Volnovakha under control of DPR troops; residents reluctant to evacuate - Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - Residents of the city of Volnovakha, which came under control of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), are not going to leave their houses, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia's National Defense Control Center, said.

"The variant of evacuation from Volnovakha proposed by the Ukrainian side puts the authorities in Kyiv into an absurd position once again due to their ignorance of the real situation on the ground, because this settlement is currently fully controlled by units of the militia of the Donetsk People's Republic," Mizintsev said at a briefing on Friday.

"Relevant humanitarian events involving the population are underway, and none of the residents are going to leave their homes," Mizintsev said.

According to him, the DPR troops "are already establishing a return to peaceful life in Volnovakha."