Ukrainian security forces retake control of Donetsk airport - Avakov
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax) - Ukrainian security forces have retaken full control of the Donetsk airport, which was seized by local militiamen on Monday, Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said.
"The airport is under total control. The adversary has suffered heavy losses. There have been no casualties on our side. The operation continued in the morning," Avakov was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the Interior Ministry's press service.
Avakov added that "dozens of people" had been lost by the "adversary".
The Ukrainian presidential press service has confirmed that the Donetsk airport is now under the control of the country's Armed Forces.
"The airport and its infrastructure are currently under the control of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine taking part in the anti-terrorist operation," the press service said.
Ukraine's acting president and parliament speaker, Oleksandr Turchynov, has been informed by the heads of the country's security services that "the terrorists who had seized the airport were fully neutralized" during the "anti-terrorist operation" at the Donetsk airport.
Donetsk militiamen, for their part, have denied reports claiming that Ukrainian security forces retook control of the city's airport.
"Armed clashes continued at the airport several hours ago, but security forces failed to push our militiamen from their positions. The airport remains under our control," a spokesman for the "Donetsk People's Republic" told Interfax.
A spokesman for the "Donbas militia headquarters" also said that snipers of the Ukrainian National Guard were positioned on the roof of an unfinished nine-storey apartment building, located near the former Putilovsky bus terminal.
These snipers have been ordered to stop more forces of the "Donetsk People's Republic" from reaching the site of the armed clashes on the premises of the airport.