DONETSK. Aug 26 (Interfax) - The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has observed 30 incidents of shelling from the Ukrainian side over the past day, a ministry representative said on Wednesday.
"The Ukrainian army has committed 30 ceasefire violations over the past day. Some 113 82mm and 120mm mines, 85 152mm artillery shells and 15 tank projectiles were fired on the territory of the republic," the Donetsk news agency has cited him as saying.
Donetsk (the Petrovskyi district and the airport terminal), Telmanove, Zhabycheve, Vasylivka, Oktyabrskyi, Nova Marivka, Bila Kamyanka, Spartak and Zaichenko came under attack.
The DPR Defense Ministry reported fire from Pisky, Vodyane, Starohnativka, Opytne, Hranitne, Avdiivka, Kominternove and Novoselivka.
Eduard Basurin, senior official of the DPR Defense Ministry, said DPR intelligence continued to observe movement of Ukrainian troops and weapons towards the contact line.
"A group of up to 4,000 hostiles, including two armor battalions with up to 60 tanks, has arrived in Chasiv Yar, and howitzers, D-30 guns and Grad rocket launchers have been moved to Verkhnotoretske. Six armored personnel carriers, five infantry combat vehicles and five tank trucks came from Zhelanne to Novoselivka-1, while Buk M1 air defense systems were deployed to Mykolaivka," he said.
Artillery of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was seen moving three to five kilometers away from the contact line two days ago, Basurin said. The brigade is armed with weapons outlawed by the Minsk agreements, namely 152mm howitzers and 120mm mortars.
"Already last night intense fire conducted from those positions hit the Donetsk Petrovskyi district, Novalaspa and Bila Kamyanka. Luckily, civilian casualties were avoided. Several homes were destroyed," he said.