Ukraine Day 1468: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. One Ukrainian soldier was killed and one was wounded on the front line.
Yesterday’s coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers provide demonstration of first aid methods to townspeople near the front line. Photo by ATO
Russia-backed forces made 5 attacks on ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation] forces, as a result of which one Ukrainian soldier was killed and one was wounded, Liga.net reported.
On the Donetsk line, 82-mm mortars are used and fire arms were fired at Vodyanoye as well as the Butovka mine.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was forced to leave its base near the front line in Popasyaya (Popasna) in Lugansk Region when the area came under shell fire, Liga.net reported, citing the OSCE SMM’s report.
In continuation of the ceasefire violations recorded in the early evening of 23 February (see SMM Daily Report 24 February 2018), while in Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk) on the evening and night of 23-24 February, the SMM heard 205 undetermined explosions assessed as caused by artillery (152mm) rounds, 130 explosions assessed as caused by outgoing artillery rounds (67 rounds of 122mm and 63 rounds of 152mm), 185 explosions of outgoing infantry fighting vehicle (BMP-1, 73mm) fire, 224 explosions assessed as outgoing mortar rounds (116 of 120mm and 108 of 82mm) and shots and bursts of automatic-grenade-launcher and anti-aircraft-gun fire, all 3-4km east-south-east and south- east. During this time, the SMM also heard ten outgoing explosions assessed as 120mm mortar rounds. (See SMM Spot Report 24 February 2018.)
The SMM followed up on reports of fresh damage caused by gunfire and shelling, including in a residential area. On 24 February, at 10 Maiakovskoho Street in Kashtanove, a neighbourhood of Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM saw a hole in a north-facing window of a house, which it assessed as caused by small-arms fire from a north-westerly direction. A female resident said she had been home when the damage occurred during the night of 18 February.
On 24 February, in Pidlisne (government-controlled, 69km north-west of Luhansk), a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) led the SMM to road T0504 where the SMM saw five fresh impacts in a field 200-300m east of the road and a fresh impact in a field 200-300m west of the road. The SMM could not make further assessments due to security considerations.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
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