NINE civilians have been killed in new fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists around Lugansk and Donetsk in east Ukraine, local officials said today.

Six people were killed in shelling and gunfire on the outskirts of Donetsk, Deputy Mayor Kostantyn Savinov and city officials added that three others had been killed in shelling on Lugansk.

Several buildings, including a school, caught fire in the barrage.

Many Lugansk residents of now have no electricity and some are without water.

Advances by the Ukrainian army have forced the rebels out of most of the towns they occupied into Lugansk and Donetsk.

The Ukrainian military said it had suffered no losses in the latest fighting.

The conflict has intensified since the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in rebel-held territory on July 17, which killed 298 people.

Despite the shelling and fighting, Dutch and Australian investigators using sniffer dogs recovered more human remains at the site today.