Donetsk, May 20 - DAN. Ukrainian forces strengthened their firing positions on Donetsk axis with self-propelled artillery and howitzers Giatsint-B, DPR Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday.

“Our intelligence continues to record the massing of forces and hardware along the contract line,” Basurin said.

DPR intelligence revealed the location of five towed howitzers (Giatsint-B, 152mm) in Kiev-controlled Novokalinovo village area west of Donetsk (ten kilometres from the contact line); Kiev forces also deployed two self-propelled howitzers (Gvozdika, 122mm) to Krasnogorovka north of DPR capital (16 kilometres from the contact line).

Ukrainian army units fired 257 artillery, tank gun and mortar rounds at DPR territory over the past 24 hours; Donetsk axis came under the most intense shelling, according to Basurin.

Earlier on Tuesday, DPR Operations Command reported 37 ceasefire violations by Kiev forces over the past 24 hours.*jk