Donbas in eastern Ukraine has been seeing escalation since the early hours of Tuesday, and the village of Zaitseve is the hottest spot now, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation headquarters.
”Enemy attacks in the Donetsk sector were aimed at Ukrainian troops in the villages of Luhanske, Mayorsk, Opytne and Novhorodske, and the town of Avdiyivka. But the hottest spot was the village of Zaitseve – Russian proxies had fired one hundred and fifty-eight 120mm and 82mm bombs at it within an hour and a half,” the press center said.
In total, the Russian-backed militants attacked Ukrainian troops in Donbas 33 times from 00:00 to 18.00 local time on Tuesday.
The enemy continues using the large-caliber weapons banned under the Minsk peace agreements.
Automatic grenade launchers and small arms are also used, as was in the case near Avdiyivka.
”The enemy`s attempts to provoke the Ukrainian army into firing back with the use of weapons whose caliber exceeds 80mm were in vain. Our soldiers were able to retain their positions, using small arms, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns,” the ATO HQ said.
The situation in the Luhansk sector, which has been relatively calm, has also escalated after militants resumed shelling. In particular, Ukrainian troops came under sniper fire near the town of Schastia. A large-caliber machine gun was used by the enemy to shell Ukrainian positions in the village of Novozvanivka. A similar situation was seen in the village of Shyrokyne, which is close to the Ukrainian-controlled strategic port city of Mariupol.
”The intensity and ways of firing at ATO positions reveal militants` attempts to keep the Ukrainian armed forces in suspense along the entire contact line,” the ATO HQ said.
