MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Units of the Battlegroup East have repulsed two counter attacks of the Ukrainian president’s 1st separate brigade in the south Donetsk direction and destroyed a reserve group of Ukrainian troops, Spokesman for Russia’s battlegroup East Alexander Gordeyev told TASS on Tuesday.

"Units of the Battlegroup East continue carrying out combat duties in the south Donetsk direction," he said. "In the course of active combat actions, units of the Battlegroup East improved their forward edge positions, repulsed two counter attacks of the Ukrainian president’s 1st separate brigade near the settlement of Urozhainoye, eliminated a reserve group of the 108th territorial defense brigade near the settlement of Mirnoye."

"They have also thwarted enemy’s attempts to improve their front edge positions near the settlements of Staromayorskoye and Rovnopol," he continued. "With the use of air strikes, artillery and heavy flamethrower fires they destroyed strongholds and inflicted damage on amassed manpower of the 58th motorized infantry brigade and 128th territorial defense brigade near the settlements of Shakhtyorsk and Staromayorskoye."

In all, Gordeyev said, Russian troops destroyed over the past day in the south Donetsk direction over 130 enemy personnel, a tank, two armored vehicles, four motor vehicles, eight unmanned aerial vehicles and an electronic reconnaissance station.