Ukraine presses offensive, claims rebel strike on refugees

Ukraine on Aug. 19 pressed on with a punishing offensive to win back its war-torn east, after claiming that pro-Russian rebels had killed "dozens" of fleeing civilians in a rocket strike.
      
Kyiv said "street battles" with insurgents had erupted in the heart of the rebel bastion of Lugansk, which has endured brutal shelling and weeks without running water or electricity as Ukrainian forces seek to roust separatists there.
      
The military on Aug. 18 accused the insurgents of using Russian-supplied missiles to blow up adults and children who were attempting to escape the besieged city in a convoy flying white flags. The attack left "dozens of dead", according to Ukraine's security spokesman Andriy Lysenko.
      
Fifteen bodies have been recovered after the convoy, Lysenko said on Tuesday.
     
The rebels denied the allegations, which could not be independently verified.
      
But the claim of a strike on civilians drew calls for restraint from the United Nations and Washington, after weekend talks between Russian and Ukrainian top diplomats failed to make any breakthroughs.
      
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the "tragic incident makes the urgency of a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution even more stark."        

Ban urged both Kiev forces and rebels to "allow safe passage to anyone attempting to leave areas of active military operations," a spokesman said.
      
The State Department in Washington said it had been unable to confirm who was responsible for the attack on the convoy and urged "all sides [to] take every precaution to protect innocent lives."       

Four months of fighting in eastern Ukraine has left more than...