Militia-controlled territory shrinks by half - National Security and Defense Council
KYIV. July 8 (Interfax) - Ukraine's law enforcement contingents continue the operation to liberate the Donetsk and Luhansk regions from illegal armed formations without sustaining losses, National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko has announced.
"The territory under the terrorists' control has shrunk by half," Lysenko said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Kostiantynovka, a town in the Donetsk region, has been liberated over the past 24 hours, he said.
Lysenko also said that special attention is being given to the prevention of civilian losses. Meanwhile, attacks on Ukrainian servicemen continue, he said. "Militants have launched 12 gunfire attacks on checkpoints and units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces outside the populated areas of Schastye, Dovgenke, Krasnopolye, Metallist, Ternovoye, Luhanskaya, Heorhievka and Dolzhansky," he said.
He said the militia shelled the Luhansk airport. "Happily, the Ukrainian military personnel did not sustain losses," he said.