Colonel Lysenko: Ceasefire holds in Shyrokyne first time in many months

WATCH IN ENGLISH

Militants conduct reconnaissance using UAVs and plan to stage subversive acts, blaming them on Ukrainian troops. Attacks continue in all the sectors, but situation in some areas remains calm.

Kyiv, September 19, 2016. “It was the first time in many months in the Mariupol sector that the armistice held in Shyrokyne,” said  Colonel  Andriy  Lysenko,  spokesman  of the Ministry  of Defense of  Ukraine on  ATO related issues at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. In this sector Russia-backed militant groups shot at Ukrainian positions in three points yesterday – Starohnativka, Mariinka and Pavlopol. “Occupants mostly used small arms only,” added Col. Lysenko. In total, no insurgents’ attacks took place in the Mariupol sector yesterday.

19-09_eng

Major hostilities in the Donetsk sector were traditionally deployed in the Avdiivka industrial area, where militants started shooting right after midnight. They mostly violated the armistice during the hours of darkness. The ceasefire fully held between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Moreover, one militants’ provocation took place in Verkhniotoretske. The situation remained calm yesterday in other frontline areas – at the Svitlodarsk bulge, north of Horlivka and in the Donetsk airport. In total, militants attacked six times in the past 24 hours in the Donetsk sector.

In the Luhansk sector militants violated the ceasefire only in Popasna district. “All three attacks took place in the evening, between 6 and 10 p.m. No heavy armor was used,” said Col. Lysenko.

Ukrainian troops observed three reconnaissance flights of militants’ unmanned aerial vehicles in the Donetsk and Mariupol sectors.

Ukrainian Armed Forces incurred no losses in combat yesterday, one serviceman was injured.

According to Ukrainian military intelligence, militants are preparing staged subversive acts, intending to put the blame on ATO troops. Insurgents are planning to conduct a series of blasts in the vicinity of Pervomaisk and Kirovske to blame Ukraine in being involved in the acts of violence. “The occupants intend to present a corpse of a man who had died of gunshot wounds carrying documents on Ukrainian citizenship or service in the ranks of Ukrainian Armed Forces,” said the spokesman.