MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Self-defense militias have curbed an attempt of Ukrainian troops to break through a defense line near the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltsevo, the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic’s defense ministry spokesman said on Monday.

"There was an attempt of a breakthrough near Debaltsevo, which was successfully curbed," spokesman Eduard Barusin was quoted by the Donetsk news agency as saying.

Barusin said so far at least four similar attempts by major military units have been seen in the area.

On Sunday, DPR’s militias nipped an attempted breakthrough of two convoys with munitions for the Ukrainian troops trapped in Debaltsevo but let vehicles with the wounded leave the area.

Eleven civilians have been killed and more than 40 wounded in shelling of east Ukraine's self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic over the past 24 hours, Basurin said.