Kiev, Aug 18, (RHC), – Many people have been killed in rocket and mortar attacks on vehicles transporting refugees from Ukraine’s eastern region of Lugansk.

The refugee convoy was travelling between the towns of Khryashchuvate and Novosvitlivka when it was hit by several rockets. Both sides in the Ukrainian conflict, namely the Ukrainian army and Pro-Russian militant groups, have blamed each other for the attack.

“Many people were killed, among them women and children,” Colonel Andriy Lysenko, a Ukrainian National Security Council spokesman, said on Monday.

The pro-Russians and Ukrainian forces were reportedly exchanging fire where the buses were travelling.

Ukraine’s eastern regions have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations there in mid-April.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse Russia of arming pro-Russia forces in the east, an allegation Moscow has denied.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that no progress has been made during talks in Germany over the establishment of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and the start of peace negotiations between warring parties.

The unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, according to figures by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Nearly 300,000 people have been also forced to flee their homes due to fierce fighting in the east, according to the UN.