Pro-Russian rebels killed at least 19 Ukrainian troops Thursday, a setback for Kiev’s military forces after they made significant headway in recent weeks against a dogged insurgency in the country’s restive east. Separately, Ukrainian border guards began inspecting a Russian truck convoy carrying aid earmarked for humanitarian relief in eastern Ukraine. The convoy has been stranded at the border between the two countries for more than a week. Ukrainian government officials said the troops died in intense battles in the strategically important town of Llovaisk, near the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, the BBC reported. Donetsk was the site of heavy shelling that hit residential neighborhoods on Wednesday. Rebel and government forces fought street battles there and in other towns across the east. The forces of the Western-backed government have been steadily gaining the upper hand over the separatists in eastern Ukraine and are tightening the noose around the main rebel bastions […]