Militants opened fire on positions held by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone 43 times using artillery weapons, the press center of the ATO headquarters said on Thursday morning.

Militants were firing "all kinds of small arms and mortars of different calibers" in the direction of Ukrainian military positions in Avdiyivka, Pisky and Opytne in the Donetsk sector, and, at around 10:00 p.m., they also used "powerful 152mm artillery systems" in violation of the Minsk agreements, the ATO HQ said on Facebook page.

Grenade launchers of different systems and small arms were used against Ukrainian military positions near Luhanske and Novhorodske. Heavy mortars were also used along with the aforementioned weapons against Ukrainian positions near the villages of Mayorsk and Zaitseve.

Militants violated the truce in the Luhansk sector as well, the ATO HQ said.

Ukrainian Armed Forces units returned fire on certain occasions, the press center of the ATO HQ said.