MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Ukrainian army units have entrenched themselves in one-tenth of the city of Maryinka, west of Donetsk, and more reserves continue to be brought to this area, the acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, told TASS.

"Maryinka would have been ours a month and a half ago, but the enemy, regardless of losses and a large number of dead and wounded, is constantly redeploying reserves. It has entrenched itself in one-tenth of Maryinka. This impedes our advance. Our units are moving forward, but not as fast as we would like," he said.

Pushilin has repeatedly noted that the liberation of Maryinka was proceeding not easily. The Ukrainian troops were doing their utmost to tighten the defense as much as possible. He also explained that the Ukrainian military had been building heavily fortified defense lines in this city for eight years. According to Pushilin, the remnants of the Ukrainian group have entrenched themselves in a residential area on the outskirts of the city, while all high-rise buildings are already under the control of Russian forces. The liberation of Maryinka would push the Ukrainian forces and their artillery away. That done, several areas of Donetsk (Alexandrovka, the Petrovsky district and the Tekstilshchik microdistrict) will be beyond the range of Ukrainian artillery fire.