Donbas escalation: Ukraine reports 3 WIAs amid 53 militant attacks in last day

At the end of the past day, the situation in Donbas continued to escalate. The enemy significantly increased the number of fire provocations and used more often mortars of various calibers.

Read alsoUkraine reports 1 KIA amid 19 militant attacks in Donbas on Oct 17"More than half of the total number of shelling took place in the Donetsk sector. In the evening hours, militants fired 82mm mortars and grenade launchers of various types several times on the defenders of the town of Avdiyivka. The Ukrainian positions near the villages of Luhanske, Maiorsk and Kamianka also came under grenade launcher fire. At about 18:00 Kyiv time, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded near the village of Pisky as a result of the shelling of the Ukrainian fortified position with the use of 120mm mortars and infantry fighting vehicles. In addition, almost at midnight, the occupiers launched more than 20 mines of 120mm caliber near the village of Troyitske," the report says.

Read alsoRussia's MFA: Surkov-Volker dialogue on Donbas will go onIn the Luhansk sector, the enemy used 82mm mortars twice near the villages of Novotoshkivske and Novozvanivka. The Ukrainian positions near the village of Krymske and the town of Popasna were attacked with 120mm mortars. Moreover, the enemy fired automatic grenade launchers on the defenders of the villages of Troyitske, Novozvanivka and Novo-Oleksandrivka at night.

There were fewer attacks in the Mariupol sector at the end of the day. However, at about 19:00 Kyiv time, the Russian-backed mercenaries started firing an 82mm mortar near the village of Hnutove. Furthermore, they used a heavy machine gun near the village of Starohnativka.