Ukraine artilery fire
Since yesterday evening, reports have been incoming from the frontline in Lugansk that the Ukrainians have violated the Minsk Agreements for the nth time, this time shelling militia positions with artillery and attempting an offensive on the Uglegorsk and Debaltsevo fronts in the Lugansk People's Republic.

The attack has been halted, but firefights are ongoing. The attack was presumably being led by neo-Nazi volunteer battalions.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the residential area of Kalinovka near Debaltsevo 150 times with artillery prohibited by the Minsk Agreements before attempting to break through the defense positions of the Lugansk People's Militia.

Ukraine battle map
East Ukraine battle map
The head of the directorate of the LPR's People's Militia, Oleg Anashchenko, has reported from the scene of the battle: "UAF attempts to break through the defenses of the LPR in the Kalinovka and Logvinovo districts have ended in failure. Over the course of the poorly planned attempt at breaking through in the direction of Kalinovka, the enemy has suffered heavy losses and returned to its original positions to regroup forces, replenish its losses, and prepare for active combat operations. All attempts to penetrate our defenses have ended in complete failure for Kiev's punitive forces."

According to Ukrainian sources, five Ukrainian troops were killed and 26 were wounded. Reports have since come in that more than 35 have been wounded, most being evacuated to the military hospital while others could not be withdrawn from the battlefield due to intense artillery fire. Ukrainian volunteer Yurii Mysyagin from Dnepropetrovsk has suggested that the number of dead has risen to six. The official "Anti-Terrorist Operation" headquarters has released significantly lower figures, counting only five dead and six wounded.

Earlier, the Lugansk People's Militia claimed that "no fewer than 30 of Kiev's troops have been killed and no less than two armored vehicles have been destroyed."

Several sources on both the Ukrainian and Donbass sides have suggested that the sudden Ukrainian offensive could have been connected to internal squabbles, namely, the Ukrainian state's acquiring of the infamous oligarch Igor Kolomoysky's Privatbank, Ukraine's largest commercial credit institution.