Kyiv, March 11, 2015. Ukrainian servicemen guard peace and the lives of innocent civilians in Donbas, as well as deactivate dangerous explosives in the Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone. The National Guard of Ukraine servicemen deactivated around 1,000 of artillery shells while patrolling Myronyvske near Debaltseve. In Dmytrivka, Ukrainian policemen uncovered around one thousand of ammunition of different calibers, stated Colonel Andriy Lysenko, ATO spokesperson, during the press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Our law-enforcement officers also confiscated four AK-74 ammunition rounds, eight 5.5 ammunition packages, one F-1 and two RGD-5 grenades, 3 TNT sets and one AK-74 suppressor with five rifle grenades,” Col. Lysenko added.
One Ukrainian serviceman and five got wounded in the last 24 hours.
Russia-backed militants regroup military equipment and consolidate their forces, particularly at the Mariupol direction. Insurgent sabotage groups are especially active in the Donetsk sector. Pro-Russian militants attempt to get new recruits with experience of anti-tank warfare to their ranks.
Pro-Russian militants attacked the Ukrainian military positions 37 times. The major hotspots remain areas near Shyrokyne, Hranitne and Chermalyk in the Mariupol sector, as well as settlements next to the Donetsk airport, Dzerzhinsk and Sokonyky.
Ukrainian servicemen noticed the increase of reconnaissance conducted pro-Russian, spotting 27 enemy UAVs.
During the search mission of Maryinka, Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces revealed the pro-Russian snipers’ position. One of insurgents got wounded, yet other militants covered his escape. Moreover, Ukraine’s Security Service detained a Russian citizen who fought in the ranks of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” and in the “Russian Cossacks” groups led by Kozitsyn.
Col. Lysenko emphasized that pro-Russian militants continue to violate Minsk agreements by obstructing the work of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. “LPR” militants denied access to the territories on the Ukrainian-Russian border to the observers. “On March 8, the OSCE observers visited an area close to Chervonyi Zhovten village at a state border between Ukraine and Russia. There were numerous and clearly visible traces of tracked vehicles. In the middle of the village the traces turned back to the main road. There were no “LPR” insurgents present and a barrier on the Ukrainian side of the state border was open,” Col. Lysenko quoted the OSCE report from March 10.
