The head of the Luhansk regional military-civilian administration, Heorhiy Tuka, said he sees no possibility of the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote checkpoints in his region being opened any time soon.

"We are clarifying our joint position with border officials on possible checkpoint opening, because there are two checkpoints in the Luhansk region – Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote. The opening of the Stanytsia Luhanska is out of question because of daily shelling," the regional governor said on Channel 5.

Most of the technical equipment used in the construction of the checkpoint has been virtually destroyed recently, and restoring it will take time, he said.

As for the Zolote checkpoint, Ukraine "has confirmed its willingness to re-open it but this morning I received information that the other side is not going to do so," Tuka said.

"To sum up, with regard to the Luhansk region I see no possibilities of either checkpoint being opened in the near future," he said.

Officials in Kyiv said earlier that on April 21 militants shelled the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint while the repair work was carried out there.