Kyiv, March 8, 2015. The ceasefire regime is generally upheld along the entire contact line in accordance with Minsk agreements. The number and intensity of armed provocations instigated by pro-Russian militants has significantly decreased. But there are still isolated attacks in the areas around Luhanske, Avdiivka, Opytne and Pisky in the Artemivsk and Donetsk sectors respectively, as well as in Shyrokyne, which is near Mariupol. “The enemy used small arms, mortars and grenade launchers. They also shelled Avdiivka from the artillery once,” stated Colonel Lysenko, ATO spokesperson, at the press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Russia-backed insurgents regroup and consolidate their forces and military equipment, particularly in the Donetsk sector. One Ukrainian soldier was killed and three more got wounded in the last 24 hours.
Ukrainian servicemen spotted 18 militant UAVs in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Artemivsk, Kramatorsk and Mariupol sectors. Russian proxies particularly increased their reconnaissance in the vicinity of Mariupol, using UAVs eight times.
President Petro Poroshenko has awarded female soldiers, volunteers, medics and members of the law-enforcement. Senior Sergeant Yulia Tykhonova, nurse at the Kyiv Main Military Clinical Hospital, was awarded with the Defender of the Fatherland Medal. She gave a brief statement during the briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. Senior Sergeant Tykhonova worked in the 59th mobile military hospital in the ATO zone. “Everyone worked as the sole working mechanism,” she said while talking about the professional work of her colleagues.
