DONETSK/KYIV. May 26 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has seen 58 attacks by the Ukrainian army in the past 24 hours; 12 homes are damaged, a spokesman for the DPR Defense Ministry told reporters on Friday.
"The Ukrainian army breached the truce 58 times over the day. In all, the army attacked 18 populated localities in the republic, using rocket launchers, artillery, tanks, mortars, infantry combat vehicles, armored personnel carriers, grenade launchers, and small arms," the spokesman said.
Twelve homes were hit, including two in Holmivskyi, one in Staromykhailivka, four in Oleksandrivka, one in Donetsk, and four in Dokuchayevsk, he said.
The army operation staff said, for its part, that the militia conducted 57 attacks on Ukrainian army positions over the day, inflicting injuries on five servicemen. Kyiv described the situation in southeastern Ukraine as complicated. "There have been signs of deterioration in certain segments of the contact line," the staff said on Facebook on Friday morning.
The militia conducted 29 attacks on the Ukrainian military in the Mariupol sector. Ukrainian strongholds near Krasnohorivka came under fire of mortars of various calibers, a tank, an infantry combat vehicle, an anti-aircraft gun and infantry armaments at about 9 p.m. Several mines hit a residential area near the city hospital, yet no casualties were reported. The militia attacked the same populated locality at the end of the day, using 120mm mortars and 152mm artillery systems. Consequences of that attack are being verified, the staff said.
In addition, the militia fired mortars on Ukrainian army positions near Shyrokyne and Mariinka in the same sector, it said.
Twenty-six ceasefire breaches of the militia were observed in the Donetsk sector, the staff said.
Tensions were the highest in the suburb of Avdiivka. Mortars and Grad rocket launchers shelled Ukrainian army positions in that area on Thursday afternoon, and the gunfire continued after dusk, the staff said. Tensions persisted near Luhanske, in the Svitlodarsk bulge area, where the militia was firing 82mm mortars and grenade launchers, while infantry combat vehicle weapons and small arms were used near Mayorsk, the staff said.
There were only two shelling incidents in the Luhansk sector, the staff said.