At Russia's request, UN Security Council will meet Tuesday on Ukraine humanitarian situation

UNITED NATIONS – At Russia's request, the U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

The open session will be held late Tuesday.

Britain holds the Security Council presidency this month and its U.N. Mission said John Ging, the director of U.N. humanitarian operations, will brief council members.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine.

Fighting reached the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Tuesday as pro-Russian separatists and government troops exchanged rocket fire in neighborhoods on the edge of the city. The spread of fighting into the city could result in an alarming escalation in the humanitarian crisis gripping the country's easternmost regions.