KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – At least three civilians have been killed in east Ukraine in a further surge in shelling in several locations along the front line, government and rebel officials said Wednesday.
Reports of casualties among government and separatist fighters have continued unabated since a cease-fire agreement was reached in February, but deaths among noncombatants had almost ceased. That trend has been disrupted in recent days in an indication that the warring sides are again increasingly resorting to indiscriminate shelling.
The head of the government-controlled part of Luhansk region, Hennadiy Moskal, said in a statement on his official website that an elderly couple died when their car was struck by mortar fire Wednesday morning. The statement said the strike occurred 20 kilometers (12 miles) into government-held territory.
Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a rebel representative as saying that one resident in the town of Yenakieve was killed near a waste treatment plant during a 20-minute barrage.
The war has killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014.