MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russian forces have been pressing ahead at different speeds in certain sectors near the line of engagement in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), with the fiercest fighting taking place near Avdeyevka and Chasov Yar, DPR head Denis Pushilin said.

"Our units have been advancing at different paces in certain areas. They proceed faster in some areas. We are witnessing the heaviest fighting beyond the Avdeyevka direction. And areas near Chasov Yar, too, are heating up," Pushilin told the Soloviev Live TV show.

According to him, it is too early to say when the city could be liberated.

Earlier, adviser to the DPR head Igor Kimakovsky told TASS that freshly mobilized Ukrainian soldiers are holding first-line defense in Chasov Yar and that the Ukrainian combat group suffering heavy casualties there every day.