Ukrainian armed forces' servicemen have no order not to return fire in and around Avdiyivka in Donbas but are not shelling the militias' artillery crews deployed in residential areas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"I would like to put you at ease in the first place," Poroshenko said. "Our servicemen from the 72nd brigade and other units are brilliantly defending their positions. They have no order not to respond to destructive fire, and they have every chance to defend themselves," Poroshenko said at a conference with heads of defense and security agencies on Tuesday.

"Ukrainian servicemen do not return fire when the criminals, Russian militants deploy artillery systems, tanks, and multiple rocket launchers right in residential neighborhoods of Donetsk and Yasynuvata," he said.