Over the last day, Russia-backed militants committed 54 ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine, 53 of these were precision attacks. Militants fired fifty-two 120-mm and over thirty 82-mm mortar rounds. “Ukrainian troops returned fire in 28 cases,” reported Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesman Colonel Dmytro Hutsulyak at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
In Luhansk sector, Russian proxies attacked Ukrainian troops’ positions near Katerynivka and Shchastia between 20:00 and 23:00 using automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns as well as 82-mm mortars. “The enemy fired three mortar rounds,” Colonel Hutsulyak said.
In Donetsk sector, the attacks continued throughout the entire day. Russia-backed militants violated the ceasefire 52 times. They fired four 122-mm artillery rounds in Shyrokyne area and used 120-mm mortars twice outside Pavlopil and once in Hnutove area having fired a total of 52 rounds in the latter incidents.
“Moreover, militants shelled Ukrainian troops’ positions near Hnutove, Pavlopil, Vodiane, and Pisky with 82-mm mortars seven times,” the Ministry of Defense spokesperson elaborated. In addition to artillery and mortars, Russian proxies used a wide range of small arms, grenade launchers, and IFV mounted weapons. Ukrainian troops recorded the highest number of hostile attacks in Avdiivka, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Kamianka, Vodiane, Opytne, Novotroitske, Shakhta Butovka, and Shyrokyne areas.
Ukrainian Armed Forces incurred no casualties over the last day. “However, yesterday at about 13:20 an officer of the civil protection department of the State Emergency Service was wounded by an explosion of an unknown device during the joint patrolling with the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission outside the Donetsk water filtration station in Avdiivka area. The officer is in satisfactory condition,” Colonel Hutsulyak reported.
Report on the military developments as of March 28 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.
