Militants again break ceasefire committing attacks on Ukrainian army positions, shelling populated areas

The press center of the Ukrainian army operation in Donbas reported on its "Facebook" page on Tuesday morning that militants in Donbas had allegedly violated the ceasefire 86 times on Monday.

Small arms were used on most occasions, it said.

"Artillery weapons were fired 12 times, mortars 27 times, as well as small arms and grenade launchers 52 times," the press center said.

The 'adversary' fired 120mm mortars against Ukrainian checkpoints in Krasnohorivka and Berezove near Donetsk, it said. At around 8:00 p.m., militants fired grenade launchers, large-caliber submachine guns and small arms on the village of Maryinka. Avdiyivka twice came under 122mm artillery and mortar fire. At around 10:00 p.m., 152mm artillery weapons were used against the Ukrainian army's positions in the village Hirnyk, Nevelske and Krasnohorivka.

Ukrainian troops came under 120mm mortar fire in Starohnativka near Mariupol at 6:45 p.m., the press center said, also accusing the 'adversary' of firing self-propelled artillery systems on Starohnativka at 6:57 p.m.

Militants forces also fired anti-tank missiles against the village of Luhanske near Artemivsk, and infantry fighting vehicle weapons were used against Ukrainian army units stationed in the town of Krymske, Luhansk region.

For its part, the Maryinka district department of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's branch for the Donetsk region reported that militants "opened fire on residential areas of Maryinka" at around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

Spokesman for the Ukrainian army operation headquarters in Ukraine's eastern regions Anatoliy Stelmakh told a press briefing on Tuesday that the past four days had seen a record 545 strikes targeting the Ukrainian army's positions in Donbas.

Self-propelled artillery systems have been used as well, he added.

Stelmakh also accused the militants of "seeking to destroy the Minsk agreements by dragging the anti-terrorist operation forces into an active armed confrontation and subsequently asking their northern neighbor for help."