Kyiv, February 8, 2016. The armistice held in the Luhansk sector yesterday. Nevertheless, a number of militants’ armed provocations were recorded in the Donetsk and Luhansk sector. “Low intensity combat continues at the Svitlodarsk bulge, on the outskirts of Horlivka and near Donetsk airport. Militants used heavy weapons – mortar launchers and armored vehicles – several times. Moreover, a ‘snipers’ war’ continues across multiple areas,” informed Colonel Andriy Lysenko, spokesman of Presidential Administration on ATO-related issues at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
In the Mariupol sector militants were the most active near Maryinka and Krasnohorivka. “Militants started actively shooting in the morning yesterday and continued until evening. Our positions were shelled from mortar launchers five times. Moreover, Russia-backed militants’ snipers were repeatedly shooting at our troops,” said Col. Lysenko. Several provocations took place near Starohnativka and Hranitne. Moreover, the number of militants’ unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) escalated dramatically in the Mariupol sector, reaching 11 in the past 24 hours. “Another UAV was registered in Luhansk region near Shchastia,” informed the spokesman. “Ukrainian Armed Forces incurred no losses in combat yesterday, but one serviceman was wounded in Maryinka,” added Col. Lysenko.
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, number of lethal outcomes of infectious disease among militants increased due to shortage of medical supplies. According to Col. Lysenko, “there are 50 proven cases of occupants’ deaths”.
Officers of Ukraine’s Security Service and State Fiscal Service seized an excavator at Maryinka checkpoint, stopping an attempt to smuggle it to the temporarily occupied territories without any permits. “According to the driver, it was planned to exploit this excavator commercially,” informed the spokesman.
