DONETSK, July 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Military conflict in the Donetsk Region killed 19 and injured 31 over the last 24 hours, Donetsk regional administration said on Wednesday.

According to the healthcare department, nine people, including three children, tripped a mine in Berestovoye village on Tuesday. Two adults died; the rest are severely injured.

Troops loyal to Kiev and local militias in the southeastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions on the border with Russia are involved in fierce clashes as the Ukrainian army is conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway regions, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums.

During the military operation, conducted since mid-April, Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and over 1,300 wounded in it. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s war-torn Southeast.

The press center of Kiev’s army operation in southeastern Ukraine reported earlier in July that close to 200 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed since the operation’s start.