Over the past day, Donbas militants 44 times violated ceasefire accords in te zone of anti-terrorist operation. ATO forces on 38 occasions returned fire. In combat, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed while four others sustained wounds of varying severity, the press center of the ATO said in a Facebook report on Wednesday, 18 October.
In the Donetsk sector, militants for several hours in the evening have fired propelled grenades and heavy machine guns at the ATO positions near Avdiyivka, Butivka coal mine, Novoselivka Druha, Troyitske and Mayorsk. The enemy repeatedly used small arms opposite Pisky and Kamyanka. At around 6 pm, one Ukrainian soldier was killed as a result of the mortar shelling near Zaitseve.
The outskirts of Maryinka remained the hottest spot in the coastal sector. Here, the terrorists used 82-mm mortars, anti-tank grenade launchers, and small arms. Ukrainian military returned fire, however, two ATO troops were wounded in the shelling. Pro-Russian terrorists fired 120-mm mortar at the strong points of the Ukrainian army in Hnutove, and 82-mm mortars at the outskirts of Lebedynske. Two Ukrainian servicemen sustained wounds having blown up on an explosive device in the coastal sector after dark.
Shelling somewhat subsided in the Luhansk sector, where militants fired 82-mm mortars and IFV weapons at Novooleksandrivka, and small arms at ATO positions near Krymske and Popasna.
The former NATO Secretary General called on the West to give Ukraine weapons and deploy peacekeepers in Donbas.