MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian troops have advanced on the Maryinka front with fire support from the 1st Donetsk Army Corps, destroying three Ukrainian strongholds, Ivan Bigma, spokesman for the Southern Group of Forces, told TASS on Friday.

"Artillery units of the 1st Donetsk Army Corps destroyed three strongholds of Ukraine’s armed forces, using multiple rocket launchers to ensure the advance of assault units," he said.

Also, Bigma said, the 238th artillery brigade destroyed a firing position of Ukrainian troops with personnel and a 152 mm Giatsint-B gun with the use of 152 mm Msta-B howitzers near Avdeyevka.

In the course of a reconnaissance operation involving an Orlan-10 drone, Russian artillery men detected and destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot, Bigma added.