Ukrainian security forces attacked 19 times in last 24 hours, three soldiers killed - NSDC

Illegal armed groups haveopened fire on the positions of the Ukrainian military in eastern Ukraine 19 times over the last 24 hours, and three servicemen have been killed, whereas losses among the gunmen are in the hundreds, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has said.

"In general, throughout the day the terrorists carried out 19 attacks on roadblocks and other positions of the Ukrainian military. The attacks were repulsed, but due to these attacks three soldiers were killed and ten more wounded," NSDC information center spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He said that some militant groups were attempting to break out of their encirclement. In particular, the attacks were carried out on the positions of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces on Mount Karachun and on a few more roadblocks near Sloviansk, the Donetsk region.

"All of the attacks were successfully repulsed," Lysenko said, adding that one Ukrainian soldier was killed and some wounded in these attacks.

He also said that early on July 2, the Ukrainian military repulsed an attack on a military unit located near the village of Milove, the Luhansk region. Gunmen were firing with at least two mortars.

Lysenko also said that over the last 24 hours the Ukrainian military freed three villages and the Dovzhansky checkpoint on the border with Russia.

"The Ukrainian military freed three villages – Zakotne, Stary Karavan and Brusivka. Throughout the day the ATO forces inflicted targeted strikes on 120 previously reconnoitered facilities of terrorists, destroying a large number of militants and military equipment," he said.