You're reading: Militants violated ceasefire in Donbas 20 times on March 3, says Kyiv

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has said militants violated the ceasefire agreements in Donbas more than 20 times on March 3.

“The illegal armed units have concentrated their activities in the Donetsk front for several days in a row. In particular, the enemy shelled the ATO [antiterrorist operation] positions near the populated areas of Pisky, Opytne, and Avdiyivka with mortars, grenade launchers and firearms starting 10 o’clock in the morning [on March 3]. At the same time, Opytne and Avdiyivka were shelled twice with ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft systems,” it said.

A sniper fired at Ukrainian soldiers near the village of Leninske in the Artemivsk front, and ATO positions were also shelled with an antitank grenade launcher, the Defense Ministry said.

No gunfire was recorded in the Luhansk and Mariupol fronts from 5:00 a.m. to the evening, it said.

“These attacks are a deliberate attempt by terrorists to provoke Ukrainian soldiers [into retaliating] and accuse the ATO forces of disrupting the peace agreements,” it said.