Militants have shelled the positions of the anti-terrorist operation forces in eastern Ukraine nine times in the past 24 hours, and the situation remains tense, acting spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Vladyslav Selezniov has said.

"The positions of the anti-terrorist operation forces have been fired at nine times over the past 24 hours," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

According to him, since the beginning of the ceasefire (September 5) illegal armed groups have carried out 4,311 attacks on the positions of Ukrainian troops, and since the announcement of a silence regime (December 9) they have fired 128 times at the positions of law enforcement structures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military formations.

Selezniov noted that the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where the anti-terrorist operation is underway, was tense, especially in the areas controlled by militants.

"The situation has not changed significantly," he concluded.

In addition, Selezniov said that a Russian humanitarian convoy was moving towards Ukraine from the Rostov region.

The spokesman for the anti-terrorist operation, Leonid Matiukhin, in turn, said at a briefing via Skype that the situation in the anti-terrorist operation area remained "relatively stable."

"In the evening, terrorists fired at the positions of Ukrainian military with small arms near the localities of Mayorsk, Ridkodub, Chornukhyne, Novohryhorivka, and a grenade launcher was used near the town of Schastia," he said.

Matiukhin said that only Ukrainian servicemen continued to observe the silence regime.

"Losses among our military [over the past 24 hours] are being specified," he said.