Ilovaisk taken by militia, fighting stopped - self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic
DONETSK/KYIV. Aug 27 (Interfax) - The militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) claims that its forces have taken the strategically important city of Ilovaisk in the Donetsk region and that the fighting in and around the city has stopped.
"It's quiet in the city now. Preliminary reports indicate that Ukrainian armed forces and territorial defense battalions have either retreated or have been destroyed. Nothing can be said for sure, as the city and its suburbs are being mopped up now," a source with the DPR militia told Interfax.
DPR armed groups control the city now. No information is currently available on the opposing sides' losses.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko had said earlier that the government forces in Ilovaisk had been provided with reinforcements.
"Reinforcements have been sent to the forces remaining in Ilovaisk now, and some of those injured have been evacuated," Lysenko said at a news conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Combat activities there are continuing, "and there is information that there are more injured people there, and therefore the evacuation operation and the sending of additional forces are continuing," he added.
Semen Semenchenko, the commander of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion Donbas, said on Facebook that the armed groups opposing the Ukrainian government forces are shelling them with long-range artillery guns. "Today is the decisive day," Semenchenko said.