Ukraine Day 1145: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. Seven Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in battle today. OSCE monitors confirmed 6 civilians killed in the last week.
Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
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An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
People line up at the checkpoint in Stanitsa Luganskaya in March.
In its morning dispatch at 6:00 am, the ATO [Anti-Terrorist Organization] reported 5 Ukrainian soldiers were wounded.
Over night, there were 48 attacks from Russia-backed forces over night despite the ceasefire declared April 1. During the day, there were another 17 attacks, bringing the total to 65 for this 24-hour period.
According to the ATO reports, On the Mariupol line, militants fired 120-mm mortars, heavy machine guns and an BMP on positions at Novotroitskoye; 82-mm mortars, grenade-launchers and heavy machine guns were used against marines near Pavlopol and Gnutovo. Defenders of Shirokino and Vodyanoye were attacked from a BMP, machine guns and small arms; heavy machine guns and small arms were fired on Lebedinskoye. Snipers were active near Pavlopol.
On the Donetsk line, Avdeyevka most came under fire with 120-mm mortars, grenade-launchers and heavy machine guns; 82-mm mortars and heavy machine guns were fired near Peski. Grenade-launchers and heavy machine guns were used near the Butovka coal mine and Troitskoye; heavy machine guns and small arms were fired near Ukrainian positions near Novozvanovka and Verknyetoretskoye.
During the day, on the Donetsk line, 82-mm mortars and heavy machine guns were fired at Ukrainian positions in Verkhnyetoretskoye; grenade-launchers and heavy machine guns were fired on Avdeyevka and anti-tank grenade-launchers were used on Peski.
On the Lugansk line, grenade-launchers were fired on defenders of Krymskoye and heavy machine guns near Stanitsa Luganskaya. Ukrainian forces returned fire.
o Stanitsa Luganskaya Separation Efforts Fail Again
There have long been efforts to separate the sides at Stanitsa Luganskaya but this has failed once again, the Ukrainian delegation of the Joint Center for Coordination and Control reported.
Russian TV showed the Russia-backed separatists on broadcasts April 6 saying they were prepared to withdraw their forces but then they blamed the Ukrainian side for violations of the Minsk agreement. The ceasefire had held for four days, but on April 6, separatists shelled the area intended for withdrawal using heavy machine guns, AGS, and small arms. The Ukrainian delegation at the Joint Center for Coordination and Control urged compliance with the Trilateral Contact Group of September 21, 2016 regarding separation of the combatants.
Translation: the LNR broke off the latest separation forces — headquarters. The sesparation was supposed to take place on Area No. 1 in Stanitsa Luganskaya.
The Ukrainian State Border Service reported on March 23 that the number of civilians crossing the line of contact at the Stanitsa Luganskaya chekpoint had reached a new record at 7,745 in one day.
Translation: in the framework of the program to reunite the people of the Donbass, a social aid center for residents has been opened at the Stanitsa Luganskaya checkpoint.
o OSCE Confirms 6 Civilian Deaths This Past Week in Donbass
o Factories Seized by DNR Stall, Workers Unpaid
Workers in the factors seized by the LNR in response to Kiev’s boycott have protested the worsening conditions there, as workers are furloughed without pay, wage arrears grow and no workers’ compensation is paid, Lugradar reported.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
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