Illegal armed groups in Donbas opened provocative fire on Ukrainian troops participating in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) 20 times from 06:00 local time on Monday to 06:00 local time on Tuesday, the ATO press center has reported.

"In the past 24 hours, Russian-backed illegal armed groups opened fire on our positions 20 times, which is almost twice more than on the previous day," the ATO press center wrote on Facebook on Tuesday morning.

The hottest spot after 18:00 local time on Monday to midnight on Tuesday was the area near the ruined Donetsk airport. Donbas militants opened untargeted fire from large-caliber machine-guns on the nearby village of Pisky seven times. The village of Opytne was attacked once – the enemy used small arms.

Militants also opened untargeted fire from large-caliber machine-guns towards the village of Luhanske along the stretch between the militant-controlled town of Horlivka and the town of Svitlodarsk in Donetsk region. The village of Zaitseve was twice attacked by illegal armed groups, who used small arms and grenade launchers.

In the same sector, militants tried to provoke ATO forces into violating the full ceasefire after midnight, but failed, the ATO press center wrote. The enemy used an anti-tank grenade launcher near the village of Zaitseve and small arms near the village of Novhorodske. They also shelled ATO forces deployed several kilometers to the south of the village of Troyitske, using a large-caliber machine-gun.