Donetsk reports militiaman's death, Kyiv accuses militia of firing heavy weapons
DONETSK/KYIV. June 8 (Interfax) - One militiaman has been killed and another wounded in attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces in the past 24 hours, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said.
"One serviceman was killed and another one wounded while defending the republic's territory over the past 24 hours," Eduard Basurin of the DPR Defense Ministry said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Kyiv, for its part, said that the number of instances of heavy weapons use by the militia had significantly increased in the past 24 hours.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff has calculated that the adversary has fired some 900 mines, more than 130 artillery projectiles, 25 tank shells and a quarter of a Grad multiple-launch rocket system's load in the past 24 hours," Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said at a press briefing in Kyiv.
Militia forces staged more than half of their mortar and artillery attacks near the Bakhmut motorway, he said.
"The intensity of fighting that is now being observed has already exceeded the same indicators for January-February 2017 during the battle for Avdiivka," Motuzyanyk said.