At least eight people were killed and 23 injured by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine, Russia's state TASS news agency reported on Friday, citing an unidentified source in the emergency services, Reuters reports.
The shelling destroyed a building in the village of Lantrativka and some people were trapped under rubble, TASS said.
Russian-backed officials from Luhank's representation to the Joint Centre of Control and Coordination - a ceasefire monitoring body set-up to help manage the conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces after 2014 - said Ukraine fired three US-made HIMARS rockets at Lantrativka at 04:10 local time on Friday morning.
The head the "people's militia" in Luhansk also reported on his Telegram channel there were civilian casualties as a result of Ukrainian shelling on the town of Svatove on Friday morning. He provided no further details of the attack.
Reuters could also not immediately verify the battlefield reports.