Illegal armed formations in Donbas were shelling Ukrainian troops from midnight to 6 p.m. local time on June 8 15 times, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation headquarters reported.
“The hottest spot today was in the Mariupol sector, where the enemy had been shelling our strongholds near the village of Novotroyitske from 122mm self-propelled artillery systems for almost an hour since midnight. At night Russian-backed formations attacked defenders of Novotroyitske four more times, using 82mm and 120mm mortars,” the ATO HQ said.
Militants also fired 82mm mortars on Ukrainian forces near the village of Pavlopil in Volnovakha district, while the town of Maryinka in Donetsk region was shelled with the use of small arms.
“Our fighters deployed on the outskirts of the town of Avdiyivka and near Butivka coal mine in the Donetsk sector came under mortar fire. Snipers were working near the village of Leninvske and Avdiyivka. At 2 p.m. local time, illegal armed formations opened fire on the Putylivka district [which is part of the militant-occupied city of Donetsk] from a 122 artillery system. The enemy was firing from the side of the temporarily occupied village of Kruta Balka,” the ATO HQ said.
The ATO HQ considers the attacks as acts of provocation to discredit Ukraine’s armed forces and as gross violations of the Minsk peace agreements on Donbas.
