Ukrainian shelling kills eight in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine - Moscow-backed official

(Changes sourcing, adds details on second shelling) Dec 16 (Reuters) - Eight people were killed and 23 injured by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine, the Russian-installed administrator of the region said on Friday.

Eight people were killed and 23 injured by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine, the Russian-installed administrator of the region said on Friday. The shelling hit the village of Lantrativka, a small settlement close to the border with Russia, Leonid Pasechnik said in a post on his Telegram channel.

Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports. Pasechnik called the attack "barbaric" and said Ukraine was targeting residential neighbourhoods, schools and shopping districts in an attempt to "kill as many people as possible".

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv. Russian-backed Luhansk officials at the Joint Centre of Control and Coordination - a ceasefire monitoring body set up to help manage the conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces after 2014 - said Ukraine had fired three U.S.-made HIMARS rockets at Lantrativka at 4:10 a.m. (0210 GMT) on Friday.

The head of the "people's militia" in Luhansk also reported on his Telegram channel that one civilian had been killed by Ukrainian shelling in the town of Svatove on Friday morning.