MARJINKA (dpa-AFX) – The Ukrainian military has denied the capture of the town of Maryinka in the Donetsk region, claimed by Russian military bloggers. “Information and provocations continue to be spread about the alleged complete capture of the city. The defense continues,” wrote the Ukrainian commander in charge of this sector of the front, Olexandr Tarnawskyj, on his Telegram channel on Wednesday. According to him, the Russian occupiers continued their storm attempts. The information cannot be independently verified.
The badly damaged Marjinka is, along with Avdiivka, one of the focal points of the Russian attack efforts in the Donbas region. In the two cities outside the industrial metropolis of Donetsk, they use heavy technology and the air force. Donetsk has been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. According to Tarnavskyi, there were 19 airstrikes on Maryinka and Avdiivka within two days.
The first Russian military blogs such as Operazija Z reported on the alleged capture of Marjinka on Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry did not officially report the capture and instead spoke of successful Russian attacks on Ukrainian positions in the Mariinka area.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian war of aggression for more than 21 months. Despite its successes, Kiev has recently come under pressure again, especially in the east of the country. Russia controls around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which has been annexed since 2014./bal/DP/men