Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 52 times in the past 24 hours, including 23 times in the Donetsk sector, 20 times in the Mariupol sector and nine times in the Luhansk sector, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters.
The situation in the Donbas conflict zone remains tense but controlled. In flagrant violation of the Minsk agreements, the militants intensified their activity along the entire demarcation line, the ATO HQ said in an update as of 06:00 Kyiv time on August 17.
”In the Mariupol sector, the enemy launched 60 shells from the 122mm artillery systems on the village of Chermalyk, as well as fired large-caliber guns on the village of Novoselivka and the town of Maryinka. The militants used 152mm artillery systems in the village of Rybynske. They fired mortars in the town of Krasnohorivka, and the villages of Slavne, Lebedynske, Chermalyk and Shyrokyne. The occupiers fired from infantry fighting vehicles in the village of Novohryhorivka and the town of Maryinka. A sniper was active in this direction,” the press center said.
In the Donetsk sector, the situation was most tense in the town of Avdiyivka, and the villages of Zaitseve, Maiorsk and Luhanske, where the enemy fired 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various systems and heavy machine guns on the Ukrainian fortified positions. It was also restless in the villages of Verkhniotoretske, Kamianka, Novoselivka Druha and Novhorodske.
”Russia`s hybrid military force fired 122mm artillery systems on the Ukrainian positions in the village of Vrubivka in Luhansk region. They used different types of grenade launchers on the Ukrainian fortified positions in the villages of Stanytsia Luhanska, Novo-Oleksandrivka, and the town of Popasna,” the headquarters said.
In addition, the Russian-backed mercenaries fired from infantry fighting vehicles in Popasna. The enemy does not stop armed provocations with the use of small arms. A sniper pair was active in Novo-Oleksandrіvka and Stanytsia Luhanska.
