Russia-backed militants considerably decrease intensity of attacks and use of heavy weapons in all sectors.
“In the Luhansk sector it was almost quiet yesterday, militants did not used heavy weapons. After the midnight they fired from grenade launchers upon Novozvanivka,” said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on ATO-related issues. After the sunset Russia-backed militants fired upon Stanytsia-Luhanska and its outskirts – an area in proximity to the Russian state border three times using grenade launchers and small arms. Four militant attacks in total were registered in the Luhansk sector over the last day.
In the Donetsk sector militant group members also decreased intensity of their combat activities. The only exception was Avdiivka where militants were mortaring Ukrainian positions for two hours. The fire was directed upon the target from two different directions. Thirty seven mines were launched. “Several hostile attacks took place at the Svitlodarsk salient, in Zaitseve and Opytne,” added the ATO spokesman. There were six militant attacks in total in the Donetsk sector yesterday, one of them included the use of heavy weapons.
In the Mariupol sector combat actions took place in Maryinka district as well as in the area close to the sea. Militants keep firing both during the daytime and at night, however they almost ceased using heavy weapons. It was only in Pavlopil that they launched several mines. “Yesterday adversary concentrated its attacks on Pavlopil, Hnutove and Shyrokyne. These attacks account for 80 per cent of all hostile attacks in the Mariupol sector,” emphasized Colonel Motuzyanyk. Militants made a total of 31 attacks in the Mariupol sector yesterday.
Ukrainian troops incurred no lethal casualties over the last day, two servicemen were wounded in action. “The incident took place in Popasna area as they hit an explosive device,” elaborated Colonel Motuzyanyk.
Report on the military developments as of January 16 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.
