Ukrainian government forces have moved into the center of the rebel-controlled city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine after months of ongoing clashes with pro-Russian separatists, Andrey Lysenko, spokesman of the Ukrainian Security Council said on Tuesday.
Several parts of the city of Luhansk are now under the control of the Ukrainian army but clashes continue between the government forces and separatists in some of the city's streets, Lysenko said.
Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatists attacked a refugee convoy as it was leaving the rebel-held city of Luhansk, military spokesman Anatoly Proshin said.
There were casualties but the number of killed or injured was not specified by Proshin.
Moreover, Ukraine's blue-and-yellow flag was raised in the center of the town of Ilovaysk, less than 20 km east from Donetsk. The clashes between the Ukrainian army and the separatists continue in north of Donetsk and Yasynovata region.
Unrest in eastern Ukraine has torn the region apart since April, when the government launched "anti-terror" operations against armed separatists seeking to break away from Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March.
Pro-Russian separatists still hold the control of wide regions in eastern Ukraine, although the army is gradually regaining territory.
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