Ukrainian military report two armed clashes and shelling by militia forces in Donbas
KYIV. Dec 22 (Interfax) - The headquarters of Kyiv's military operation in Donbas recorded two armed clashes with militia forces and 39 strikes conducted by the militia on Monday, the headquarters' press center said on its Facebook account on Tuesday.
According to the press center, militia forces have fired small arms and grenade launchers eight times since 6:00 p.m. on Monday targeting positions of the Ukrainian army near the village of Maryinka.
An armed clash with a unit of some 30 militiamen occurred in the same area as well. The militia unit suffered losses and was forced to retreat, the press center said.
Another armed clash broke out near the town of Schastya in the Luhansk region, where a unit of ten militia soldiers also had to retreat after suffering losses, the press center said.
In a separate development, checkpoints of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Krasnohorivka and Zaitseve came under 82mm mortar fire, the press center said.
"In addition to that, they [militia forces] used grenade launchers, small arms, as well as 120mm mortars and tank weapons banned by the Minsk agreements," it said.
The Ukrainian army's positions in Opytne, Peski and near Avdiyivka came under fire as well.
Militia forces also fired 82mm mortars in the direction of Ukrainian military positions in the vicinity of Starohnativka, located near the city of Mariupol.
Furthermore, militia units have used small arms, large-caliber submachine guns and various grenade launchers against Ukrainian army positions near Peski, Opytne and Avdiyivka on six occasions since midnight, the press center said.