Donetsk/Moscow – The militants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic are saying the Ukrainian military have come to the outskirts of Ilovaisk, located forty kilometers northeast of Donetsk.
“Some Ukrainian military units attacked the city on one side, distracting the militia, and the battalion Donbas was able to enter Ilovaisk from the side and take positions in some streets. There is fighting going on the outskirts of the city,” the headquarters of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s militants told Interfax.
According to the Pro-Russian militants, the Ukrainian troops have not entered the city center yet.
“We are currently holding the ‘enemy’ off on the outskirts of the city. We are not letting them into the center. We are holding on,” the militants said.
Sources in Kyiv earlier reported that the Ukrainian battalion Donbas had taken over central Ilovaisk. The Ukrainian interior minister said one Ukrainian military member was killed and four were wounded in the fighting for Ilovaisk. According to his information, the commander of the National Guard battalion Donbas is among the wounded.
A source in the militant’s headquarters said later that several parts of Makiyivka, a city near Donetsk, had come under artillery fire.
