MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - The situation in the conflict area in southeastern Ukraine is now the most difficult in the Shirokino area, Andrei Purgin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic DPR People's Council, said.
"Battalions are being accumulated in Shirokino to provoke and make some attempts at a breakthrough or offensive. It's the Mariupol area, Shirokino, there is shootout almost every day there," Purgin said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television on Thursday.
Purgin said Ukraine is looking for any pretext not to begin heavy weapons withdrawal. "That is, someone hears a gun and they will immediately say they are stopping the withdrawal," he said.
Purgin said that "two attacks by the Ukrainian troops, in the area of the Donetsk airport and in the outskirts of Shirokino, have now been registered."
"The situation on the rest of the contact line is now quiet," Purgin said.