LUGANSK, July 9. /TASS/. The allied forces have liberated the settlement of Grigoryevka near Seversk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) where a fortified area of the Ukrainian armed forces was situated, Vitaly Kiselev, an aide to the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) interior minister, told TASS.

"Our units have taken the settlement of Grigoryevka. There was a large fortified area, but our units took it, driving Ukrainian nationalists out of it," he said.

Kiselev told TASS on Monday that Russian forces were advancing on Seversk from two directions, that is, from Artemovsk. Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday the Russian Aerospace Forces eliminated up to 350 Ukrainian troops and 20 armored vehicles belonging to two mechanized brigades and a mountain assault brigade near Artyomovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic.