Donetsk denies Kyiv's claims on deaths of 30 militiamen near Mariupol
DONETSK. March 5 (Interfax) - The defense ministry of self-proclaimed Donetsk people's republic (DPR) has denied Kyiv's reports claiming that up to 30 DPR servicemen had been killed in an armed clash with Ukrainian government forces near Mariupol.
"Kyiv's information is untrue. We have not had such losses of late," Eduard Basurin, the DPR deputy defense minister, told Interfax on Saturday.
Andriy Lysenko, the Ukrainian presidential spokesman for the military operation, had told journalists earlier on Saturday that two Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in an armed clash with militiamen in the Mariupol sector at nighttime. "Due to coordinated actions by Ukrainian armed forces servicemen from different service arms, the enemy sustained heavy losses in that battle, namely up to 30 fatalities. Unfortunately, two Ukrainian armed forces servicemen died in the clash with the occupiers," he said.
The militias also fired more than 80 mines upon government forces' positions in Starohnativka, Chermalyk, and Shyrokyne in the Mariupol sector, Lysenko said.
The situation in Maryinka was relatively stable on Friday, with only one act of provocation committed by the militia, he said.
