Kiev, Jun 23 (IANS): Ukrainian Armed Forces are now in control of nearly 45 per cent of the separatist Donetsk region where fierce battles continue to rage, a military official claimed.
Speaking to local media on Wednesday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, said 55 per cent of the region under Russian control has been completely destroyed, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
While acknowledging that the situation is extremely complicated along the entire frontline of Donetsk, Kyrylenko said that Russian troops were "using all the weapons they have at their disposal".
"Civilians who remain say that either they have nowhere to go or they don't have enough money to go elsewhere," he added.
The official further said that the stranded civilians in Donetsk are mostly hiding in bomb shelters due to the relentless artillery attacks and airstrikes.