MELITOPOL, November 10. /TASS/. Militants of the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Azov battalion (outlawed in Russia as a terror group) made an attempt to advance in the Zaporozhye area but were pushed back and suffered dozens of casualties, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together with Russia movement, told TASS on Thursday.

"This happened on November 7. They ventured into the area of Orekhov and Gulyaipole and our artillery squads blanketed them with fire. Tens of militants were killed and the rest retreated," the Zaporozhye regional official said.

Rogov earlier told TASS that the Ukrainian military had stepped up preparations for an offensive along the Zaporozhye engagement line, pulling in an increasingly large amount of military equipment and personnel. He specified that Ukrainian troops were amassing in the Kiev-held communities of Orekhov and Gulyaipole in the Zaporozhye Region.