One Ukrainian soldier killed, 8 injured in Donbas in past 24 hours - defense ministry
KYIV. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Kyiv has reported the latest data on casualties in Donbas: one soldier killed and eight injured in the past 24 hours.
"One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and eight injured as a result of hostilities in the past 24 hours," Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kyiv on Monday.
The soldier "was killed during clashes in Verkhniotoretske. Four servicemen were injured during shelling of Avdiivka, one near the Butivka mine, one in Verkhniotoretske and two near the Luhanske village," the spokesman said.
In the Luhansk area, five shell attacks, including four involving heavy weaponry, have been recorded in the past 24 hours. "Provocations were observed in Krimske, Lopaskine, near Popasna," the enemy launched about 20 shells from mortars and cannons of the 122 millimeter caliber, Lysenko said.
"The shelling was most powerful in Avdiivka where illegal armed formations fired mortars and light weapons for four hours non-stop," he said.
"Towards the evening, there were another two shell attacks. In Verkhniotoretske, an armed clash took place, the fighting lasted for 50 minutes, enemy had to retreat. There were also mortar attacks in Troitske and the Butivka mine. In Luhanske and Novhorodske, militants employed armored vehicles. Over the past 24 hours, 17 shell attacks have been recorded in the Donetsk area, eight of them involving heavy weaponry," the spokesman said.
The situation in the Mariupol area was invariably complicated, with "no quiet areas on the frontline," he said. "Active fighting took place in Krasnohorivka, Starohnativka, on the stretch between Pavlopil and Shyrokine," the spokesman said. The enemy used mortars and infantry fighting vehicles. The Ukrainian armed forces "had to fire back a number of times." Over the past 24 hours, there have been 31 shell attacks in the Mariupol area, nine of them involving heavy weaponry, Lysenko said.