Ukrainian army forces have reached the outskirts of Donetsk, one of the main strongholds of pro-Russian separatists, a spokesman for the Ukrainian security forces said.
Andriy Lysenko stated that Ukrainian forces are in front of the town of Horlikva, north of the million-strong city of Donetsk.
"After conquering Horlikva, the forces in the anti-terrorist operation have a direct way to the capital of the Donbass region - the city of Donetsk," Lysenko told reporters.
Donetsk is a major stronghold of separatists who have been fighting against Ukrainian government forces for five months.
An AP journalist saw that the rebels had blocked the highway north of Donetsk, from where artillery fire could also be heard.
The mayor of Kremenchuk was killed
The mayor of the city of Kremenchuk, in central Ukraine, Oleg Babayev, was killed yesterday, while a grenade was fired at the house of the mayor of Lviv, Andrey Sadovy, at night, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced.
Mayor Kremenchukai was killed when another car approached his car, from which an unidentified person fired three shots from a pistol with a silencer, said Anton Gerashchenko from the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, as reported by Reuters.
Gerashchenko points out that a significant part of the citizens of Kremenchuk support Babayev, who stood up during the protest on Maidan Square in Kyiv to protect local activists against former President Yanukovych, whom the police and the prosecutor wanted to arrest.
During the night, a grenade was fired at the house of the mayor of Lviv, who was not at home at the time.
The mentioned two attacks are most likely not related, according to the announcement of the Ukrainian Ministry.
Donetsk authorities: Ukrainian army used phosphorus ammunition
Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic announced that the Ukrainian army shelled Donetsk and Mandrikino with phosphorus ammunition.
The use of phosphorous ammunition is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.
A representative of the Russian General Staff said on Friday that Ukrainian troops used phosphorous ammunition at least six times during the shelling of the southeast of the country, the Voice of Russia reported today.
Fighting continued in Donetsk throughout the past night, and the Petrovsky and Kuybysh regions came under fire from the Ukrainian army.
One person was killed and nine were wounded, reports the Voice of Russia.
Pro-Russian forces announced that they took control of the Ukrainian border crossing "Marinovka" on the border with the Russian Federation and that they shot down a Ukrainian army drone.
At the same time, the Russian news agency Itar Tass reports the statement of the commander of the pro-Russian forces in Luhansk, Sergey Grachev, that at least 15 people were killed and about 60 injured in the mortar attack on Lugansk.
Yesterday, five people were killed and two were injured in this eastern Ukrainian city.
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