Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine, denies that rebels have launched a new offensive against the city of Marinka. According to Basurin, Ukrainian troops simply abandoned some forward positions. “There’s no one [in these places] to care for the people, and we’re not prepared to leave them to fend for themselves,” he said, explaining separatists’ movements into the supposedly deserted areas.

An earlier report by the news agency Novorossiya cited one of the DNR’s soldiers, saying separatist forces captured Marinka “after a massive assault.”

The Ukrainian television station 112 Ukraina reported that rebels broke through the defenses of Ukrainian troops, who are now retreating from several positions throughout the city.

According to some reports in the Ukrainian media, separatists have only captured a single checkpoint in Marinka, and Kiev's forces remain in control of the rest of the city.

Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the Ukrainian President’s Spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, announced that the separatists launched an offensive against Marinka. According to Lysenko, who declined to call it “large-scale,” the attack is focused on this one city.

The artillery strikes against Marinka began in the early morning hours of Wednesday, June 3. Lysenko says no Ukrainian soldiers have died in the fighting. According to unconfirmed reports, the Ukrainian military has suffered around 30 injuries.