Russia-backed militants violated the ceasefire seven times in the east of Ukraine yesterday. All of these were direct fire attacks, some involved 82-mm and 120-mm mortars. Ukrainian troops did not return fire, reported Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesman on ATO Colonel Oleksandr Motuzyanyk at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
In Luhansk sector, Russian proxies opened fire two times. Near Stanytsia Luhanska they undertook a short attack from small arms. Near Lunanske, militants had been firing on Ukrainian positions for about 40 minutes late at night. “Russian proxies fired sixteen 82-mm mortar rounds on our positions, in addition to machine guns and grenade launchers fire,” elaborated the spokesman.
In Donetsk sector, militants violated the ceasefire 5 times. They opened fire from 120-mm and 82-mm mortars near Hnutove, firing a total of 6 rounds. The attack took place at about 23:00. Near Shyrokyne, militants used grenade launchers and fired six 82-mm mortar rounds. They also fired on Ukrainian positions from light arms near Verkhnotoretske. The attack continued from 22:00 until the midnight with small breaks. “One more rather long small arms attack took place in Vodiane in the evening,” added Col. Motuzyanyk.
Ukrainian troops incurred no lethal casualties yesterday. However, one serviceman was wounded in action near Verkhnotoretske.
Report on the military developments as of December 31 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.
