DONETSK, February 15. /TASS/. The Ukrainian government troops fired several shells at areas surrounding the village of Zaichenko in the south of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Tuesday evening, the DPR mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) said.

"Fire, coming from positions held by Ukrainian armed groups and targeting <…> the village of Zaichenko, has been reported," the mission said in a statement.

According to the report, three rounds were fired towards the village from a tripod-mounted man-portable antitank gun. The fire came from positions held by Ukrainian troops, east of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

In the past 24 hours, DPR reported four shelling incidents targeting its territory.

Another self-proclaimed eastern Ukrainian republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), said it was forced to open fire at positions held by Ukrainian troops after one of its servicemen had been killed by a sniper.

"Today, Kiev militants <…> opened sniper fire at our positions near the village of Golubovskoye," a spokesman for LPR militia, Anton Mikuzhis, said on Tuesday. "Our defender was killed as a result of Ukrainian aggression. In order to protect civilians and avoid new casualties among the People’s Militia, our defenders were forced to return fire."

In a separate development, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said on Tuesday it was holding sweeping counter-sabotage exercises in the majority of the country’s regions.

"SBU is holding counter-sabotage exercises in the majority of Ukrainian regions. Security measures have been stepped up at state borders and strategically important facilities. The exercises <…> involve special equipment and weaponry," the service said.

The drills will continue until early March. Their goal is to improve communication among various security services and governmental agencies, enhance protection of critical infrastructure facilities, expose and detain notional sabotage groups, SBU said.