Two relatives hold their hands up to their faces in the aftermath of the shelling attack. At least 20 residents are said to have died
Just hours after flight MH17 was shot down, the eastern city of Lugansk was hit by shelling leaving hundreds of residents wounded.
Pictures show bodies lining the streets covered in blankets in the wake of the attack which was reportedly carried out by Ukrainian forces.
Vladimir Putin has called for both sides to lay down their weapons after the Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 298 passengers was hit by a surface-to-air missile yesterday, but the request seemed to fall on deaf ears.
The UN and their international leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel also called for an end to the fighting so an investigation into yesterday's events can take place.
Fighting is also said to have carried on to the north of the city, in the village of Metallist, 10km from Lugansk, and in the west, in Yubileynoye settlement.
It also emerged that the The Lisichansk Oil Refinery has also been attacked and set on fire.
The Russian President said he was in contact with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after the Boeing 777 passenger airliner came down in an area under rebel control.
He said: 'Direct talks between the opposing sides must be established as soon as possible. All sides in the conflict must swiftly halt fighting and begin peace negotiations. It is with great concern and sadness that we are watching what is happening in eastern Ukraine. It's awful, it's a tragedy.'
Putin, who has blamed the airliner tragedy on Poroshenko for refusing to extend a shaky ceasefire with rebels in the region, said he hoped the Ukrainian president would be able to offer a peaceful way out of the conflict.
Kiev accuses pro-Russian separatists of shooting down the airliner with help from Russian intelligence representatives.
Ukraine premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk said pro-Moscow rebels are preventing emergency workers reaching the scene of the air crash, despite promises to the contrary. His allegation raises the fear that vital evidence could be tampered with.
'These bandits do not allow our national agencies investigating the plane crash to reach the scene of the tragedy,' he said. The Ukrainian authorities are working with the OSCE to resolve this problem, he said.
'We are doing our utmost together with the law enforcement authorities and the OSCE to bring the national commission investigating this tragedy to the scene.' Ukraine yesterday opened criminal proceedings into a 'terrorist attack' on the Boeing.
"the eastern city of Lugansk was hit by shelling leaving hundreds of residents wounded"
and 44 dead!
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"Ukraine premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk said pro-Moscow rebels are preventing emergency workers reaching the scene of the air crash, despite promises to the contrary."
How about this: "International investigators have arrived at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, after rebels in eastern Ukraine allowed them access."
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