Twelve civilians killed in Ukraine bus attack

(Vatican Radio) Officials say an attack on a passenger bus in eastern Ukraine has killed 12 people and injured 13 others. Photographs showed the bus riddled with holes. The attack came after rebels claimed a similar number had been killed and another 30 injured in the preceding three-day period. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Amid the turmoil, the United States has reinforced Western assistance for war-torn Ukraine by promising up to $2 billion in loan guarantees if the effort is matched by economic and political reforms in Kiev. Yet, Tuesday’s violence raised doubts about the future of Western-backed peace talks, which are seen as crucial to Ukraine's stability.  

Regional authorities loyal to Kiev said a dozen civilians traveling on a commuter bus from Donetsk were killed by rockets fired from rebel territory. Officials claimed the bus was hit when passing a Ukrainian army checkpoint in the city of Volnovakha, south of Donetsk, dealing a final blow to hopes that a short-lived and shaky ceasefire could take hold.

REBELS' DENIAL

Rebels denied involvement in the violence. Yet, the NATO military alliance says rebels have received troops, training and equipment from Russia, charges Moscow rejects. 

NATO's top commander, General Philip Breedlove, suggested Tuesday that the supplies continued over the holiday period.

"Those continue to provide a concern and something that we have to be thinking about," Breedlove said. 

Reporters saw a convoy of about 30 military-style trucks, without license plates, heading for Donetsk over the weekend. 

The fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has added to concerns that international peace talks will not resume soon. 

MEETING FAILS

Foreign ministers of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France failed to make progress at a meeting in Berlin on how to end a conflict that the United Nations says has killed more than 4,700 people and displaced over 1.2 million residents. 

A planned meeting this week between the countries' leaders was called off.  Kiev had been hoping to discuss with Russia several issues, including the release of prisoners, among them a Ukrainian military pilot, who has been in Russian custody since July. 

In a published letter written at the Moscow pretrial detention facility where she is being held, Nadiya Savchenko vowed to continue a hunger strike she announced on December 15; she expressed gratitude to her supporters, adding that her “spirit cannot be crushed”.