MOSCOW. July 24 (Interfax) - The "people's governor" of Donetsk has described militia forces' retreat from in the vicinity of Donetsk "tactical."
"It's a tactical retreat, it was all planned. Nobody has orders to fight to the bitter end, tactical retreats are permissible. It's normal military tactics," Pavel Gubarev told Russia's Rossiya 24 television.
Earlier, the head of information center Southeastern Front had said government forces had taken control of Dzerzhynsk, a city 55 kilometers north of Donetsk. "The militia forces are retreating in the direction of Horlivka, hence Dzerzhynsk is under enemy control," Konstantin Knyrik told Interfax.