Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded and one civilian killed in the Donbass yesterday, which Kiev claims saw 79 attacks by Russian-backed fighters.

According to this morning’s ATO Press Centre report, Russian-backed fighters used 120 and 82 mm mortars in 16 attacks yesterday near Donetsk and Gorlovka, striking positions near Peski, Kamenka, Mayotsk, Zaytsevo and Luganskoye.

In addition, there were 19 attacks, using mortars and smaller-calibre weapons, on Ukrainian troops in the Avdeyevka area, north of Donetsk.

It was in Avdeyevka that the Donetsk regional police department reported that a school was damaged by enemy fire.

The damage was light, with the photos suggesting either small arms rounds or shrapnel rather than a direct hit from artillery. According to the police, classes are continuing at the site, which lies about 2 kilometres northwest of the industrial park that receives the brunt of attacks at the moment.

BMP infantry fighting vehicles fired on Ukrainian defensive positions near Luganskoye, east of Gorlovka; the Butovka mine, near Avdeyevka; and Novotroitskoye, on the highway between Donetsk and Mariupol.

Shelling could also be heard in Mariupol itself last night, according to a correspondent for the 112 television channel.

The Ukrainian military also reports one attack in the Lugansk region, near Stanitsa Luganskaya. According to press officer Dmitry Gorbunov, Russian-backed fighters used automatic grenade launchers, small arms and sniper rifles to attack Ukrainian positions on the northern banks of the Seversky Donets rive between 10 and 11 yesterday morning.

Meanwhile the ‘defense ministry’ of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) claimed that Ukrainian forces had conducted 30 attacks over 24 hours, firing 308 shells, most from mortars, but also 122 mm artillery and infantry fighting vehicle cannons.

Notably, around two hours after the Ukrainian reports that a school had been struck in Avdeyevka, the pro-separatist Donetsk News Agency ran a report claiming that Ukrainian troops had shelled a school building in a separatist-held area of Zaytsevo, north of Gorlovka.

— Pierre Vaux