Putin expresses `deep concern` over Ukraine victims in Merkel, Hollande talks

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed his "deep concern" over the growing number of civilian casualties and refugees in eastern Ukraine. "Vladimir Putin expressed deep concern over the growing number of peaceful civilians and a sharp increase in the number of refugees from southeastern Ukraine in Russia," the Kremlin said in a statement after a telephone conversation between Putin, Germany`s Angela Merkel and France`s Francois Hollande.