Kyiv claims eight Ukrainian soldiers injured in Donbas
KYIV. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Eight Ukrainian troops have been injured in the special operation zone in Donbas over the past 24 hours, Oleksandr Motuzianik, a military spokesman in the presidential administration, said on Sunday.
"None of our soldiers was killed but eight were injured in hostilities in the past 24 hours," he said at a briefing in Kyiv.
Despite a decrease in militia shelling and provocations in the Luhansk region, the situation in the special operation zone remains complicated, he said.
In the Luhansk region, the enemy fired grenades and mortars against the Ukrainian positions near Stanitsa Luhanska, Motuzianik said. Militias also shelled the Ukrainian positions near the villages of Orikhove and Zolote. Near Krymske militias fired small arms.
In the Donetsk region, militias fired 152-millimeter artillery weapons against the Ukrainian positions near the village of Kurdyumivka beside the Siversky Donets-Donbas Canal, the spokesman said.
The heavy weaponry banned by the Minsk agreements was used by the enemy against the Ukrainian defense positions near the village of Semihiria, the spokesman said.
"The situation remains tense near Donetsk in the Horlivka area," the Ukrainian president's spokesperson said. Militias spent the whole day firing mortars, grenades and small arms against the Ukrainian positions in the western suburbs of Horlivka, he said.
Near Donetsk Airport, militias carried out an hour-long attack with large-caliber machineguns and tank shells against the Ukrainian positions near Opitne, Motuzianik also said. The enemy also fired 82- and 120-millimeter mortars several times against the Ukrainian positions near Opitne, he said. The Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka and Piski also came under mortar fire.
Near Mariupol, hostilities resumed after a relative lull of the past few days, the spokesman said. On Sunday morning, the enemy fired tank shells against the Ukrainian positions near Volnovakha.
Also, on Saturday morning a sniper shelled the Ukrainian positions near Shyrokyne, and late on Saturday night militias fired their antiaircraft weapons and large-caliber machineguns, Motuzianik said.
Also, grenades and small arms were fired at the Ukrainian positions near the village of Chermalik in the Volnovakha district throughout the day on Sunday, he said.