Militants launch over 20 mortar shells at Avdiivka in 24 hours

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The situation remains tense in Avdiivka and the outskirts. Militants violated the ceasefire during the entire day, shelling Ukrainian positions from light weapons and using mortar launchers. Insurgents fired over 20 mortar shells in 24 hours, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on ATO related issues Colonel Andriy Lysenko at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
The ceasefire was held at the Svitlodarsk bulge in the Donetsk sector. Hostile attacks continued in the remaining areas of the contact line. “Russian proxies were active in the south of the Horlivka perimeter – in Verkhniotoretske – during the day, and opened fire towards Zaitseve defenders near the sunset. There attacks lasted longer, but were provocative,” said Col. Lysenko. Militants opened fire twice from light weapons in the vicinity of the Donetsk airport. Militants conducted 16 attacks in the Donetsk sector yesterday.


Ukrainian Armed Forces sustained no losses in combat yesterday, and five troops were wounded.

The situation remains unchanged in the Mariupol sector. Most cases of ceasefire violations occurred in the southern part of the sector, namely Chermalyk – Shyrokyne area. Russia-backed militants were actively shooting at Ukrainian strongholds from all available light weapons, excluding sniper rifles. “Hostile sniper’s attack was registered in the vicinity of Dokuchaevsk again. Russian proxies used armored weaponry and fired three mortar shells at our positions in Novohryhorivka. Moreover, the enemy used mortar launchers in the Mariinka area yesterday. Insurgents launched more than 20 mortar shells at Mariinka and Krasnohorivka defenders. They also provoked our troops to respond with fire after the sunset by shelling the positions from light weapons during one hour,” said Col. Lysenko. 24 hostile attacks took place in the Mariupol sector yesterday, and three of them involved use of mortar launchers.

Russia-backed militants opened fire three times in Novyi Aidar, Popasna and Stanytsia Luhanska districts in the Luhansk sector, using light weapons. “Each attack lasted 15 minutes on the average,” added the spokesman.

Report on the military developments as of April 7 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.