KYIV. Feb 11 (Interfax) - The populated areas located eastward of Mariupol, Donetsk region, which were occupied by the Ukrainian military last Tuesday, remain under their control and fighting is now going on for the village of Sakhanka, Novoazovsk district, the special-task regiment Azov said.
According to a report posted on Azov's official page on the website Vkontakte on Wednesday, Azov now maintains control over territories that were occupied as a result of the offensive. "Fighting now continues for the populated area of Sakhanka," the report says.
The regiment Azov earlier reported that Ukrainian troops had taken defense positions along the lines of the villages of Shirokino-Kominternovo-Pavlopol, Volnovakha district, and were fighting for Sakhanka.
Oleksandr Turchynov, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, who is at the site now, said the villages of Pavlopol, Kominternovo, Lebedinskoye, Berdyanskoye, Shirokino and others had been taken under control during the Ukrainian offensive.
Sakhanka is located some 12 km east of Mariupol and 3 km northeast of Shirokino, the occupation of which Azov reported on Tuesday.
According to the 2001 population census, the village had 1,093 residents. The villages of Leninskoye and Dzerzhinskoye, whose administrations report to the Sakhanka village council, are located north of Sakhanka.