You're reading: Kyiv says one Ukrainian serviceman killed, 11 injured in Donbas in past 24 hours

One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and 11 have been injured in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian presidential administration spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said.

“One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed, 11 have been injured in the past 24 hours. We suffered these permanent losses in enemy shelling in all sectors,” Motuzianyk said at a briefing on June 22.

He said that tensions in Donbas have increased; a total of 300 mortars and 160 artillery shells have been fired on positions of Ukrainian troops. “One may already say for certain that currently the intensity of fire can be compared with the situation in August of 2015,” he said.

Motuzianyk said that in the Luhansk sector shelling was reported in the Popasna district – a total of eight instances of shelling were recorded.

He said the situation remains most tense in the Donetsk sector, where the enemy opened fire on the territory from Zaitseve to Donetsk airport. The enemy used all types of weapons, except for multiple rocket launchers, against Ukrainian troops. Shelling has been conducted mostly at night using heavy armaments, he said.

The main spots of tensions were the outskirts of Horlivka, Avdiyivka and Pisky, he said. A total of 22 shelling incidents have been conducted in the Donetsk sector, he said.

In the Mariupol sector shelling has been conducted along the entire frontline; the enemy used mortars in Taramchuk, Talakivka and Shyrokyne, and a sniper also opened fire in Maryinka, he said.