Civilian bus comes under militants’ fire near Olenivka. The number of hostilities decreased significantly in the coastal area, however occupants started ceasefire violations in other areas where firefights were quite rare previously.
A civilian bus came under fire on the temporarily occupied territory near Olenivka yesterday. The fire was coming from direction of militants’ positions, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on ATO related issues Colonel Oleksandr Motuzyanyk at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “The fact that the bus was damaged from the side of Russia-backed militants’ position is an evidence of militants’ involvement,” he explained. The incident took place yesterday when the bus was proceeding along the contact line from Olenivka to Donetsk. A local woman was injured in the incident.
Militants were shooting from a mortar launcher in the ATO zone only once yesterday near Novoselivka Druha (Volnovakha district), and the other attacks involved use of light weapons. Russian proxies violated the ceasefire in the Mariupol sector 17 times. “The number of hostilities decreased significantly in the coastal area, in particular in Shyrokyne. Nevertheless, occupants started shelling other areas where firefights were quite rare previously. The largest number of hostile attacks took place in Hnutove yesterday,” informed Col. Motuzyanyk.
Five attacks took place in 24 hours in the Luhansk sector. “The day started with a hostile shooting attack in Stanytsia Luhanska. Occupants opened fire after 2 a.m. and were shooting for 45 minutes. Russian proxies shelled Syze in the afternoon and instigated a number of provocations in Novozvanivka between 7 and 8 p.m.,” said the spokesman. Militants opened fire from mortar launcher three times in this area, and were shooting for about 10 minutes, trying to provoke our troops to respond.
Three firefights took place in the Donetsk sector. “Adversaries were shooting over an hour non-stop in Zaitseve, and two firefights lasted more than 4.5 hours in total took place in Avdiivka. The ceasefire held in other areas yesterday, in particular at the Svitlodarsk bulge and in the Donetsk airport,” said Col. Motuzyanyk.
One Ukrainian serviceman died in combat yesterday and no wounded.
Col. Motuzyanyk also informed that the command of the 9th separate marine assault motorized rifle regiment of the 1st army corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation tried to interfere with activity of Alexander Hug, First Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine in the regiment’s area of engagement. “Militants built additional checkpoints and false mine warning signs in order to hide the places where prohibited weapons were kept and keep away the monitors of OSCE mission,” he said.
Report on the military developments as of January 20 is available here. Interactive data on the shelling: chronology shelling chart and the interactive map.
