DPR forces reach Zaporizhzhya region, head northward - militia spokesman

MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) - The military operation of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is heading northward, DPR militia spokesman Eduard Basurin said.

"In a number of places, we have reached what I call our state border, i.e., the Zaporizhzhya region, and the offensive operation is heading northward. We are beginning to squeeze the enemy out of populated localities north of Volnovakha and are moving up," Basurin said on the Rossiya 24 television channel (VGTRK).

As of this moment, the DPR forces "have freed 66 populated localities, mostly in the south," he said.

"Horlivka, Donetsk, Dokuchayevsk and Yasynuvata continue to be shelled by Grad rocket launchers, artillery systems and mortars," he said.

According to Basurin, 42 persons, including six children, managed to leave Mariupol over the past day.