KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian military have dismissed media reports that they seized control over a village on the conflict line in Donbas, saying their positions have remained the same.
"Thanks to the efforts of Ukrainian troops, the boundaries of our units have remained the same," the Joint Forces Operation said on Facebook on Tuesday.
Earlier there were some media reports that Ukrainian troops had seized Staromarivka, a village in a grey area in close proximity of the Ukraine-controlled village of Hranitne.
The two are separated by the Kalmius river. According to social media users, there is a pedestrian bridge and Staromarivka residents - about 150 people - walk across to use a shop, hospital and school in Hranitne.
The DPR Foreign Ministry said earlier on Tuesday that "the Ukrainian army has tried to take over the populated locality of Staromarivka located on the contact line in the Telmanove district."
Meanwhile, Kyiv has denied that its troops had occupied an inter-positional space near Hranitne.
"The Joint Forces command says that this information is false. This is yet another attempt by Russian illegal armed formations to discredit and accuse Ukraine of violating the dividing line. (...) The Ukrainian military positions remain the same," the Facebook post said.
The JFO also accused "Russia's irregular armed forces in the ORDLO [certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions]" of ceasefire violation "precisely in that area."
On Tuesday, Ukraine reported seven enemy attacks between midnight and 5 p.m.: three in Hranitne (in Volnovakha district, Donetsk region), one in nearby Pavlopil and Novozvanivka (Popasna district, Luhansk region), Krymske (Novoaidarsk district) and Troitske (Yasynuvata district, Donetsk region).
As a result, one Ukrainian JFO serviceman was killed and another injured, the JFO staff said.
The Ukrainian troops "opened return fire," the military said.
For its part, the Donetsk People's Republic representative in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination said there was a Ukrainian artillery attack on Telmanove this afternoon.
"As a result, 12 transformer substations lost power, leaving a hospital, a school, a boiler room and over 350 households without electricity. A water-service plant was also hit," the representative said in a statement.