MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. Russian troops have improved their positions in the Avdeyevka and Maryinka areas, acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Monday.

"We see certain advance in the area of responsibility of the first army corps. We see our positions improving in the Avdeyevka direction. In the Maryinka direction, the enemy has conducted quite active operations lately to dislodge our units from the positions they have captured but these attempts have failed," the acting DPR head in a live broadcast on the Rossiya-24 TV Channel.

In the Ugledar area, trench warfare continues while Russian troops have improved their positions in the Artyomovsk area and fighters of the Wagner private military company are pushing forward, Pushilin said.

The Ukrainian military shelled DPR populated areas from heavy artillery six times during almost an hour and a half on the morning of May 15, firing 36 shells of various caliber.