After a week of intensified shelling by government forces, windows of buildings on the outskirts of the city have been blown out, fires have gutted stores and the hulks of damaged Soviet-era cars lie abandoned in the road.

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Although the army denies shelling civilians or buildings used by civilians, a woman who gave her name only as Tatyana said she had seen the incident in which the now burnt-out sports store was hit: "People were burned, lying on the street. There was a body lying there," she said pointing under the rubble, her hands dirty because of a lack of water to wash with.

The transformation of Slaviansk in the past week is a result of the two-pronged policy being pursued by President Petro Poroshenko, the pro-Western leader elected last month and sworn in on Saturday with a pledge to end the insurrection.

Although he has started talks with Russia on a peace plan he has drawn up, he has also ordered Ukraine's armed forces to step up their "Anti-Terrorist Operation" to win back control of towns and cities held by rebels seeking unification with Russia.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN0EL1OR20140610