DPR sees 37 attacks by Ukrainian army in past 24 hours
DONETSK/KYIV. Nov 17 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has observed 37 ceasefire violations by the Ukrainian army in the past 24 hours, a spokesperson for the DPR operational command told reporters on Friday.
"The Ukrainian army violated the truce 37 times over the past 24 hours. The army attacked the vicinity of 19 populated localities in the republic using 152mm artillery, mortars of various calibers, weapons of armored personnel carriers and infantry combat vehicles, grenade launchers, and small arms," the spokesperson said.
The attacks inflicted damage on gas mains and a private house in Holmivskyi, in addition to a power transmission line, which caused a blackout in five populated localities in the DPR's south, according to the spokesperson.
For its part, the headquarters of the Ukrainian military operation said that the militia had launched 22 attacks in eastern Ukraine, with no casualties.
"They violated the truce 22 times. The Ukrainian army had to return fire 15 times. None of our soldiers sustained injuries in those attacks," the headquarters wrote on its Facebook account.
"The Svitlodarsk bulge was the epicenter of the standoff in the Luhansk sector. The enemy was firing 82mm mortars, grenade launchers, machineguns, and weapons of infantry combat vehicles on our defense lines in the vicinity of Luhanske for about three hours with short breaks [...] Also, soldiers defending Makarove came under attack by 82mm mortars, grenade launchers, and heavy machineguns in the evening. The enemy opened provocative small-arms fire on our troops near Krymske, as well," the headquarters wrote.
"The enemy fired 152mm artillery near Vodyane. Troops protecting Pavlopil and Shyrokyne came under attack by a 120mm mortar [...] Grenade launchers were fired on strongholds near Novotroitske, and heavy machineguns were used against troops protecting Starohnativka [...] at the end of the day," it wrote.