Militants of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic LNR stand guard at fighting positions on the line of separation from the Ukrainian armed forces in Lugansk, April 13, 2021

The self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic registered 31 instances of the Ukrainian military violating the ceasefire over the past 24 hours, Lugansk military spokesman Ivan Filiponenko revealed Saturday.

"Over the past 24 hours alone, Ukrainian militants violated the ceasefire 31 times and shelled 16 settlements of the republic. Weapons banned by the Minsk agreements were actively used," Filiponenko said in a statement.

Lugansk received "new facts on the build-up of the Ukrainian Armed Forces troops in the zone of the so-called operation of the combined forces."

DPR detained Ukrainian spy involved in Donetsk car bomb

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic announced arresting a Ukrainian spy involved in a car bomb incident that took place in Donetsk, Russia's Channel One reported.

The DPR authorities detained the spy, Anton Matsanyuk, on Thursday, and Donetsk received very valuable information from him.

The spy revealed that Kiev planned on capturing Donbass with force and using artillery against Donetsk, the Russian broadcaster added.

Reportedly, he also said Ukrainian troops had entered Belarus to observe the area where Minsk and Moscow had been conducting joint military drills.

In addition, the detained spy allegedly revealed that Ukrainian soldiers planned to place explosive devices under bridges and in railway stations in the DPR.

Security personnel had found an explosive device under a bridge in the Lugansk People's Republic, and the Lugansk authorities use that bridge for evacuation buses, a security source told Sputnik.

Ukraine had overstepped its borders when two shells landed in Rostov, Russia earlier in the day.

Russia initiated criminal proceedings over the Ukrainian shelling of its Rostov region, the Russian Investigative Committee revealed Saturday.

Kiev, however, refuted all accusations that any shells fell on Russian territory.

"We resolutely refute all accusations of any alleged Ukrainian shells falling on the Russian territory," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asserted on Twitter.