The situation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone in Donbas remains tense amid ongoing firing on the ATO forces, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Department said.
On December 28, 2015, the enemy attacked Ukrainian troops 33 times with the use of small arms, grenade launchers and 82mm mortars. In particular, the villages of Luhanske, Mayorsk, Novhorodske and Shumy in the Sloviansk sector were attacked 16 times, while the town of Avdiyivka, the villages of Opytne and Pisky near the ruined Donetsk airport in the Donetsk sector were attacked 15 times. The village of Chermalyk in the Mariupol sector was shelled twice. There was a report about a skirmish near the village of Zaitseve.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine confirmed that the enemy had large-caliber mortars and artillery systems near the town of Pervomaisk in Luhansk region and the militant-held town of Horlivka in Donetsk region that are banned under the Minsk peace agreements.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence service, in the past day, the enemy's forces focused on supplying arms and military equipment and beefing up logistics support of the 1st and 2nd army corps. They were also engaged in the engineering development of areas in the direction of Donetsk; establishment of covert command and control; reconnaissance and training of sabotage and reconnaissance groups to intensify subversive activity in the rear of the ATO forces. What is more, they were reported to have established the local production of armaments.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian intelligence service established that the occupied village of Kominternove is now the venue of stationing of the 9th separate motorized rifle regiment (Novoazovsk) of the 1st army corps of the territorial troops of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. In addition, up to two companies from the 1st and 2nd motorized rifle battalions of the regiment are now stationed near the villages of Zaichenko and Nova Tavria.
