Intense battles in Avdiivka area ongoing - Ukrainian military
AVDIIVKA/DONETSK. Jan 31 (Interfax) - Fierce battles are ongoing in the Avdiivka area as of noon on Tuesday, forces confronting the Ukrainian military are using heavy weaponry, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' 72nd separate mechanized brigade's assistant commander Oleksandr Samarskiy told journalists.
"The battle is very intense and continues," Samarskiy said.
Asked to comment on the situation with the territories previously held by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Samarskiy said: "We are holding them completely. What has been under our control remains under our control."
In turn, Eduard Basurin of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military are applying weapons which are forbidden by the Minsk Agreements, in particular, they have brought Uragan multiple rocket launchers to the contact line in Donbas.
"Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are conducting shelling from all types of weapons banned by the Minsk [Agreements]. The most intense fire is focused in the Horlivka and Yasynuvata sectors," the Donetsk news agency (DAN) quoted Basurin as saying.