MELITOPOL, February 14. /TASS/. Russian forces seized three Ukrainian army strongholds near the settlement of Verbovoye in the Zaporozhye Region, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together with Russia public movement, told TASS on Wednesday.

"[The Russian forces] seized three strongholds of the Ukrainian military near Verbovoye. The intensity of combat operations is, of course, different from what it was in the summer. Now gunfights are taking place at a relatively close distance in that area involving small arms and mortars," he said.

The advance by Russian troops in that area of the Zaporozhye Region creates almost curious situations, Rogov pointed out.

"Some time ago, a group of several Ukrainian soldiers surrendered near Rabotino. They were sent to their positions on a rotation basis and came to their stronghold that turned out to be in the gray zone because the neighboring stronghold had already been seized by our troops," he said.

Rogov told TASS on February 12 that Russian forces had improved their positions near the settlements of Verbovoye and Rabotino in the Zaporozhye Region after advancing by several hundred meters in both areas of the engagement line and also captured three Ukrainian army strongholds near the community of Novoprokopovka.