MELITOPOL, August 18. /TASS/. The villages of Staromayorskoye and Urozhainoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, which are among the key areas of the Ukrainian army's offensive in the south of the Donetsk Region, are under the fire control of the Russian forces, Vladimir Rogov, the leader of the We Are Together with Russia movement, has told TASS.

"Urozhainoye and Staromayorskoye are under our fire control. Russian artillery and aviation are working there," Rogov said.

He also denied Ukraine’s allegations about the capture of Urozhainoye, adding that the Ukrainian army was sustaining heavy losses.

According to Rogov, the Ukrainian forces lost several hundred troops in the Zaporozhye area over the past day.

As the Russian Defense Ministry has said, the Ukrainian army has been making unsuccessful offensive attempts since June 4. In two months, the Ukrainian military has lost more than 43,000 troops and about 5,000 pieces of military hardware, including 26 warplanes and 25 Leopard tanks. Russian President Vladimir Putin said recently that the Ukrainian troops had achieved no success in any direction.