Kyiv, August 9, 2015. The town of Pervomaysk became the epicenter of combat in the Luhansk sector. Ukrainian troops registered nine attacks on their positions in Zolote yesterday. Popasna and Novozvanivka villages came under militants’ mortar fire. Apart from fire from mortars and infantry combat vehicles, the enemy continues using artillery located on the border of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Troyitske and Sanzharivka. Militants fired on our position with three full loads of Grad multiple rocket launcher systems. Moreover, pro-Russian fighters attacked Ukrainian troops with mortar fire in Stanytsya Luhanska, while Ukrainian forces registered the use of grenade launchers near Tryokhizbenka and Krymske. Ukrainian troops observed two cases of ceasefire violations by militant groups near Schastya. In the vicinity of Backmutivska road, Russia-backed fighters fired on Ukrainian position near Orikhove using artillery, mortar launchers and light weaponry.
The ceasefire held near Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk sector. Pro-Russian groups repeatedly attacked Ukrainian positions using light weapons and mortars. Odradivka village located between Artemivsk and Horlivka came under militants’ artillery fire. Though the situation remains calm from Nelipivka to Verkhnyotoretske, Ukrainian towns repeatedly come under fire. For instance, militants opened fire upon Avdiivka after midnight yesterday. Three civilians were wounded as a result of militants’ tank attack on Nevelske village from the west from Pisky. The Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JSCC) reported repeated militant attempts to impede the renovation of destroyed infrastructure, in particular water pipelines and railway lines in areas near the front.
In the Mariupol sector, Russia-backed militant groups fired upon Ukrainian positions using artillery in the vicinity of Bohdanivka village between Volnovakha and Komsomolske. Militants fired from 120mm mortars as well as from antitank missile systems on Hranitne village. The armistice held in the area between Pavlopil and Shyrokyne.
Ukrainian Armed Forces registered thirteen separate flights by Russian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles over the past twenty-four hours.
One Ukrainian serviceman was killed in action, and ten were wounded in the last 24 hours.
Ukraine’s Security Service revealed the financing mechanism of a subversive group on Ukrainian territory. Commercial structures in Kharkiv were conducting illegal financial activity through a currency exchange point in Zaporizhia. A woman serving in the ranks of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”). Rounds of 5.45 mm, was found the organizer of the financing operation. An explosion at Zaporizhia Regional State Administration on March 25 was financed from these funds. Law enforcement seized financial documents, bank cards and a substantial sum in hryvnia, US dollars and euros.
