Fighting broke out near the railway station at the heart of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Monday in what separatists said was an attempt by government forces to seize back the east Ukrainian city.
The government in Kiev denied sending the regular army into the centre of Donetsk, which the separatists captured in April, but said small "self-organised" pro-Ukrainian groups were fighting the pro-Russian rebels in the city.
Four people were killed in clashes near the railway station and close to the airport outside Donetsk, local health officials said in the industrial city which was home to about 1 million people before many fled the fighting in the region.
Four days after a Malaysian airliner was brought down about 60 km (37 miles) away, rebels are jumpy in Donetsk, one of two cities they still hold after being ousted from several towns by the government forces this month.
When a rebel leader reported shooting at the railway station, dozens jumped into minibuses to join the fray and artillery fire sent plumes of smoke skywards.
But almost as quickly as the shelling started, it eased, leaving a control tower at the railway station with shattered windows. By early afternoon, local authorities said the trains were running normally and the station had been only slightly damaged, but a Reuters witness could still hear shelling.
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