DONETSK, April 12. /TASS/. Soldiers of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia fended off a Ukrainian sortie to cross the line of contact near Shirokino village, DPR Defense Ministry Spokesman Daniil Beznosov said on Friday.

"Our soldiers promptly detected an enemy squad near the village of Shirokino. In the course of the short clash the intruders were forced to retreat back to their positions with losses of one dead soldier and two more injured," the Donetsk News Agency quotes him as saying.

Beznosov specified that the Ukrainian squad left one injured soldier behind. He is currently in the custody of the DPR security agents.

In early April, spokesman for the DPR People’s Militia Eduard Basurin reported that DPR servicemen had been put on alert in view of sabotage risks by Kiev ahead of the presidential election runoff.