Donbas militants violate truce 23 times in past day, Ukraine army responds to every 2nd shelling

In the Donetsk direction, the situation was most tense in the area of the so-called “promzona”, the strategically important industrial zone in Avdiyivka’s outskirts, the ATO HQ wrote on Facebook.

Here, the positions of the Ukrainian troops three times came under fire from various types of grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Read alsoU.S. Senate allocates $500 mln in security assistance for Ukraine, authorizes lethal aidThe militants also fired at Ukrainian fortified positions near Maiorrsk, Verkhniotoretske, and Nevelske. At about 20:00 on Tuesday, militants fired ten 120mm mines and used weapons installed on an infantry fighting vehicle outside Pisky.

On the Luhansk line, strong points on the outskirts of Stanytsia Luhanska were shelled from grenade launchers, and those near Novozvanivka - mortared.

In the Prymorsk direction, the invaders fired three times from large-caliber machine guns at the defenders of Vodiane.

Read alsoKremlin reacts to U.S. Senate’s move to approve lethal aid to Ukraine"In general, over the past day, illegal armed groups violated the ceasefire 23 times, while the Ukrainian forces returned fire almost every second time, using weapons not banned by Minsk agreements. No combat losses have been reported among the Ukrainian military," the ATO HQ wrote.

Read alsoRussia cannot accept Ukraine’s independence – PoroshenkoAs UNIAN reported earlier, the OSCE mission intends to increase the number of observers up to 800 people.