There are reports of heavy casualties as a result of shelling attacks by Russian-backed forces in the Donbass yesterday.

While the Ukrainian General Staff claim that only three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded, there are multiple reports of severe casualties, amongst both army soldiers and Pravyi Sektor volunteers, to the north of Donetsk.

Volunteer medic Yana Zinkevych, reported on her Facebook page yesterday that four members of the Pravyi Sektor Volunteer Corps (DUK) had been killed and another 11 wounded at the Butovka mine, an exposed position south of Avdeyevka.

Andriy Stempitskiy, commander of the DUK, confirmed that four fighters, known by their call-signs as Gutsul, Dok, Legat and Yarik, had been killed, publishing their photos.

There were other, as yet unconfirmed reports of casualties, with Ukraine’s TSN news channel relaying volunteer reports of 12 dead – four of them volunteer fighters and eight Ukrainian army soldiers, and the channels special correspondent, Oleksandr Zagorodnego, reporting six dead and around 20 wounded.

Roman Titus, head of a front-line surgical team, told the channel yesterday evening that 14 soldiers had been brought in wounded and that another was still missing at the scene of the attack.

From the TSN report:

“The militants have been using their most powerful weapons – 152 mm artillery – since yesterday evening. They broke through the reinforced concrete ceilings and literally tore the defenders of Butovka to shreds. A fighter asks why the Ukrainian guns were silent, why no one supported them. “The self-propelled guns were firing, ours were silent. Thanks to the guys from the 128th [Brigade] – they ignored their orders, swooped down and got us out. But why is our artillery silent, what is our government watching? The first shell that fell knocked us down, then the second came right away.” After an hour of shelling a long burst of machine-gun fire was fired towards the enemy – more out of rage and despair, as machine guns can’t reach the enemy artillery.

Soldiers also showed TSN video footage, recorded on their phones, of the attack on the mine: