An illustrative image / Photo from Facebook
The Staff of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine has reported that the situation in Donbas has been escalating and the enemy has attempted to attack Ukrainian troops in the Artemivsk sector, the ATO press center wrote on Facebook.
"The situation in the ATO zone from midnight to 18:00 Kyiv time today has somewhat worsened," it said.
"The enemy started shelling the village of Opytne, the towns of Maryinka, Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka, and the village of Pisky, which is near the city of Donetsk [close to the destroyed Donetsk airport], several times during the day, using small arms, mortars and grenade launchers," the press center said.
In particular, one Ukrainian defended post in Maryinka came under fire from 05:20 to 08:00 on Friday – the enemy used a tank, a mortar, a grenade launcher, and small arms.
The illegal armed formations were also active near the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol. At around midnight, the Russian proxies used 152mm artillery systems to shell the village of Prokhorivka, near the town of Volnovakha twice. "And almost at 4:00 enemy artillery systems started shelling our positions in the villages of Starohnativka, Lebedynske and Bohdanivka. In the morning, the village of Vynohradne came under 122mm artillery fire. What is more, the criminals opened fire from 152mm artillery systems on our troops in Starohnativka at about 08:00, while 122mm artillery followed them at 09:00 and 10:00 local time," the press center said.
In total, illegal armed formations violated the truce in Donbas 58 times from midnight to 18:00 on Friday.
The ATO forces also managed to repel a militant attack in the Artemivsk sector.
"At 11:35, an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group attacked a Ukrainian defended point in the Artemivsk sector, trying bypass it.
"Following a skirmish, the enemy had to retreat," the press center said.