Donbas escalates with hot spots near Donetsk, Artemivsk, Mariupol

The number of attacks on Ukrainian troops on Sunday increased almost along the entire line of contact in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine with hot spots being near the militant-held city of Donetsk, the town of Artemivsk, which was retaken by the Ukrainian army in July 2014, and the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol, according to the ATO press service.

Enemy tanks attacked ATO positions in the village of Opytne near Donetsk twice and Russian-backed militants fired 120mm-caliber mortars on them three times at about 01:00 local time on Sunday. In the morning, Russian proxies started firing 122mm-caliber artillery systems and large-caliber mortars on the village of Verkhniotoretske. At almost 10:00 local time they started shelling ATO forces in the town of Krasnohorivka from guns of infantry combat vehicles, anti-aircraft systems, and small arms. The town of Avdiyivka came under fire of 120mm-caliber mortars four times.

The Artemivsk sector was also under fire. At about 11:00 local time on Sunday, an enemy tank attacked the village of Travneve; illegal armed forces also used large-caliber mortars to shell the village. From 13:00 to almost 14:00, the enemy used 122mm-caliber artillery systems and mortars to shell the village of Zaitseve.

Areas around the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol in Donetsk region also became a hot spot. At 09:35 the enemy started firing from a 152mm-caliber artillery system on Ukrainian troops in the village of Orlovske. And almost from 13:00 to 15:00, they were shelling ATO forces and civilian buildings in the village of Lebedynske, using 122mm-caliber artillery systems and mortars, the ATO press center said.

In addition, civilian buildings in the villages of Vodiane and Pryovrazhne in the Mariupol sector were also under enemy artillery fire.

From midnight to 18:00 on Sunday, the ceasefire in the Donetsk conflict zone was violated by the enemy 70 times in total.