Ministry of Defense: Militants fire 30 mortar rounds at Avdiivka

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Militants conducted 44 shooting attacks in ATO zone yesterday, six of which involved heavy weapons. Ukrainian Armed Forces incurred no fatal casualties, but two servicemen were wounded near Avdiivka and Shakhta Butovka position.

The biggest number of attacks, namely 27, including 3 with heavy weapons, was registered in Mariupol sector, reported Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense spokesman on ATO Colonel Andriy Lysenko during a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.  “Russia-backed militants used mortars and armored vehicles in Novotroitske between 16:00 and 19:00, and light weapons and mortars in Krasnohorivka. Moreover, the enemy attacked Ukrainian positions in Novomykhailivka, Novohryhorivka and Chermalyk,” he informed. Russian proxies surprisingly used no heavy weapons in Pavlopil – Shyrokyne frontline, but the 20-km stretch remained extremely restless nonetheless.

In Donetsk sector militants conducted 9 ceasefire violations. They were attacking Ukrainian positions at Svitlodarsk area with APCs and mortars for one hour. Enemy snipers were active in Pisky. Two more shooting attacks were recorded in Zaitseve and Verkhniotoretske. Russian proxies delivered intense mortar attack at Avdiivka. “They launched almost 30 mortar shells. In total, hostilities continued four hourswith pauses. Moreover, militants violated the ceasefire near Shakhta Butovka,” informed Col. Lysenko.

In Luhansk sector Russia-backed militants violated the ceasefire 8 times. They conducted three shooting attacks at Ukrainian positions in Krymske and Novotoshkivke between 10:00 and 12:00, and shelled three Ukrainian strongholds in Popasna district in the evening, using mortars once.

Report on the military developments as of April 9 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.