Ukrainian army positions in Donbas came under 96 attacks in the past 24 hours, mostly in the Donetsk sector, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters in eastern Ukraine said on Facebook on Thursday morning.

"Positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were attacked 96 times over the past day. Most shelling incidents, 45, were observed in the Donetsk sector, and heavy artillery was used in ten cases," the report said.

Donbas militants launched six artillery attacks on Avdiyivka in the Donetsk sector; 134 projectiles whose caliber is 122mm were fired on Ukrainian army positions and similar weapons were used in Pisky, Novoselivka Druha and Pershe Travnya; four dozen shells were lobbed into the village of Luhanske, the report said.

Mortar and grenade launcher attacks on Ukrainian army positions continued throughout the contact line in that area, the press center said. The militants used infantry combat vehicles in Novhorodske and Zaitseve, an anti-tank missile system in Novoselivka Druha, and Avdiyivka was also under sniper fire, it said.

Thirty-two enemy attacks with the use of 122mm artillery systems were recorded in the town of Maryinka in the Mariupol sector; 152mm weapons were used against Ukrainian army fortifications in the village of Sionitne; mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine-guns were fired in the Krasnohorivka-Shyrokyne area, an armored personnel carrier was engaged in Shyrokyne, and an infantry combat vehicle was used near Krasnohorivka, while a sniper was active in Maryinka, the report said.

In the Luhansk sector, the militants thrice used heavy artillery of 122mm caliber in Popasna in the beginning and in the end of the day; heavy artillery fire was also observed in Novo-Oleksandrivka. Enemy artillery fire was supported with mortar and grenade launcher attacks on Ukrainian army fortifications, the report said. The militants mostly fired grenade launchers in Zolote, Stanytsia Luhanska and Krymske, armored vehicles were engaged in Stanytsia Luhanska, and a sniper duo was active in Popasna and Novo-Oleksandrivka.

"Despite the intensified activity of the hostiles, troops fully controlled the situation along the contact line," the report said.