Ukraine says 17 killed by shelling in Gorlivka

Seventeen people, including three children, were killed in the past 24 hours by shelling in Ukraine’s rebel-held stronghold of Gorlivka, local Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.

A statement said that 43 people were also wounded in the city which was observing three days of mourning for 13 civilians including 2 children killed on Sunday by Grad rockets.

Several homes were hit by artillery fire in the town located 45 kilometres north of Donetsk, the statement said.

The top storey of a school was destroyed and several units in a local hospital were also damaged, it added.

The United Nations has criticised the use of heavy weapons by both pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces in inhabited areas, and in a report released on Monday said more than 1,100 had been killed by fighting since mid-April.