Militant attacks in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine have not subsided as Russian proxies opened fire 70 times at positions of the Ukrainian forces as of 06:00 July 21, according to the report of the ATO Headquarters` press center posted on Facebook.
Thirty-three attacks were recorded in the Donetsk direction. The enemy fired from 122mm artillery, banned under the Minsk agreements, on Avdiyivka, Semyhirya, Kodema and Kamyanka; and from 120mm and 82mm mortars on Dacha, Novhorodske, Zaitseve and Avdiyivka. The occupants also engaged the Ukrainian forces with 82mm mortars in Maiorske and Troitske. Rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns were used by the enemy against our fortified positions in Avdiyivka, Novhorodske, Luhanske and Zaitseve.
In the Mariupol direction, 31 incidents of ceasefire violations were recorded. In particular, 122mm self-propelled guns and 120mm mortars were used by the enemy as they fired at our strong points in Vodiane and Talakіvka. In addition, 120mm and 82mm mortars were used by the militants in Shyrokine and Krasnohorivka. Meanwhile, enemy snipers were active near Maryinka and Hnutove. Militants in the Donetsk region were also seen using armored vehicles, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and small arms.
In Luhansk, the enemy fired six times from grenade launchers and small arms at the Ukrainian soldiers in Novooleksandrіvka and Stanytsia Luhanska.
Illegal armed groups (IAGs) from the temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk fired upon the south-eastern outskirts of Avdiyivka. Firing was reported from the areas of Kashtanove, Mineralne, Yakovlivka and Spartak, and from the airport. The IAGs used 122mm tube artillery, banned by Minsk, and 82mm mortars (the Ukrainian side to the JCCC recorded 60 blasts), as well as SPG, RPG and AGS grenade launchers and weapons mounted on infantry fighting vehicles, along with small arms.
Houses of the locals and power lines in Avdiyivka were damaged due to the attacks and the town was left without electricity and water.
Casualties were also reported. Among those killed was a local, born in 1997, who sustained a wound to the head. On July 18,2016, during the attacks made by the pro-Russian militants were killed 7 Ukrainian soldiers and 14 were injured.
In the Luhansk direction, the IAGs shelled the territory controlled by the ATO forces between the destroyed overpass and a pedestrian bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska. They fired from the direction of Dachnoe, the monument to Prince Igor, and the roadblock in front of a pedestrian bridge.
Notably, this time, the IAGs used weapons mounted on IFVs, as well as automatic and antitank grenade launchers, and small arms.
The Ukrainian side of the JCCC informed the OSCE SMM of all incidents of ceasefire violations.
Twelve Russian snipers armed with hi-end rifles have been deployed in the militant-held Svitlodarsk in Donetsk region, speaker for the presidential administration on ATO issues Andriy Lysenko has told the reporters at a Kyiv briefing Thursday, July 21, citing Ukraine`s military intelligence.
”Ukrainian military intelligence reports that the unit of Russian snipers has arrived in the area near Svitlodarsk. It`s 12 soldiers with the latest 12.7 mm sniper rifles,” Lysenko said, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
”According to the intelligence data, in order to confuse the forces of the Anti-Terrorist Operation along the Donetsk-Dokuchaevsk part of the front line, the enemy uses ZS-88 mobile loudspeakers mounted on BTR-80 APCs, which imitate the sounds of movement of convoys of heavy military equipment,” said Lysenko.
