Russian troops are mopping up areas on the southern outskirts of the town of Ugledar in their Donetsk advance, military-political expert, adviser to the acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Yan Gagin told TASS on Friday.

“Our assault units are now mopping up dacha [summer house] areas in the south of Ugledar. Fierce fighting is on and the enemy is biting,” he said.

Igor Kimakovsky, another adviser to the acting DPR head, said that Russian forces had gained a foothold on the Ugledar outskirts and the battles continued. As Gagin specified on his part, control of the town will enable Russian forces to halt the supply of the Ukrainian army with ammunition in Maryinka from where Donetsk is shelled.

Convicts taking part in Russia’s special military operation are pardoned based on national laws, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

When asked to comment on statements by Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin about the president pardoning convicts serving under contracts, Peskov said: “I can’t say anything about decrees.” “You know, there are open decrees and there are decrees with various security classifications. This is why I can’t say anything about decrees. However, I can confirm that the process of pardoning convicts takes place in strict accordance with Russian laws,” the Kremlin spokesman noted.

Source: Agencies