Two civilians – a man and a woman – were killed on March 25 during a shelling attack on the village of Zaitsev, 62 km north-east of Donetsk in the country’s war-torn Donbas region.
An upsurge in violence between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces in the Donbas resulted in 81 attacks over the last 24 hours, with separatist troops using mortars, artillery, small arms, and tanks.
No deaths among Ukrainian soldiers were reported, but eight were wounded, according to Oleksandr Motyzyanyk, military spokesman.
The Donetsk area remains the most active, with heavy clashes recorded at frontline positions to the south-west and east of the city of Avdiyivka, where separatists forces used Grad-P missile launchers firing from the village of Mineralne.
The Ukrainian army reports that at least 17 residential buildings have been seriously damaged as a result of the shelling.
The militant attack on the Avdiyivk area lasted for seven hours, the Ukrainian military said.
“The occupants launched about 70 shells. They were shooting from two directions, namely southern (Spartak) and south-eastern (Yakovlivka),” Motuzyanyk said. No casualties have been reported yet.
Russia-backed troops also violated the ceasefire about 10 times near the city of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk sector on March 25, using mortar launchers and armored weapons.
Ukrainian army defense positions in Opytne, Pisky, Nevelske and Vodyane also remained hot spots. In total, the militants conducted 31 attacks in the Donetsk area; 15 of those involving heavy armor.
