According to the Command of the Counter-Terrorist Operation, starting from 8 PM on Sunday, 8th March, finishing on Monday, 9th March, on 6 AM, 16 instances of shelling were observed. Above all, similarly as during the whole week, the above means mortars and grenade launcher strikes. Besides that, 9 drones used by the terrorists have been spotted throughout that period.
The main direction of strike is still the Donetsk area, particularly the Pisky region. Other towns that were attacked include: Avdiyivka, Opytne, Krasnohorivka and Wodyane. What’s important, at 3AM heavy artillery strikes, targeting the Opytne area, took place, along with two strikes, between 4:15 AM and 4:35 AM, aimed to inflict damage in the Avdiyivka region. Troitskye village was attacked by 120 mm mortars and rocket launchers.
Machine gun fire also was reported in the Lugansk and Mariupol areas. In case of the latter location, situation in the town of Shyrokine is tense – there, the fights have been going on for a few weeks now. The attacks were not interrupted at night. At 9:30 AM, on Monday, 9th March, another attack on that very town had begun, and mortars and machine guns were used there. According to the first information pieces in circulation, the fights were still going on after 1PM. The official information released states that Mariupol is not in danger, and the Ukrainian forces were able to defend their positions.
On Sunday night, reports emerged, according to which the Ukrainian forces were able to intercept terrorist radio chatter, regarding the planned attacks on the towns of Shchastye and Lishichansk in the Lugansk area. These strikes were planned to be commenced on Tuesday, 10th March. Representatives of the Ukrainian Army state that even if that happened, there is no risk that the front would be penetrated, and that the terrorists would be able to enter the territory controlled by the Ukrainians, since regular forces of the Ukrainian Army are stationed nearby.