MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Russian forces are making continuous advances in the Avdeyevka and Maryinka areas despite the arrival of major Ukrainian reserves, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Acting Head Denis Pushilin said on Monday.
"[In the vicinity of Maryinka and Avdeyevka], the situation is consistently tense, but our units have the initiative. As for Maryinka, we are registering a redeployment of reserves by the adversary. But, it is still not as rapid as the advances we are registering in both the Maryinka and Avdeyevka areas, where earlier we also registered the redeployment of rather sizeable reserves. Recently, this has marked the largest redeployment of reserves," he told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Avdeyevka has about 30,000 residents. During the Donbass conflict, the city, occupied by Ukrainian troops, has been transformed into one of the Kiev regime’s main fortified areas. From their base in the city, Ukrainian forces regularly deliver strikes on Donetsk, Makeyevka, Yasinovataya and environs.
The city of Maryinka is located to the west of Donetsk. Earlier, Pushilin reported that Ukrainian troops were putting up fierce resistance in that area. The DPR has reported that the liberation of Maryinka would safeguard a number of Donetsk city districts and neighborhoods (Aleksandrovka, Petrovsky and Tekstilshchik) by putting them out of reach as targets for shelling by the Ukrainian side.