18 injured.
