Interfax: Ukraine military scoring successes near Horlivka – Security and Defense Council

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KYIV. Aug 12 (Interfax) – Ukrainian forces, pushing towards Donetsk, have seized control of a stretch of the motorway between Horlivka and Donetsk, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman said.

“Forces involved in the counterterrorism operation have captured a stretch of the motorway between Horlivka and Donetsk, cutting Horlivka from the main forces,” Andriy Lysenko said at a press briefing in Kyiv.

He also said that the armed forces’ offensive undermined the militia’s positions and pressed it into the Luhansk region.

“The Antratsyt region is their stronghold,” he said, adding that the militia’s significant forces are concentrated in Shakhtarsk, Mospino, Snizhne and Zugres.

The militia headquarters in the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic said earlier on Tuesday that units of the Ukrainian armed forces’ 30th and 95th brigades had been surrounded between Antratsyt and Krasny Luch in the Luhansk region.

“These brigades have been cut off from the other forces and are being fired on with Grad multiple rocket launchers. They are experiencing serious food shortages, but have a certain amount of ammunition,” they said.

“The militia urged the military to surrender in exchange for security guarantees, but the military has yet to respond,” the commanders said.

The Ukrainian forces attempted to capture Krasny Luch at the weekend.

Lysenko said on August 10 that the city is of great importance and that capturing it could cut off the militia’s supplies. “The fighting is continuing there now, and is indeed fierce. Our forces are doing their best to capture the city as soon as possible,” Lysenko said.

On the same day, Novorossia’s press service reported that the militia had been rebuffing the Ukrainian armed forces’ attacks on Krasny Luch. “Krasny Luch is an area of strategic importance. Fighting is underway there. The situation has not changed. The Ukrainian military has failed to force the militia from their positions,” the press service said.

Krasny Luch is located in the south-western sector of the Luhansk region about 60 kilometers from Luhansk, 15 kilometers from Snizhne in the Donetsk region and 20 kilometers east of the Malaysian Boeing crash site. It had a population of 124,000 at the beginning of 2013.

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