Ukrainian troops incur no lethal casualties. Militants twice use mortars in Pisky and in Shyrokyne. A number of Russian units in the occupied Donbas change their names
Most of the hostilities in the east of Ukraine took over the past 24 hours took place in the Mariupol sector. The Russia-backed militants violated the ceasefire 23 times, mostly in Pavlopil-Syrokyne area, one of them involved the use of heavy weapons, said Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine spokesperson on ATO-related issues at a press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. In addition, militants’ snipers were firing in Krasnogorivka, Mariynka, Novotroitske and Shyrokyne.
Ukrainian troops incurred no lethal casualties in action over the past 24 hours, four troops were wounded. According to the available information, 14 Russia-backed militants were killed in action over the last week and 23 were wounded.
Militants violated the ceasefire 20 times in the Luhansk sector, mostly in Novozvanivka. The majority of these armed provocations took place at night, they lasted up to 15 minutes. “The occupants also fired on our positions in Stanytsia Luhanska during nearly 40 minutes. They did not use heavy weapons, however, the hostile sniper was firing there,” added MOD spokesperson.
Russia-backed militants violated the ceasefire eight times in the Donetsk sector, one of them involved the use of heavy weapons. Pisky came under mortar fire, this attack continued during one hour. Militants also violated the ceasefire in Luhankske, Zaitseve and Novgorodske. “They did not use heavy weapons. The majority of the attacks occurred in Zaitseve,” noted Col. Motuzyanyk. The militants’ sniper violated the ceasefire in Avdiivka.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, Russian occupational forces changed names of a number of units deployed in the occupied areas of Donbas. For instance, the 2nd, 4th and 7th “separate motorized rifle brigades” and the “6th motorized rifle regiment” became “separate units of LPR people’s police”, while the “11th – motorized rifle regiment” became “separate unit of DPR people’s police”. “The so-called separate tank battalion “August” became “separate mechanized group “Panzer”, the “separate UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) company” became “taskforce “Sokol”, said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk. According to MOD spokesperson, the aim of these changes is to conceal Russian presence in Donbas.
Report on the military developments as of January 22 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.
