On Wednesday, units of the Southern Forces Group near the village of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic conducted active operations to capture the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ stronghold, the Ministry pointed out.

The commander of a unit of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine appealed to the Russian command, announcing the voluntary surrender of 14 people.

For the safe withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from their positions, hostilities were suspended, the fire ceased completely, and the Ukrainian fighters were placed in a shelter until the morning, and then taken to the rear of the Russian group.

In the evening, the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out shelling against the shelter, and fired about 300 large-caliber shells. All 14 Ukrainian servicemen who laid down their arms were killed, the ministry asserted.

In early February, Lugansk People’s Militia chief Andrei Marochko reported that Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers attempted to defect from positions near Makiivka, but were stopped by fire from the Ukrainian military detachment, and three servicemen were killed.

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