Nineteen Ukrainian troops killed near Debaltseve

“Ukraine has lost 19 troops, including 17 members of the armed forces and two of the Interior Ministry, in armed clashes in the area around the Hostra Mohyla Hill,” Selezniov said

Another 78 servicemen from various defense and security agencies were injured in the clashes, he said.

Selezniov said also that 591 military servicemen remained in hospitals, including 26 with serious injuries. Another 204 servicemen are in militants captivity.

Anatoliy Stelmakh, a spokesman for the military operation staff, said at a news briefing on Wednesday morning that the enemy had fired at the Ukrainian government forces’ positions 27 times over the previous night and that 87 militants had been killed.

The militants’ attacks concentrated mostly on the Luhansk front, Stelmakh said. Artillery and multiple rocket launchers fired upon Hirske, Novotoshkivske, Vilkhove, and Stanytsia Luhanska. Grad multiple rocket launchers shelled Verkhnia Vilkhova three times, he said.

In the Donetsk Oblast, Debaltseve was shelled three times last night. Damage was also caused to Popasna, Zolote, and Luhanske. In the Mariupol front, Pavlopil and Novoselivka were shelled twice, he said.

“Our artillery delivered a number of precise strikes in response, causing the enemy to suffer significant losses. Eighty-seven gunmen and 42 items of military hardware have been destroyed over the past 24 hours alone, including 12 tanks, 14 multiple rocket launchers, and 16 armored fighting vehicles,” Stelmakh said.

Hennadiy Moskal, the head of the Luhansk state regional administration appointed by Kyiv, reported that a hospital was shelled with mortars in Schastia, and a female pensioner suffered shrapnel wounds in the community of Novotoshkivske.

“Several mines exploded on the territory of the town hospital [in Schastia], an ambulance was burned, the roof of one of the buildings was damaged, and facades and doors of others were broken. No one was killed or injured in the attack. The essential infrastructural systems in Schastia are working, electricity, gas, water and heat are being supplied and the thermal power plant is operating as usual,” it said.