Five Ukrainian troops were killed in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas on Saturday, Oleksandr Motuzianik, spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidential administration on issues relating to the ATO, said.

"To my great regret, five Ukrainian troops were killed and another four Ukrainian troops were wounded in the past 24 hours," he told a briefing in Kyiv on Sunday.

On Saturday, the enemy opened fire on Ukrainian military positions thirty times, including 13 times on the Donetsk track, 12 times on the Mariupol track and five times on the Luhansk track, he said.

In the Avdiyivka area, support points came under fire five times from firearms, large-caliber guns, and caliber 82 mm and 120 mm mortars. Some 200 mines were launched at Ukrainian military positions in the area of Butivka mine.

Motuzianik said artillery fire had been opened on Ukrainian military positions in the Opytne area, and the positions near Novhorodske came under fire from militants who used firearms and automatic grenade launchers. On the Mariupol track, the enemy opened fire on Ukrainian military support points using 82 mm mortars in the Novotroitske area and large-caliber guns in the Krasnohorivka area, he said.

Motuzianik reiterated that Ukrainian military had to return the fire several times.