Ukrainian authorities: government forces comply with ceasefire despite provocations
The Ukrainian military is fully complying with the Minsk Agreements, although Russian occupation troops have intensified fighting and shelling, as indicated during a press briefing on Thursday by a representative of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on ATO issues, Colonel Alexander Motuzyanik, UKRINFORM reported.
"Already today, the enemy has broken the ceasefire at least 18 times. It should be emphasized that the ATO forces are fully complying with the Minsk Agreements, so all responsibility for the intensification of hostilities lies on the occupiers," he said.
Over the past day the conflict in the east of Ukraine has escalated, and the number of enemy attacks has increased significantly. "Twice the enemy has used heavy weapons such as 82 mm mortars. There has also been another military clash between ATO forces and the enemy," informed Motuzyanik.
"In the Donetsk region the opponent repeatedly shelled our positions to the south of Troitskoye and Luhanskoye, mainly during daylight hours. Further, there has been a short fight between ATO forces and a small group of enemy personnel."
"The enemies’ activities are increasing in the Horlivka area. The regions where most of the incidents have happened are Zaitsevo, Mayorsk and Novgorod. In particular, in Zaitsevo, Ukrainian positions were shelled for a short period of time. In other areas the enemy has used only small arms and grenade launchers of various modifications," the speaker for the ATO said.
According to him, a similar situation persists at the Donetsk airport. Additionally, there was a mortar attack in Opytnoye. Small enemy provocations were documented at almost all of the ATO forces, he added.
Yesterday, the Luhansk region remained quiet. In the Mariupol area, the enemy violated the ceasefire to the east of Krasnogorovka and Maryinka. In all cases, the gunmen were using small arms.