The conflict in eastern Ukraine has reached the centre of rebel-held Luhansk, where government forces say they have now recaptured one neighbourhood.<br /><br />Artillery fire has also been heard in the settlement of Makiivka on the outskirts of the other pro-Russian separatist stronghold Donetsk, and shelling has been reported near rebel headquarters in the city itself.<br /><br />For civilians, the misery continues, with a choice of either seeking safety in shelters or fleeing the battle zones, risking their lives.<br /><br />Seventeen bodies of people trying to leave Luhansk have been recovered from the wreckage of a refugee convoy hit by shelling on Monday, according to a military spokesman.<br /><br />Separatists deny Ukraine’s claims that they were responsible.<br /><br />“By the end of last night we had found the first 15 bodies,” said Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security Council.<br /><br />“Now, clashes between the terrorists and anti-terrorist forces have started in this region so the search for dead civilians could not be completed.”<br /><br />On the diplomatic front, Ukraine’s President Petro Petroshenko will host Germany’s Angela Merkel in Kyiv on Saturday.<br /><br />Next week he will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time in months to try to end their confrontation over the separatist rebellion.
