Ukraine’s military suffered no casualties in the 24 hours from noon on June 26 to noon June 27 – a rare occurrence in Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine in the Donbas.
Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said during a briefing in Kyiv on June 27 that the military had over the last day observed fewer attacks on its positions.
Another agreed cease-fire, dubbed the “Harvest Cease-fire,” which was to have come into effect at midnight on June 24, was broken soon after it began.
The cease-fire was agreed on June 21 at the latest Trilateral Contact Group meeting in Minsk. The group, consisting of Ukrainian and Russian officials, and representatives of the groups that have seized control in parts of Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, said the halt in fighting should continue at least until August 31, and could be prolonged, to allow harvesting in the region to go ahead.
“The situation is far from being ideal,” Motuzyanyk said. “The militants continue to direct fire on Ukrainian military servicemen. More than a half of the cases of shelling … bear the hallmark of an overtly intentional attack, violating the cease-fire.”
Eighteen attacks on Ukrainian forces were recorded over the past 24 hours, Motuzyanyk said. However, most of the usual frontline hotspots in the region have been quiet over the period.
The area of Stanytsya Luhanska in Luhansk Oblast has been peaceful since the night of June 26. Minor mortar fire and brief small arms clashes were recorded near the cities of Schastya, Popasna and the village of Krymske in Luhansk Oblast.
However, there were fresh clashes along the frontline area between the city of Avdiyivka and the village of Kamynka just to its east in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s military said.
There, the enemy fired at least 30 mortar shells at Ukrainian positions. A 30-minute mortar barrage was also directed against Ukrainian forces defending the town of Luhanske in the so-called Sviltodarsk bulge, just north of the occupied town of Debaltseve, also in Donetsk Oblast.
There was no major fighting in another hot spot – the area to the northeast of Mariupol. Only two small-arms clashes, near the villages of Pavlopil and Vodyane, were reported there, Ukraine’s military said.
