REUTERS
The combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 40 times in the past 24 hours, including near the Svitlodarsk bridgehead with the use of mortars and grenade launchers, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).
"The occupiers fired mortars, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and small arms on our fortified positions near the villages of Mayorsk and Troyitske near the Svitlodarsk bridgehead. At about 20:00 local time, the Russian-backed militants started firing small arms and heavy machine guns on our fortified positions in the village of Triokhizbenka of Luhansk region," the ATO press center wrote on Facebook early on Thursday.
Ukrainian soldiers did not fire back, it said.
The situation was tense on the outskirts of the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk. The militants fired small arms, heavy machine guns and grenade launchers of various systems on the Ukrainian fortified positions in the villages of Opytne, Pisky, which is near the ruined Donetsk airport, the town of Avdiyivka and Butivka coal mine.
The enemy also fired an anti-aircraft gun on the Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, which was also under sniper fire.