MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Ukrainian armed units placed machine guns and man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) in residential houses in Kharkov, chief of the Russian National Defense Control Center Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday.

"Ukrainian armed units set up positions of heavy machine guns, along with MANPADS crews and ammunition depots in Kharkov on the lower and upper floors and roofs of apartment houses on Pushkinskaya Street," Mizintsev said.

"Local residents are prohibited from leaving their apartments; all the attempts of citizens to evacuate to safe areas are prevented in the harsh way," he added.