REUTERS

According to Tymchuk, for half an hour the Ukrainian soldiers fought off attacks by a group of militant infantry numbering up to a company, who were supported by a number of armored vehicles, including one tank. The militants were pushed back to their initial positions.

"The militants fired mortars on the positions of the Ukrainian armed forces near the village of Bolotene," Tymchuk said.

"In Donetsk [region], Russian-backed militants fired mortars on the positions of the Ukrainian troops near the villages of Novosilka, Opytne, Berdianske and the town of Avdiivka,” he said.

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“In all cases, the militants fired 120mm mortars that should have already been withdrawn from the demarcation line under the Minsk agreements. In addition, they also fired heavy machine guns, vehicle-mounted grenade launchers and small arms.

"The militants also launched an artillery attack using D-30 122mm howitzers. In addition, the militants fired three times from ‘wandering’ tanks on the positions of the Ukrainian armed forces in this area.

"The infantry groups of the militants tried to advance on the units of the Ukrainian armed forces between the village of Opytne and the town of Avdiivka. During these attempts they actively used Zu-23-2 anti-aircraft guns and mortars.

"In the area of the village of Hranitne, south from Donetsk, a mobile group of militants, supported by anti-tank systems, ambushed and tried to destroy several units of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces. However, the launches of their anti-tank systems were unsuccessful - none of the anti-tank missiles hit their targets."

As reported earlier, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation said that the Russian-backed militants had attacked the positions of the Ukrainian armed forces 13 times in the last day.